JDBC driver throws unfriendly exceptions

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POSTGRESQL BUG REPORT TEMPLATE
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Your name : Jered Floyd
Your email address : jered(at)permabit(dot)com

System Configuration
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Architecture (example: Intel Pentium) : x86

Operating System (example: Linux 2.0.26 ELF) : Linux 2.2.17

PostgreSQL version (example: PostgreSQL-7.0): PostgreSQL-7.0.3

Compiler used (example: gcc 2.8.0) : gcc 2.95.2

Please enter a FULL description of your problem:
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While using the JDBC driver:
Attempting to access data from a ResultSet (with getXXX(), etc.) before
calling ResultSet.next() causes a NullPointerException to be thrown at
the deference of this_row[] at ResultSet.java:164.

Yes, I'm a bonehead for trying to access the row data before calling
next(), but this isn't the ideal thing to have happen. The driver should
catch this case (by checking this_row[] or catching the exception) and
throw something more descriptive.

Please describe a way to repeat the problem. Please try to provide a
concise reproducible example, if at all possible:
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After construcing a PreparedStatement ps:
int i;
ResultSet rs = ps.executeQuery();
if (rs != null)
i = getInt(1);

If you know how this problem might be fixed, list the solution below:
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As I mention above, the driver should catch this case and throw a more
descriptive exception. It's inappropriate and un-neighborly to go
around throwing exceptions like NullPointerException or
ArrayIndexOutOfBoundsException.

I think (hope) the JDBC driver is a moving target, so I'll take a look
at this issue when I move over to using 7.1beta (after I've beaten 7.0
into submission.)