Aug 20, 2017 11:02:17 PM | Java Exception Handling - NumberFormatException

A look into Java NumberFormatException, with sample code showing the limitations on converting into different primitive numeric types.

Making our way through our in-depth Java Exception Handling series, today we're taking a look at the java.lang.NumberFormatException. As you may suspect, the NumberFormatException is thrown when code attempts to convert an invalid String into one of the other generic numeric wrapper classes, such as Integer, Byte, Long, and so forth.

Throughout this article we'll explore the java.lang.NumberFormatException in greater detail, looking at where it resides in the Java Exception Hierarchy, as well as looking at some basic and functional sample code that illustrates how NumberFormatExceptions might be commonly thrown. Let's get going!

The Technical Rundown

Full Code Sample

Below is the full code sample we'll be using in this article. It can be copied and pasted if you'd like to play with the code yourself and see how everything works.

package io.airbrake;

import io.airbrake.utility.Logging;


public class Main {


 public static void main(String[] args) {
 Logging.lineSeparator("STRING TO BYTE");
 Logging.log(convertStringToByte("20"));
 Logging.log(convertStringToByte("200"));


 Logging.lineSeparator("STRING TO DOUBLE");
 Logging.log(convertStringToDouble("3.14e7"));
 Logging.log(convertStringToDouble(Double.toString(Double.MAX_VALUE)));
 Logging.log(convertStringToDouble("3.14x"));


 Logging.lineSeparator("STRING TO FLOAT");
 Logging.log(convertStringToFloat("3.14e7"));
 Logging.log(convertStringToFloat("3.14e39"));
 Logging.log(convertStringToFloat("3.14x39"));


 Logging.lineSeparator("STRING TO INTEGER");
 Logging.log(convertStringToInteger("10"));
 Logging.log(convertStringToInteger("10x"));


 Logging.lineSeparator("STRING TO LONG");
 Logging.log(convertStringToLong("20"));
 // 2^63 - 1
 Logging.log(convertStringToLong("9223372036854775807"));
 // 2^63
 Logging.log(convertStringToLong("9223372036854775808"));


 Logging.lineSeparator("STRING TO SHORT");
 Logging.log(convertStringToShort("20"));
 // 2^15 - 1
 Logging.log(convertStringToShort("32767"));
 // 2^15
 Logging.log(convertStringToShort("32768"));
 }


 /**
 * Convert String to Byte.
 *
 * @param string String to be converted.
 * @return Converted Byte.
 */
 private static Byte convertStringToByte(String string) {
 try {
 return Byte.parseByte(string);
 } catch (NumberFormatException exception) {
 // Output expected NumberFormatException.
 Logging.log(exception);
 } catch (Exception exception) {
 // Output unexpected Exceptions.
 Logging.log(exception, false);
 }
 return null;
 }


 /**
 * Convert String to Double.
 *
 * @param string String to be converted.
 * @return Converted Double.
 */
 private static Double convertStringToDouble(String string) {
 try {
 return Double.parseDouble(string);
 } catch (NumberFormatException exception) {
 // Output expected NumberFormatException.
 Logging.log(exception);
 } catch (Exception exception) {
 // Output unexpected Exceptions.
 Logging.log(exception, false);
 }
 return null;
 }


 /**
 * Convert String to Float.
 *
 * @param string String to be converted.
 * @return Converted Float.
 */
 private static Float convertStringToFloat(String string) {
 try {
 return Float.parseFloat(string);
 } catch (NumberFormatException exception) {
 // Output expected NumberFormatException.
 Logging.log(exception);
 } catch (Exception exception) {
 // Output unexpected Exceptions.
 Logging.log(exception, false);
 }
 return null;
 }


 /**
 * Convert String to Integer.
 *
 * @param string String to be converted.
 * @return Converted Integer.
 */
 private static Integer convertStringToInteger(String string) {
 try {
 return Integer.parseInt(string);
 } catch (NumberFormatException exception) {
 // Output expected NumberFormatException.
 Logging.log(exception);
 } catch (Exception exception) {
 // Output unexpected Exceptions.
 Logging.log(exception, false);
 }
 return null;
 }


 /**
 * Convert String to Long.
 *
 * @param string String to be converted.
 * @return Converted Long.
 */
 private static Long convertStringToLong(String string) {
 try {
 return Long.parseLong(string);
 } catch (NumberFormatException exception) {
 // Output expected NumberFormatException.
 Logging.log(exception);
 } catch (Exception exception) {
 // Output unexpected Exceptions.
 Logging.log(exception, false);
 }
 return null;
 }


 /**
 * Convert String to Short.
 *
 * @param string String to be converted.
 * @return Converted Short.
 */
 private static Short convertStringToShort(String string) {
 try {
 return Short.parseShort(string);
 } catch (NumberFormatException exception) {
 // Output expected NumberFormatException.
 Logging.log(exception);
 } catch (Exception exception) {
 // Output unexpected Exceptions.
 Logging.log(exception, false);
 }
 return null;
 }
 }


// Logging.java
 package io.airbrake.utility;


import java.util.Arrays;


import org.apache.commons.lang3.ClassUtils;
 import org.apache.commons.lang3.builder.*;


/**
 * Houses all logging methods for various debug outputs.
 */
 public class Logging {
 private static final char separatorCharacterDefault = '-';
 private static final String separatorInsertDefault = "";
 private static final int separatorLengthDefault = 40;


 /**
 * Get a String of passed char of passed length size.
 * @param character Character to repeat.
 * @param length Length of string.
 * @return Created string.
 */
 private static String getRepeatedCharString(char character, int length) {
 // Create new character array of proper length.
 char[] characters = new char[length];
 // Fill each array element with character.
 Arrays.fill(characters, character);
 // Return generated string.
 return new String(characters);
 }


 /**
 * Outputs any kind of Object.
 * Uses ReflectionToStringBuilder from Apache commons-lang library.
 *
 * @param value Object to be output.
 */
 public static void log(Object value)
 {
 if (value == null) return;
 // If primitive or wrapper object, directly output.
 if (ClassUtils.isPrimitiveOrWrapper(value.getClass()))
 {
 System.out.println(value);
 }
 else
 {
 // For complex objects, use reflection builder output.
 System.out.println(new ReflectionToStringBuilder(value, ToStringStyle.MULTI_LINE_STYLE).toString());
 }
 }


 /**
 * Outputs passed in Throwable exception or error instance.
 * Can be overloaded if expected parameter should be specified.
 *
 * @param throwable Throwable instance to output.
 */
 public static void log(Throwable throwable)
 {
 // Invoke call with default expected value.
 log(throwable, true);
 }


 /**
 * Outputs passed in Throwable exception or error instance.
 * Includes Throwable class type, message, stack trace, and expectation status.
 *
 * @param throwable Throwable instance to output.
 * @param expected Determines if this Throwable was expected or not.
 */
 public static void log(Throwable throwable, boolean expected)
 {
 System.out.println(String.format("[%s] %s", expected ? "EXPECTED" : "UNEXPECTED", throwable.toString()));
 throwable.printStackTrace();
 }


 /**
 * See: lineSeparator(String, int, char)
 */
 public static void lineSeparator() {
 lineSeparator(separatorInsertDefault, separatorLengthDefault, separatorCharacterDefault);
 }


 /**
 * See: lineSeparator(String, int, char)
 */
 public static void lineSeparator(String insert) {
 lineSeparator(insert, separatorLengthDefault, separatorCharacterDefault);
 }


 /**
 * See: lineSeparator(String, int, char)
 */
 public static void lineSeparator(int length) {
 lineSeparator(separatorInsertDefault, length, separatorCharacterDefault);
 }


 /**
 * See: lineSeparator(String, int, char)
 */
 public static void lineSeparator(int length, char separator) {
 lineSeparator(separatorInsertDefault, length, separator);
 }


 /**
 * See: lineSeparator(String, int, char)
 */
 public static void lineSeparator(char separator) {
 lineSeparator(separatorInsertDefault, separatorLengthDefault, separator);
 }


 /**
 * See: lineSeparator(String, int, char)
 */
 public static void lineSeparator(String insert, int length) {
 lineSeparator(insert, length, separatorCharacterDefault);
 }


 /**
 * See: lineSeparator(String, int, char)
 */
 public static void lineSeparator(String insert, char separator) {
 lineSeparator(insert, separatorLengthDefault, separator);
 }


 /**
 * Outputs a dashed line separator with
 * inserted text centered in the middle.
 *
 * @param insert Inserted text to be centered.
 * @param length Length of line to be output.
 * @param separator Separator character.
 */
 public static void lineSeparator(String insert, int length, char separator)
 {
 // Default output to insert.
 String output = insert;


 if (insert.length() == 0) {
 output = getRepeatedCharString(separator, length);
 } else if (insert.length() < length) {
 // Update length based on insert length, less a space for margin.
 length -= (insert.length() + 2);
 // Halve the length and floor left side.
 int left = (int) Math.floor(length / 2);
 int right = left;
 // If odd number, add dropped remainder to right side.
 if (length % 2 != 0) right += 1;


 // Surround insert with separators.
 output = String.format("%s %s %s", getRepeatedCharString(separator, left), insert, getRepeatedCharString(separator, right));
 }


 System.out.println(output);
 }
 }

When Should You Use It?

The abstract Number class is the core superclass that is used to represent numeric values which can be converted into the primitive types of byte, double, float, int, long, and short. As such, Java throws a java.lang.NumberFormatException when a failed attempt is made to convert into one of those types. In addition, each of the numeric primitive types has its own wrapper class, namely Byte, Double, Float, Integer, Long, and Short. Like most wrappers, these classes can be used to represent a value object of the underlying primitive type, while also providing additional functionality and methods (such as the MAX_VALUE field).

For our sample code we're testing conversion from String to each of the wrapper class types using their built in parseType() method (e.g. Integer.parseInt() for the Integer class). Just to keep things tidy we'll traverse through them in alphabetical order, starting with Byte, which we test in the convertStringToByte(String string) method:

/**

* Convert String to Byte.

*

* @param string String to be converted.

* @return Converted Byte.

*/

private static Byte convertStringToByte(String string) {

    try {

        return Byte.parseByte(string);

    } catch (NumberFormatException exception) {

        // Output expected NumberFormatException.

        Logging.log(exception);

    } catch (Exception exception) {

        // Output unexpected Exceptions.

        Logging.log(exception, false);

    }

    return null;

}

As you can see, nothing fancy going on here. We merely take our passed String parameter and attempt to parse it via Byte.parseByte(String string). If we catch an Exception we output it.

To call this method we have two different String values we're trying: 20 and 200.

Logging.lineSeparator("STRING TO BYTE");

Logging.log(convertStringToByte("20"));

Logging.log(convertStringToByte("200"));

As you're probably aware, the maximum positive value of a Byte is 127, so the first call works, but the second throws a java.lang.NumberFormatException, indicating that the value of 200 is out of range:

------------ STRING TO BYTE ------------

20

[EXPECTED] java.lang.NumberFormatException: Value out of range. Value:"200" Radix:10

Next we have our Double testing method and executing code:

/**

    * Convert String to Double.

    *

    * @param string String to be converted.

    * @return Converted Double.

    */

private static Double convertStringToDouble(String string) {

    try {

        return Double.parseDouble(string);

    } catch (NumberFormatException exception) {

        // Output expected NumberFormatException.

        Logging.log(exception);

    } catch (Exception exception) {

        // Output unexpected Exceptions.

        Logging.log(exception, false);

    }

    return null;

}

Logging.lineSeparator("STRING TO DOUBLE");
 Logging.log(convertStringToDouble("3.14e7"));
 Logging.log(convertStringToDouble(Double.toString(Double.MAX_VALUE)));
 Logging.log(convertStringToDouble("3.14x"));

Here we're trying three different values to show how we can use those build-in fields, like Double.MAX_VALUE. However, an unrecognizable character of x at the end of our third String value results in another java.lang.NumberFormatException:

----------- STRING TO DOUBLE -----------

3.14E7

1.7976931348623157E308

[EXPECTED] java.lang.NumberFormatException: For input string: "3.14x"

Here's our test for conversion to a Float object:

/**

    * Convert String to Float.

    *

    * @param string String to be converted.

    * @return Converted Float.

    */

private static Float convertStringToFloat(String string) {

    try {

        return Float.parseFloat(string);

    } catch (NumberFormatException exception) {

        // Output expected NumberFormatException.

        Logging.log(exception);

    } catch (Exception exception) {

        // Output unexpected Exceptions.

        Logging.log(exception, false);

    }

    return null;

}

Logging.lineSeparator("STRING TO FLOAT");
 Logging.log(convertStringToFloat("3.14e7"));
 Logging.log(convertStringToFloat("3.14e39"));
 Logging.log(convertStringToFloat("3.14x39"));

Our first value call works fine, as does the second, except the output is Infinity. This is because the maximum positive value of a Float is a little less than 2^39, so while there's no parse error, a Float object cannot handle that value so it wraps to an infinite representation. Our third call, however, again uses an invalid character of x instead of the exponent e, so another NumberFormatException is thrown:

3.14E7

Infinity

[EXPECTED] java.lang.NumberFormatException: For input string: "3.14x39"

For our Integer test we again use an invalid character of x:

/**

* Convert String to Integer.

*

* @param string String to be converted.

* @return Converted Integer.

*/

private static Integer convertStringToInteger(String string) {

    try {

        return Integer.parseInt(string);

    } catch (NumberFormatException exception) {

        // Output expected NumberFormatException.

        Logging.log(exception);

    } catch (Exception exception) {

        // Output unexpected Exceptions.

        Logging.log(exception, false);

    }

    return null;

}

Logging.lineSeparator("STRING TO INTEGER");
 Logging.log(convertStringToInteger("10"));
 Logging.log(convertStringToInteger("10x"));

As expected, the second call throws another NumberFormatException:

---------- STRING TO INTEGER -----------

10

[EXPECTED] java.lang.NumberFormatException: For input string: "10x"

Next we have the Long value, which is essentially just the much larger form of an Integer:

/**

* Convert String to Long.

*

* @param string String to be converted.

* @return Converted Long.

*/

private static Long convertStringToLong(String string) {

    try {

        return Long.parseLong(string);

    } catch (NumberFormatException exception) {

        // Output expected NumberFormatException.

        Logging.log(exception);

    } catch (Exception exception) {

        // Output unexpected Exceptions.

        Logging.log(exception, false);

    }

    return null;

}

Logging.lineSeparator("STRING TO LONG");
 Logging.log(convertStringToLong("20"));
 // 2^63 - 1
 Logging.log(convertStringToLong("9223372036854775807"));
 // 2^63
 Logging.log(convertStringToLong("9223372036854775808"));

As you can see by the comment, the maximum positive value of a Long is 2e63 - 1, which we've converted to its decimal format as a String. Both these first two conversions work fine, but increasing the value to one above the MAX_VALUE produces another NumberFormatException:

------------ STRING TO LONG ------------

20

9223372036854775807

[EXPECTED] java.lang.NumberFormatException: For input string: "9223372036854775808"

Finally, we have the Short conversion. While Long is a much larger Integer, Short is limited to a far smaller value:

/**

* Convert String to Short.

*

* @param string String to be converted.

* @return Converted Short.

*/

private static Short convertStringToShort(String string) {

    try {

        return Short.parseShort(string);

    } catch (NumberFormatException exception) {

        // Output expected NumberFormatException.

        Logging.log(exception);

    } catch (Exception exception) {

        // Output unexpected Exceptions.

        Logging.log(exception, false);

    }

    return null;

}

Logging.lineSeparator("STRING TO SHORT");
 Logging.log(convertStringToShort("20"));
 // 2^15 - 1
 Logging.log(convertStringToShort("32767"));
 // 2^15
 Logging.log(convertStringToShort("32768"));

Again we're testing using the maximum positive value of a Short (32,767), which works fine, but the increase to one more than that throws yet another NumberFormatException:

----------- STRING TO SHORT ------------

20

32767

[EXPECTED] java.lang.NumberFormatException: Value out of range. Value:"32768" Radix:10

As we can see, NumberFormatExceptions can occur in a variety of scenarios, but typically they're due to either typos in the numeric String values that are being parsed, or because the resultant value would exceed the bounds of the target object type.

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Written By: Frances Banks