Should I close a JarFile if it throws an I/O error when opening it? (Do the general rules for handling streams apply?)

Question

new JarFile(path) can trow an I/O exception.

If that happens, and I catch the exception, should I close it? (I guess the real question is, is there anything to close?)

The other question is: if it works, should I clean up? I.e., do the general rules for dealing with streams apply?

Sorry if the question is a bit naff; I'm new to dealing with JarFile (and haven't really used streams in the past, either).

Answer 1

There is nothing to close if new JarFile(path) throws an IOException:

JarFile file = null;

try {
    file = new JarFile("does/not/exist");
} catch (IOException e) {
    System.out.println(file); //Prints out null
}

try {
    file.close(); //Throws NullPointerException
} catch (IOException e) {
    e.printStackTrace();
}