Problem
The /database endpoint in GettingStartedApplication.java catches all Throwable exceptions and renders an error template with HTTP 200:
@GetMapping("/database")
String database(Map<String, Object> model) {
try (Connection connection = dataSource.getConnection()) {
// ...
} catch (Throwable t) {
model.put("message", t.getMessage());
return "error";
}
}When the database connection fails (e.g. transient network issue, SSL negotiation failure after a dyno restart), the endpoint returns a 200 OK with the body <p>The connection attempt failed.</p>.
This is a problem because:
curl --fail can't detect the error — it only triggers on HTTP 4xx/5xx status codes, so automated checks that rely on curl --fail silently pass even though the database interaction failed.- The
ticks table is never created — since CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS ticks runs inside the same try block, a connection failure means the table doesn't exist, causing downstream SELECT * FROM ticks queries to blow up with ERROR: relation "ticks" does not exist.
- Misleading for newcomers — a 200 response suggests success, making transient database issues harder to diagnose.
Suggested Fix
Return an HTTP 500 status on failure so that standard HTTP error detection works:
@GetMapping("/database")
String database(Map<String, Object> model, HttpServletResponse response) {
try (Connection connection = dataSource.getConnection()) {
// ... existing logic ...
} catch (Throwable t) {
response.setStatus(HttpServletResponse.SC_INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR);
model.put("message", t.getMessage());
return "error";
}
}Context
Discovered during automated tutorial doc generation where all 17 other language/framework builds passed but java_maven_classic failed. The /database curl silently returned 200 with an error page, so the failure wasn't caught until heroku pg:psql -c "SELECT * FROM ticks" ran and the table didn't exist.
Problem
The
/databaseendpoint inGettingStartedApplication.javacatches allThrowableexceptions and renders an error template with HTTP 200:When the database connection fails (e.g. transient network issue, SSL negotiation failure after a dyno restart), the endpoint returns a
200 OKwith the body<p>The connection attempt failed.</p>.This is a problem because:
curl --failcan't detect the error — it only triggers on HTTP 4xx/5xx status codes, so automated checks that rely oncurl --failsilently pass even though the database interaction failed.tickstable is never created — sinceCREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS ticksruns inside the same try block, a connection failure means the table doesn't exist, causing downstreamSELECT * FROM ticksqueries to blow up withERROR: relation "ticks" does not exist.Suggested Fix
Return an HTTP 500 status on failure so that standard HTTP error detection works:
Context
Discovered during automated tutorial doc generation where all 17 other language/framework builds passed but
java_maven_classicfailed. The/databasecurl silently returned 200 with an error page, so the failure wasn't caught untilheroku pg:psql -c "SELECT * FROM ticks"ran and the table didn't exist.