How to respond with an HTTP 400 error in a Spring MVC @ResponseBody method returning String

Change your return type to ResponseEntity<>, and then you can use the below for 400:

return new ResponseEntity<>(HttpStatus.BAD_REQUEST);

And for a correct request:

return new ResponseEntity<>(json,HttpStatus.OK);

After Spring 4.1 there are helper methods in ResponseEntity which could be used as:

return ResponseEntity.status(HttpStatus.BAD_REQUEST).body(null);

and

return ResponseEntity.ok(json);

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Something like this should work, but I'm not sure whether or not there is a simpler way:

@RequestMapping(value = "/matches/{matchId}", produces = "application/json")
@ResponseBody
public String match(@PathVariable String matchId, @RequestBody String body,
            HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) {
    String json = matchService.getMatchJson(matchId);
    if (json == null) {
        response.setStatus( HttpServletResponse.SC_BAD_REQUEST  );
    }
    return json;
}

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It is not necessarily the most compact way of doing this, but quite clean in my opinion:

if(json == null) {
    throw new BadThingException();
}
...

@ExceptionHandler(BadThingException.class)
@ResponseStatus(value = HttpStatus.BAD_REQUEST)
public @ResponseBody MyError handleException(BadThingException e) {
    return new MyError("That doesn’t work");
}

You can use @ResponseBody in the exception handler method if using Spring 3.1+, otherwise use a ModelAndView or something.

@ResponseBody does not work with @ExceptionHandler [SPR-6902] #11567

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I would change the implementation slightly:

First, I create a UnknownMatchException:

@ResponseStatus(HttpStatus.NOT_FOUND)
public class UnknownMatchException extends RuntimeException {
    public UnknownMatchException(String matchId) {
        super("Unknown match: " + matchId);
    }
}

Note the use of @ResponseStatus, which will be recognized by Spring's ResponseStatusExceptionResolver. If the exception is thrown, it will create a response with the corresponding response status. (I also took the liberty of changing the status code to 404 - Not Found which I find more appropriate for this use case, but you can stick to HttpStatus.BAD_REQUEST if you like.)

Next, I would change the MatchService to have the following signature:

interface MatchService {
    public Match findMatch(String matchId);
}

Finally, I would update the controller and delegate to Spring's MappingJackson2HttpMessageConverter to handle the JSON serialization automatically (it is added by default if you add Jackson to the classpath and add either @EnableWebMvc or <mvc:annotation-driven /> to your config. See the reference documentation):

@RequestMapping(value = "/matches/{matchId}", produces = MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON_VALUE)
@ResponseBody
public Match match(@PathVariable String matchId) {
    // Throws an UnknownMatchException if the matchId is not known
    return matchService.findMatch(matchId);
}

Note, it is very common to separate the domain objects from the view objects or DTO objects. This can easily be achieved by adding a small DTO factory that returns the serializable JSON object:

@RequestMapping(value = "/matches/{matchId}", produces = MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON_VALUE)
@ResponseBody
public MatchDTO match(@PathVariable String matchId) {
    Match match = matchService.findMatch(matchId);
    return MatchDtoFactory.createDTO(match);
}

---

Here's a different approach. Create a custom Exception annotated with @ResponseStatus, like the following one.

@ResponseStatus(code = HttpStatus.NOT_FOUND, reason = "Not Found")
public class NotFoundException extends Exception {

    public NotFoundException() {
    }
}

And throw it when needed.

@RequestMapping(value = "/matches/{matchId}", produces = "application/json")
@ResponseBody
public String match(@PathVariable String matchId) {
    String json = matchService.getMatchJson(matchId);
    if (json == null) {
        throw new NotFoundException();
    }
    return json;
}

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The easiest way is to throw a ResponseStatusException:

@RequestMapping(value = "/matches/{matchId}", produces = "application/json")
@ResponseBody
public String match(@PathVariable String matchId, @RequestBody String body) {
    String json = matchService.getMatchJson(matchId);
    if (json == null) {
        throw new ResponseStatusException(HttpStatus.NOT_FOUND);
    }
    return json;
}

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As mentioned in some answers, there is the ability to create an exception class for each HTTP status that you want to return. I don't like the idea of having to create a class per status for each project. Here is what I came up with instead.

Create a generic exception that accepts an HTTP status

Create an Controller Advice exception handler

Let's get to the code

package com.javaninja.cam.exception;

import org.springframework.http.HttpStatus;


/**
 * The exception used to return a status and a message to the calling system.
 * @author norrisshelton
 */
@SuppressWarnings("ClassWithoutNoArgConstructor")
public class ResourceException extends RuntimeException {

    private HttpStatus httpStatus = HttpStatus.INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR;

    /**
     * Gets the HTTP status code to be returned to the calling system.
     * @return http status code.  Defaults to HttpStatus.INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR (500).
     * @see HttpStatus
     */
    public HttpStatus getHttpStatus() {
        return httpStatus;
    }

    /**
     * Constructs a new runtime exception with the specified HttpStatus code and detail message.
     * The cause is not initialized, and may subsequently be initialized by a call to {@link #initCause}.
     * @param httpStatus the http status.  The detail message is saved for later retrieval by the {@link
     *                   #getHttpStatus()} method.
     * @param message    the detail message. The detail message is saved for later retrieval by the {@link
     *                   #getMessage()} method.
     * @see HttpStatus
     */
    public ResourceException(HttpStatus httpStatus, String message) {
        super(message);
        this.httpStatus = httpStatus;
    }
}

Then I create a controller advice class

package com.javaninja.cam.spring;


import com.javaninja.cam.exception.ResourceException;

import org.springframework.http.ResponseEntity;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.ExceptionHandler;


/**
 * Exception handler advice class for all SpringMVC controllers.
 * @author norrisshelton
 * @see org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.ControllerAdvice
 */
@org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.ControllerAdvice
public class ControllerAdvice {

    /**
     * Handles ResourceExceptions for the SpringMVC controllers.
     * @param e SpringMVC controller exception.
     * @return http response entity
     * @see ExceptionHandler
     */
    @ExceptionHandler(ResourceException.class)
    public ResponseEntity handleException(ResourceException e) {
        return ResponseEntity.status(e.getHttpStatus()).body(e.getMessage());
    }
}

To use it

throw new ResourceException(HttpStatus.BAD_REQUEST, "My message");

http://javaninja.net/2016/06/throwing-exceptions-messages-spring-mvc-controller/

---

I’m using this in my Spring Boot application:

@RequestMapping(value = "/matches/{matchId}", produces = "application/json")
@ResponseBody
public ResponseEntity<?> match(@PathVariable String matchId, @RequestBody String body,
            HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) {

    Product p;
    try {
      p = service.getProduct(request.getProductId());
    } catch(Exception ex) {
       return new ResponseEntity<String>(HttpStatus.BAD_REQUEST);
    }

    return new ResponseEntity(p, HttpStatus.OK);
}

---

With Spring Boot, I'm not entirely sure why this was necessary (I got the /error fallback even though @ResponseBody was defined on an @ExceptionHandler), but the following in itself did not work:

@ResponseBody
@ResponseStatus(HttpStatus.BAD_REQUEST)
@ExceptionHandler(IllegalArgumentException.class)
public ErrorMessage handleIllegalArguments(HttpServletRequest httpServletRequest, IllegalArgumentException e) {
    log.error("Illegal arguments received.", e);
    ErrorMessage errorMessage = new ErrorMessage();
    errorMessage.code = 400;
    errorMessage.message = e.getMessage();
    return errorMessage;
}

It still threw an exception, apparently because no producible media types were defined as a request attribute:

// AbstractMessageConverterMethodProcessor
@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
protected <T> void writeWithMessageConverters(T value, MethodParameter returnType,
        ServletServerHttpRequest inputMessage, ServletServerHttpResponse outputMessage)
        throws IOException, HttpMediaTypeNotAcceptableException, HttpMessageNotWritableException {

    Class<?> valueType = getReturnValueType(value, returnType);
    Type declaredType = getGenericType(returnType);
    HttpServletRequest request = inputMessage.getServletRequest();
    List<MediaType> requestedMediaTypes = getAcceptableMediaTypes(request);
    List<MediaType> producibleMediaTypes = getProducibleMediaTypes(request, valueType, declaredType);
if (value != null && producibleMediaTypes.isEmpty()) {
        throw new IllegalArgumentException("No converter found for return value of type: " + valueType);   // <-- throws
    }

// ....

@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
protected List<MediaType> getProducibleMediaTypes(HttpServletRequest request, Class<?> valueClass, Type declaredType) {
    Set<MediaType> mediaTypes = (Set<MediaType>) request.getAttribute(HandlerMapping.PRODUCIBLE_MEDIA_TYPES_ATTRIBUTE);
    if (!CollectionUtils.isEmpty(mediaTypes)) {
        return new ArrayList<MediaType>(mediaTypes);

So I added them.

@ResponseBody
@ResponseStatus(HttpStatus.BAD_REQUEST)
@ExceptionHandler(IllegalArgumentException.class)
public ErrorMessage handleIllegalArguments(HttpServletRequest httpServletRequest, IllegalArgumentException e) {
    Set<MediaType> mediaTypes = new HashSet<>();
    mediaTypes.add(MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON_UTF8);
    httpServletRequest.setAttribute(HandlerMapping.PRODUCIBLE_MEDIA_TYPES_ATTRIBUTE, mediaTypes);
    log.error("Illegal arguments received.", e);
    ErrorMessage errorMessage = new ErrorMessage();
    errorMessage.code = 400;
    errorMessage.message = e.getMessage();
    return errorMessage;
}

And this got me through to have a "supported compatible media type", but then it still didn't work, because my ErrorMessage was faulty:

public class ErrorMessage {
    int code;

    String message;
}

JacksonMapper did not handle it as "convertable", so I had to add getters/setters, and I also added @JsonProperty annotation

public class ErrorMessage {
    @JsonProperty("code")
    private int code;

    @JsonProperty("message")
    private String message;

    public int getCode() {
        return code;
    }

    public void setCode(int code) {
        this.code = code;
    }

    public String getMessage() {
        return message;
    }

    public void setMessage(String message) {
        this.message = message;
    }
}

Then I received my message as intended

{"code":400,"message":"An \"url\" parameter must be defined."}

---

Another approach is to use @ExceptionHandler with @ControllerAdvice to centralize all your handlers in the same class. If not, you must put the handler methods in every controller you want to manage an exception for.

Your handler class:

@ControllerAdvice
public class MyExceptionHandler extends ResponseEntityExceptionHandler {

  @ExceptionHandler(MyBadRequestException.class)
  public ResponseEntity<MyError> handleException(MyBadRequestException e) {
    return ResponseEntity
        .badRequest()
        .body(new MyError(HttpStatus.BAD_REQUEST, e.getDescription()));
  }
}

Your custom exception:

public class MyBadRequestException extends RuntimeException {

  private String description;

  public MyBadRequestException(String description) {
    this.description = description;
  }

  public String getDescription() {
    return this.description;
  }
}

Now you can throw exceptions from any of your controllers, and you can define other handlers inside you advice class.

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The simplest and cleanest way to handle exceptions in your controller without having to explicitly return ResponseEntity is to just add @ExceptionHandler methods.

Example snippet using Spring Boot 2.0.3.RELEASE:

// Prefer static import of HttpStatus constants as it's cleaner IMHO

// Handle with no content returned
@ExceptionHandler(IllegalArgumentException.class)
@ResponseStatus(BAD_REQUEST)
void onIllegalArgumentException() {}

// Return 404 when JdbcTemplate does not return a single row
@ExceptionHandler(IncorrectResultSizeDataAccessException.class)
@ResponseStatus(NOT_FOUND)
void onIncorrectResultSizeDataAccessException() {}

// Catch all handler with the exception as content
@ExceptionHandler(Exception.class)
@ResponseStatus(I_AM_A_TEAPOT)
@ResponseBody Exception onException(Exception e) {
  return e;
}

As an aside:

If in all contexts/usages, matchService.getMatchJson(matchId) == null is invalid, then my suggestion would be to have getMatchJson throw an exception, e.g., IllegalArgumentException instead of returning null and let it bubble up to the controller's @ExceptionHandler.

If null is used to test other conditions then I would have a specific method, e.g., matchService.hasMatchJson(matchId). In general, I avoid null if possible in order to avoid an unexpected NullPointerException.

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You also could just throw new HttpMessageNotReadableException("error description") to benefit from Spring's default error handling.

However, just as is the case with those default errors, no response body will be set.

I find these useful when rejecting requests that could reasonably only have been handcrafted, potentially indicating a malevolent intent, since they obscure the fact that the request was rejected based on a deeper, custom validation and its criteria.

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Use a custom response with the status code.

Like this:

class Response<T>(
    val timestamp: String = DateTimeFormatter
            .ofPattern("yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss.SSSSSS")
            .withZone(ZoneOffset.UTC)
            .format(Instant.now()),
    val code: Int = ResultCode.SUCCESS.code,
    val message: String? = ResultCode.SUCCESS.message,
    val status: HttpStatus = HttpStatus.OK,
    val error: String? = "",
    val token: String? = null,
    val data: T? = null
) : : ResponseEntity<Response.CustomResponseBody>(status) {

data class CustomResponseBody(
    val timestamp: String = DateTimeFormatter
            .ofPattern("yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss.SSSSSS")
            .withZone(ZoneOffset.UTC)
            .format(Instant.now()),
    val code: Int = ResultCode.SUCCESS.code,
    val message: String? = ResultCode.SUCCESS.message,
    val error: String? = "",
    val token: String? = null,
    val data: Any? = null
)

override fun getBody(): CustomResponseBody? = CustomResponseBody(timestamp, code, message, error, token, data)

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