Version 2.5.3
Error handling in Java

WiredTiger operations return a value of 0 on success and a non-zero value on error. Error codes may be either positive or negative: positive error codes are standard error codes as described for POSIX-like systems (for example, EINVAL or EBUSY), negative error codes are WiredTiger-specific (for example, WT_ROLLBACK).

WiredTiger-specific error codes always appear in the -31,800 to -31,999 range.

Informational return values, like wiredtiger.WT_NOTFOUND or wiredtiger.WT_DUPLICATE_KEY or 0 (success), are directly returned by APIs. More severe errors are thrown as WiredTigerException, which may be caught by the application.

The WiredTigerRollbackException is a specific type of WiredTigerException, it is thrown when there is a conflict between concurrent operations. An application that catches this exception should call rollback() on the relevant transaction, and retry as necessary.

The WiredTigerPanicException is a specific type of WiredTigerException, it is thrown when there is an underlying problem that requires the application to exit and restart.

The following is a complete list of possible WiredTiger-specific return values, all constants defined in the com.wiredtiger.db.wiredtiger class:

WT_ROLLBACK
This error is generated when an operation cannot be completed due to a conflict with concurrent operations. The operation may be retried; if a transaction is in progress, it should be rolled back and the operation retried in a new transaction.
WT_DUPLICATE_KEY
This error is generated when the application attempts to insert a record with the same key as an existing record without the 'overwrite' configuration to Session.open_cursor.
WT_ERROR
This error is returned when an error is not covered by a specific error return.
WT_NOTFOUND
This error indicates an operation did not find a value to return. This includes cursor search and other operations where no record matched the cursor's search key such as Cursor.update or Cursor.remove.
WT_PANIC
This error indicates an underlying problem that requires the application exit and restart. The application can exit immediately when WT_PANIC is returned from a WiredTiger interface, no further WiredTiger calls are required.
WT_RUN_RECOVERY
This error is generated when wiredtiger_open is configured to return an error if recovery is required to use the database.

The wiredtiger_strerror function returns the standard message associated with any WiredTiger, ISO C99, or POSIX 1003.1-2001 function:

try {
String key = "non-existent key";
cursor.putKeyString(key);
if ((ret = cursor.remove()) != 0) {
System.err.println(
"cursor.remove: " + wiredtiger.wiredtiger_strerror(ret));
return (ret);
}
} catch (WiredTigerException wte) { /* Catch severe errors. */
System.err.println("cursor.remove exception: " + wte);
}