[FIXED] Do I need to include in documentation unhandled exceptions of nested methods?

Issue

For example, here is my code

 /**
     * Generates a message and saves it to a file where placeholders '%s' are replaced with values
     * provided during runtime from properties file.
     *
     * @param formattedMessage the formatted message where placeholders are replaced to '%s'
     * @param placeholderKeys  list with placeholder keys
     * @return string
     */
    public String generateMessage(String formattedMessage, List<String> placeholderKeys,
                                  String inputFilePath, String outputFilePath) {
        pathValidator.throwExceptionIfInputPathInvalid(inputFilePath);
        pathValidator.throwExceptionIfOutputPathInvalid(outputFilePath);
        List<String> placeholderValues = fileUtil.getPlaceholderValues(inputFilePath, placeholderKeys);
        String generatedMessage = String.format(formattedMessage, placeholderValues.toArray());
        fileUtil.writeToFile(outputFilePath, generatedMessage);
        return generatedMessage;
    }

As you can see, I have two method calls the only meaning of which is to throw exceptions. Here is one of them:

/**
 * Throws exceptions if input file path is invalid
 *
 * @throws InvalidInputException         if input is blank
 * @throws InvalidFileExtensionException if provided file is not of a properties type
 * @throws PathNotValidException         if provided output file path is not valid
 * @throws FileNotFoundException         if provided input file is not found
 */
public void throwExceptionIfInputPathInvalid(String path) {
    throwExceptionIfOutputPathInvalid(path);
    if (!InputValidator.isExtensionValid(new File(path), ".properties"))
        throw new InvalidFileExtensionException("File should be of properties type");
    if (!Files.exists(Paths.get(path))) throw new FileNotFoundException();
}

Do I need to include these exceptions to docs of a generateMessage method?

Solution

I'd include these exceptions. Someone using the method generateMessage shouldn't have to know (or care) that internally it uses throwExceptionIfInputPathInvalid.

Alternatively, you could say something like "This method uses throwExceptionIfInputPathInvalid to check the validity of inputFilePath and outputFilePath. See its documentation for details on the exceptions it may throw."

Answered By - Mureinik
Answer Checked By - Senaida (JavaFixing Volunteer)