May I ever catch java.lang.Exception instead of its concrete subclasses?

May I ever catch java.lang.Exception instead of its subclasses?

Consider this senario:

public class Tree {
    public static Tree newInstance() throws NoWaterException, NoSoilException, NoSunshineException {
        ...
        return new Tree();
    }
}

When I want to get an instance of Tree, I can do this:

public Tree plantTree() throws TreePlantExcetpion {
    try {
        ...
        return Tree.newInstance();
    } catch (NoWaterException e) {
        throw new TreePlantExcetpion("Cannot plant a tree since no water", e);
    } catch (NoSoilException e) {
        throw new TreePlantExcetpion("Cannot plant a tree since no soil", e);
    } catch (N开发者_C百科oSunshineException e) {
        throw new TreePlantExcetpion("Cannot plant a tree since no sunshine", e);
    }
}

But I can also do this alternatively:

public Tree plantTree() throws TreePlantExcetpion {
    try {
        ...
        return Tree.newInstance();
    } catch (Exception e) {
        throw new TreePlantExcetpion("Cannot plant a tree", e);
    }
}

I prefer to the second implementation of method plantTree() since it is shorter and clearer, and in this method I don't care about the concrete subclasses of Exception, what I need to do is to wrap it in a new TreePlantExcetpion and pass it up. All the detailed information will not be lost. And I am sure that the Tree.newInstance() method will not throw any other type of exceptions (at least for now). May I do it in this way?

Note: NoWaterException, NoSoilException, NoSunshineException cannot be subclasses of TreePlantExcetpion. They are not in a same inheritance hierarchy.

The point is, if the exception handling is the same for all caught exceptions, may I just catch their super class, i.e. java.lang.Exception instead?

Make NoWaterException, NoSoilException and NoSunshineException subclasses of TreePlantException, and you could just skip the entire try/catch since TreePlantException is already declared as thrown.