I like user64141's answer but found that it could be more generalized. Here's my take:
public abstract class ExpectedThrowableAsserter implements Runnable {
private final Class<? extends Throwable> throwableClass;
private final String expectedExceptionMessage;
protected ExpectedThrowableAsserter(Class<? extends Throwable> throwableClass, String expectedExceptionMessage) {
this.throwableClass = throwableClass;
this.expectedExceptionMessage = expectedExceptionMessage;
}
public final void run() {
try {
expectException();
} catch (Throwable e) {
assertTrue(String.format("Caught unexpected %s", e.getClass().getSimpleName()), throwableClass.isInstance(e));
assertEquals(String.format("%s caught, but unexpected message", throwableClass.getSimpleName()), expectedExceptionMessage, e.getMessage());
return;
}
fail(String.format("Expected %s, but no exception was thrown.", throwableClass.getSimpleName()));
}
protected abstract void expectException();
}
Note that leaving the "fail" statement within the try block causes the related assertion exception to be caught; using return within the catch statement prevents this.