Question

I have two fields that i want to calculate. The program works fine if i put in numbers in both fields, but if i have one empty and presses my “buttonSubtract” (calc-button) it just shuts down with “application closed…”. Why doesn´t the catch-clause catch the exception?

protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState)
{
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);

    buttonSubtract = (Button) findViewById(R.id.buttonsubtract);
    editTextNumber1 = (EditText) findViewById(R.id.textnumber1);
    editTextNumber2 = (EditText) findViewById(R.id.textnumber2);
    textSum = (TextView) findViewById(R.id.textViewSum);

    try
    buttonSubtract.setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener()
        {
            @Override
            public void onClick(View v)
            {
                if (editTextNumber1.getText().toString() == ""
                        || editTextNumber2.getText().toString() == "")
                {
                    textSum.setText("Put numbers in both fields");

                } else
                {
                    int sum = Integer.parseInt(editTextNumber1.getText()
                            .toString())
                            - Integer.parseInt(editTextNumber2.getText()
                                    .toString());
                    textSum.setText("sum: " + sum);
                }
            }
        });
    } catch (NumberFormatException e)
    {
        textSum.setText("Put numbers in both fields");
    }

Answer 1

You can’t catch exceptions that are thrown in an inner class from the outside. Move the try / catch block to the place where the NumberFormatException happens.

    buttonSubtract.setOnClickListener(new OnClickListener() {
        @Override
        public void onClick(View v) {
            String number1 = editTextNumber1.getText().toString().trim();
            String number2 = editTextNumber2.getText().toString().trim();
            if (!number1.isEmpty() && !number2.isEmpty()) {
                try {
                    int sum = Integer.parseInt(number1)
                            + Integer.parseInt(number2);
                    textSum.setText("sum: " + sum);
                    return;

                } catch (NumberFormatException e) {
                    // nothing to do
                }
            }
            textSum.setText("Put numbers in both fields");
        }
    });

The reason is simple: the code executed inside onClick is not called by you. It is called by the system once a click happens. Exceptions are only propagated to the caller.

It’s simpler to see if you re-arrange the code a bit. Your code was equivalent to

OnClickListener someListener = getListener(); // this creates your implementation.
try {
    buttonSubtract.setOnClickListener(someListener);
} catch (NumberFormatException e) {
    // do stuff
}