Sonar Fixes

Fixes to the sonar issues along with some cleanup code to remove warnings.

Issue-Id: POLICY-113
Change-Id: I826562f7509c346210ac865cc6b31bce26bee2cf
Signed-off-by: Tej, Tarun <tt3868@att.com>

27 files changed, 281 insertions, 168 deletions

diff --git a/BRMSGateway/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/brmsInterface/BRMSPush.java b/BRMSGateway/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/brmsInterface/BRMSPush.java
index f6f7c1214..b09a3d8c8 100644
--- a/BRMSGateway/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/brmsInterface/BRMSPush.java
+++ b/BRMSGateway/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/brmsInterface/BRMSPush.java
@@ -626,6 +626,9 @@ public class BRMSPush {
 
     // Additional Check due to Limitations from Nexus API to check if the artifact is the latest.
     private NexusArtifact additionalNexusLatestCheck(String selectedName, NexusArtifact result) {
+        if(result==null){
+            return result;
+        }
         String nextVersion = incrementVersion(result.getVersion());
         List<NexusArtifact> artifact = getArtifactFromNexus(selectedName, nextVersion);
         return artifact.isEmpty() ? result : additionalNexusLatestCheck(selectedName, artifact.get(0));
diff --git a/LogParser/src/main/java/org/onap/xacml/parser/ParseLog.java b/LogParser/src/main/java/org/onap/xacml/parser/ParseLog.java
index 461220617..c3d631e1f 100644
--- a/LogParser/src/main/java/org/onap/xacml/parser/ParseLog.java
+++ b/LogParser/src/main/java/org/onap/xacml/parser/ParseLog.java
@@ -126,20 +126,13 @@ public class ParseLog {
 	
 	private static boolean processLine(Path debugfilePath, String dataFileName, int lastNmRead, LOGTYPE logType){
 		// log4jlogger must use .info
-		Stream<String> lines = null;
-		try {
-			lines = Files.lines(debugfilePath, Charset.defaultCharset()).onClose(() -> log4jlogger.info(last+dataFileName+ lineRead + lastNmRead)).skip(lastNmRead);
+		try(Stream<String> lines = Files.lines(debugfilePath, Charset.defaultCharset()).onClose(() -> log4jlogger.info(last+dataFileName+ lineRead + lastNmRead)).skip(lastNmRead)){
 			lines.forEachOrdered(line -> process(line, type, logType));
 		} catch (IOException e) {
 			logger.error(loggingProcess + dataFileName, e);
 			logger.error(breakLoop);
 			return true;
-		}finally{
-			if(lines != null){
-				lines.close();
-			}
 		}
-         
 		return false;
 	}
 	private static void processDebugLogParser(File debugfile, Path debugfilePath, String dataFileName){
diff --git a/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/XACMLPapServlet.java b/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/XACMLPapServlet.java
index 5132fae48..121e4bc0b 100644
--- a/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/XACMLPapServlet.java
+++ b/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/XACMLPapServlet.java
@@ -80,6 +80,7 @@ import org.onap.policy.pap.xacml.rest.handler.SavePolicyHandler;
 import org.onap.policy.pap.xacml.restAuth.CheckPDP;
 import org.onap.policy.rest.XACMLRest;
 import org.onap.policy.rest.XACMLRestProperties;
+import org.onap.policy.rest.dao.PolicyDBException;
 import org.onap.policy.utils.PolicyUtils;
 import org.onap.policy.xacml.api.XACMLErrorConstants;
 import org.onap.policy.xacml.api.pap.ONAPPapEngineFactory;
@@ -113,7 +114,6 @@ import com.google.common.base.Splitter;
 		})
 public class XACMLPapServlet extends HttpServlet implements StdItemSetChangeListener, Runnable {
 	private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
-	private static final String localIp = "127.0.0.1";
 	private static final Logger LOGGER	= FlexLogger.getLogger(XACMLPapServlet.class);
 	// audit (transaction) LOGGER
 	private static final Logger auditLogger = FlexLogger.getLogger("auditLogger");
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ public class XACMLPapServlet extends HttpServlet implements StdItemSetChangeList
 	 * This thread may be invoked upon startup to initiate sending PDP policy/pip configuration when
 	 * this servlet starts. Its configurable by the admin.
 	 */
-	private transient static Thread initiateThread = null;
+	private static transient Thread initiateThread = null;
 	private transient ONAPLoggingContext baseLoggingContext = null;
 	
 	/**
@@ -284,22 +284,24 @@ public class XACMLPapServlet extends HttpServlet implements StdItemSetChangeList
 			// The factory knows how to go about creating a PAP Engine
 			setPAPEngine((PAPPolicyEngine) factory.newEngine());
 			PolicyDBDaoTransaction addNewGroup = null;
-			try{
-				if(((org.onap.policy.xacml.std.pap.StdEngine)papEngine).wasDefaultGroupJustAdded){
-					addNewGroup = policyDBDao.getNewTransaction();
-					OnapPDPGroup group = papEngine.getDefaultGroup();
-					addNewGroup.createGroup(group.getId(), group.getName(), group.getDescription(), "automaticallyAdded");
-					addNewGroup.commitTransaction();
-					addNewGroup = policyDBDao.getNewTransaction();
-					addNewGroup.changeDefaultGroup(group, "automaticallyAdded");
-					addNewGroup.commitTransaction();
-				}
-			} catch(Exception e){
-				PolicyLogger.error(MessageCodes.EXCEPTION_ERROR, e, "XACMLPapServlet", " Error creating new default group in the database");
-				if(addNewGroup != null){
-					addNewGroup.rollbackTransaction();
-				}
-			}
+            if (((org.onap.policy.xacml.std.pap.StdEngine) papEngine).wasDefaultGroupJustAdded) {
+                try {
+                    addNewGroup = policyDBDao.getNewTransaction();
+                    OnapPDPGroup group = papEngine.getDefaultGroup();
+                    addNewGroup.createGroup(group.getId(), group.getName(), group.getDescription(),
+                            "automaticallyAdded");
+                    addNewGroup.commitTransaction();
+                    addNewGroup = policyDBDao.getNewTransaction();
+                    addNewGroup.changeDefaultGroup(group, "automaticallyAdded");
+                    addNewGroup.commitTransaction();
+                } catch (Exception e) {
+                    PolicyLogger.error(MessageCodes.EXCEPTION_ERROR, e, "XACMLPapServlet",
+                            " Error creating new default group in the database");
+                    if (addNewGroup != null) {
+                        addNewGroup.rollbackTransaction();
+                    }
+                }
+            }
 			policyDBDao.setPapEngine((PAPPolicyEngine) XACMLPapServlet.papEngine);
     		if (Boolean.parseBoolean(XACMLProperties.getProperty(XACMLRestProperties.PROP_PAP_RUN_AUDIT_FLAG))){
     			//get an AuditTransaction to lock out all other transactions
@@ -564,7 +566,7 @@ public class XACMLPapServlet extends HttpServlet implements StdItemSetChangeList
 					try {
 						pdpTransaction.addPdpToGroup(id, XACMLPapServlet.papEngine.getDefaultGroup().getId(), id, "Registered on first startup", Integer.parseInt(jmxport), "PDP autoregister");
 						XACMLPapServlet.papEngine.newPDP(id, XACMLPapServlet.papEngine.getDefaultGroup(), id, "Registered on first startup", Integer.parseInt(jmxport));
-					} catch (NullPointerException | PAPException | IllegalArgumentException | IllegalStateException | PersistenceException e) {
+					} catch (NullPointerException | PAPException | IllegalArgumentException | IllegalStateException | PersistenceException | PolicyDBException e) {
 						pdpTransaction.rollbackTransaction();
 						String message = "Failed to create new PDP for id: " + id;
 						PolicyLogger.error(MessageCodes.ERROR_PROCESS_FLOW, e, "XACMLPapServlet", " " + message);
@@ -575,7 +577,11 @@ public class XACMLPapServlet extends HttpServlet implements StdItemSetChangeList
 						return;
 					}
 					// get the PDP we just created
-					pdp = XACMLPapServlet.papEngine.getPDP(id);
+		            try{
+		                pdp = XACMLPapServlet.papEngine.getPDP(id);
+		            }catch(PAPException e){
+		                LOGGER.error(e);
+		            }
 					if (pdp == null) {
 						if(pdpTransaction != null){
 							pdpTransaction.rollbackTransaction();
@@ -604,10 +610,19 @@ public class XACMLPapServlet extends HttpServlet implements StdItemSetChangeList
 				}
 			}
 			if (jmxport != null && jmxport != ""){
-				((StdPDP) pdp).setJmxPort(Integer.valueOf(jmxport));
+			    try{
+	                ((StdPDP) pdp).setJmxPort(Integer.valueOf(jmxport));
+			    }catch(NumberFormatException e){
+			        LOGGER.error(e);
+			    }
 			}
 			// Get the PDP's Group
-			OnapPDPGroup group = XACMLPapServlet.papEngine.getPDPGroup((OnapPDP) pdp);
+			OnapPDPGroup group =null;
+			try{
+	            group= XACMLPapServlet.papEngine.getPDPGroup((OnapPDP) pdp);
+			}catch(PAPException e){
+			    LOGGER.error(e);
+			}
 			if (group == null) {
 				PolicyLogger.error(MessageCodes.ERROR_PROCESS_FLOW + " PDP not associated with any group, even the default");
 				loggingContext.transactionEnded();
@@ -622,7 +637,11 @@ public class XACMLPapServlet extends HttpServlet implements StdItemSetChangeList
 			Properties pipconfig = group.getPipConfigProperties();
 			// Get the current policy/pip configuration that the PDP has
 			Properties pdpProperties = new Properties();
-			pdpProperties.load(request.getInputStream());
+			try{
+	            pdpProperties.load(request.getInputStream());
+			}catch(IOException e){
+			    LOGGER.error(e);
+			}
 			LOGGER.info("PDP Current Properties: " + pdpProperties.toString());
 			LOGGER.info("Policies: " + (policies != null ? policies.toString() : "null"));
 			LOGGER.info("Pip config: " + (pipconfig != null ? pipconfig.toString() : "null"));
@@ -637,19 +656,35 @@ public class XACMLPapServlet extends HttpServlet implements StdItemSetChangeList
 					// retrieve them.
 					this.populatePolicyURL(request.getRequestURL(), policies);
 					// Copy the properties to the output stream
-					policies.store(response.getOutputStream(), "");
+					try{
+					    policies.store(response.getOutputStream(), "");
+					}catch(IOException e){
+		                LOGGER.error(e);
+		            }
 				}
 				if (pipconfig != null) {
 					// Copy the properties to the output stream
-					pipconfig.store(response.getOutputStream(), "");
+					try{
+					    pipconfig.store(response.getOutputStream(), "");
+					}catch(IOException e){
+		                LOGGER.error(e);
+		            }
 				}
 				// We are good - and we are sending them information
 				response.setStatus(HttpServletResponse.SC_OK);
-				setPDPSummaryStatus(pdp, PDPStatus.Status.OUT_OF_SYNCH);
+				try{
+				    setPDPSummaryStatus(pdp, PDPStatus.Status.OUT_OF_SYNCH);
+				}catch(PAPException e){
+	                LOGGER.error(e);
+	            }
 			} else {
 				// Tell them they are good
 				response.setStatus(HttpServletResponse.SC_NO_CONTENT);
-				setPDPSummaryStatus(pdp, PDPStatus.Status.UP_TO_DATE);
+				try{
+				    setPDPSummaryStatus(pdp, PDPStatus.Status.UP_TO_DATE);
+				}catch(PAPException e){
+	                LOGGER.error(e);
+	            }
 			}
 			// tell the AC that something changed
 			notifyAC();
@@ -769,12 +804,16 @@ public class XACMLPapServlet extends HttpServlet implements StdItemSetChangeList
 			String id = this.getPDPID(request);
 			LOGGER.info("doGet from: " + id);
 			// Get the PDP Object
-			OnapPDP pdp = XACMLPapServlet.papEngine.getPDP(id);
+			OnapPDP pdp = null;
+			try{
+			    pdp = XACMLPapServlet.papEngine.getPDP(id);
+			}catch(PAPException e){
+			    LOGGER.error(e);
+			}
 			// Is it known?
 			if (pdp == null) {
 				// Check if request came from localhost
 				if (request.getRemoteHost().equals("localhost") ||
-						request.getRemoteHost().equals(localIp) ||
 						request.getRemoteHost().equals(request.getLocalAddr())) {
 					// Return status information - basically all the groups
 					loggingContext.setServiceName("PAP.getGroups");
@@ -1845,6 +1884,7 @@ public class XACMLPapServlet extends HttpServlet implements StdItemSetChangeList
 				} catch(Exception e){
 					PolicyLogger.error(MessageCodes.ERROR_PROCESS_FLOW + " Error while updating group in the database: "
 							+"group="+group.getId());
+					LOGGER.error(e);
 					throw new PAPException(e.getMessage());
 				}
 				
@@ -1899,7 +1939,7 @@ public class XACMLPapServlet extends HttpServlet implements StdItemSetChangeList
 			try{
 				policyToDelete = URLDecoder.decode(policyToDelete,"UTF-8");
 			} catch(UnsupportedEncodingException e){
-				PolicyLogger.error("Unsupported URL encoding of policyToDelete (UTF-8");
+				LOGGER.error("Unsupported URL encoding of policyToDelete (UTF-8", e);
 				setResponseError(response,HttpServletResponse.SC_INTERNAL_SERVER_ERROR,"policyToDelete encoding not supported");
 				return;
 			}
@@ -1945,7 +1985,7 @@ public class XACMLPapServlet extends HttpServlet implements StdItemSetChangeList
 				try{
 					removePdpOrGroupTransaction.removePdpFromGroup(pdp.getId(),"XACMLPapServlet.doACDelete");
 				} catch(Exception e){
-					throw new PAPException();
+					throw new PAPException(e);
 				}
 				papEngine.removePDP((OnapPDP) pdp);
 				// adjust the status of the group, which may have changed when we removed this PDP
@@ -2215,7 +2255,7 @@ public class XACMLPapServlet extends HttpServlet implements StdItemSetChangeList
 			groups = papEngine.getOnapPDPGroups();
 		} catch (PAPException e) {
 			PolicyLogger.error(MessageCodes.ERROR_SYSTEM_ERROR, e, "XACMLPapServlet", " getPDPGroups failed");
-			throw new RuntimeException(XACMLErrorConstants.ERROR_SYSTEM_ERROR + "Unable to get Groups: " + e);
+			throw new IllegalAccessError(XACMLErrorConstants.ERROR_SYSTEM_ERROR + "Unable to get Groups: " + e);
 		}
 		for (OnapPDPGroup group : groups) {
 			groupChanged(group);
@@ -2463,7 +2503,7 @@ public class XACMLPapServlet extends HttpServlet implements StdItemSetChangeList
 			}
 			String message = "GET:/pap/test called and PAP " + papResourceName + " has had a subsystem failure."
 					+ " Exception Message: " + eMsg;
-			LOGGER.info(message);
+			LOGGER.info(message, e);
 			PolicyLogger.error(MessageCodes.ERROR_SYSTEM_ERROR + " " + message);
 			loggingContext.transactionEnded();
 			PolicyLogger.audit("Transaction Failed - See Error.log");
@@ -2514,7 +2554,7 @@ public class XACMLPapServlet extends HttpServlet implements StdItemSetChangeList
 				try {
 					Files.createDirectories(webappsPathConfig);
 				} catch (IOException e) {
-					PolicyLogger.error(MessageCodes.ERROR_PROCESS_FLOW, e, "XACMLPapServlet", " Failed to create config directory: "
+					PolicyLogger.error(MessageCodes.ERROR_PROCESS_FLOW, e, "XACMLPapServlet", "Failed to create config directory: "
 							+ webappsPathConfig.toAbsolutePath().toString());
 				}
 			}
@@ -2522,7 +2562,7 @@ public class XACMLPapServlet extends HttpServlet implements StdItemSetChangeList
 				try {
 					Files.createDirectories(webappsPathAction);
 				} catch (IOException e) {
-					LOGGER.error(XACMLErrorConstants.ERROR_PROCESS_FLOW + "Failed to create config directory: "
+					LOGGER.error(XACMLErrorConstants.ERROR_PROCESS_FLOW + "Failed to create action directory: "
 							+ webappsPathAction.toAbsolutePath().toString(), e);
 				}
 			}
diff --git a/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/ActionPolicy.java b/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/ActionPolicy.java
index 7addf2f88..ae17ebf67 100644
--- a/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/ActionPolicy.java
+++ b/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/ActionPolicy.java
@@ -57,6 +57,9 @@ import org.onap.policy.rest.jpa.ActionPolicyDict;
 import org.onap.policy.rest.jpa.Datatype;
 import org.onap.policy.rest.jpa.FunctionDefinition;
 import org.onap.policy.xacml.api.XACMLErrorConstants;
+
+import com.att.research.xacml.api.pap.PAPException;
+
 import org.onap.policy.common.logging.eelf.MessageCodes;
 import org.onap.policy.common.logging.eelf.PolicyLogger;
 import org.onap.policy.common.logging.flexlogger.FlexLogger; 
@@ -94,7 +97,7 @@ public class ActionPolicy extends Policy {
 	protected Map<String, String> dropDownMap = new HashMap<>();
 	
 	private static boolean isAttribute = false;
-	private static synchronized boolean getAttribute () {
+	private synchronized static boolean getAttribute () {
 		return isAttribute;
 
 	}
@@ -111,7 +114,7 @@ public class ActionPolicy extends Policy {
 	}
 	
 	@Override
-	public Map<String, String> savePolicies() throws Exception {
+	public Map<String, String> savePolicies() throws PAPException {
 		
 		Map<String, String> successMap = new HashMap<>();
 		if(isPolicyExists()){
@@ -139,7 +142,7 @@ public class ActionPolicy extends Policy {
 	//This is the method for preparing the policy for saving.  We have broken it out
 	//separately because the fully configured policy is used for multiple things
 	@Override
-	public boolean prepareToSave() throws Exception{
+	public boolean prepareToSave() throws PAPException{
 
 		if(isPreparedToSave()){
 			//we have already done this
diff --git a/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/ClosedLoopPolicy.java b/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/ClosedLoopPolicy.java
index 2a5e9d3dd..8e9c4b659 100644
--- a/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/ClosedLoopPolicy.java
+++ b/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/ClosedLoopPolicy.java
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ import org.onap.policy.common.logging.flexlogger.FlexLogger;
 import org.onap.policy.common.logging.flexlogger.Logger;
 import org.onap.policy.rest.adapter.PolicyRestAdapter;
 
+import com.att.research.xacml.api.pap.PAPException;
 import com.att.research.xacml.std.IdentifierImpl;
 
 import oasis.names.tc.xacml._3_0.core.schema.wd_17.AdviceExpressionType;
@@ -114,7 +115,7 @@ public class ClosedLoopPolicy extends Policy {
 	}
 
 	@Override
-	public Map<String, String> savePolicies() throws Exception {
+	public Map<String, String> savePolicies() throws PAPException {
 		
 		Map<String, String> successMap = new HashMap<>();
 		if(isPolicyExists()){
@@ -137,7 +138,7 @@ public class ClosedLoopPolicy extends Policy {
 	//This is the method for preparing the policy for saving.  We have broken it out
 	//separately because the fully configured policy is used for multiple things
 	@Override
-	public boolean prepareToSave() throws Exception{
+	public boolean prepareToSave() throws PAPException{
 		
 		if(isPreparedToSave()){
 			//we have already done this
diff --git a/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/ConfigPolicy.java b/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/ConfigPolicy.java
index 02ba2ef14..63a62d23d 100644
--- a/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/ConfigPolicy.java
+++ b/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/ConfigPolicy.java
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ import org.xml.sax.SAXException;
 import org.xml.sax.SAXParseException;
 import org.xml.sax.XMLReader;
 
+import com.att.research.xacml.api.pap.PAPException;
 import com.att.research.xacml.std.IdentifierImpl;
 
 public class ConfigPolicy extends Policy {
@@ -231,7 +232,7 @@ public class ConfigPolicy extends Policy {
 	}
 
 	@Override
-	public Map<String, String> savePolicies() throws Exception {
+	public Map<String, String> savePolicies() throws PAPException {
 		
 		Map<String, String> successMap = new HashMap<>();
 		if(isPolicyExists()){
@@ -254,7 +255,7 @@ public class ConfigPolicy extends Policy {
 	//This is the method for preparing the policy for saving.  We have broken it out
 	//separately because the fully configured policy is used for multiple things
 	@Override
-	public boolean prepareToSave() throws Exception{
+	public boolean prepareToSave() throws PAPException{
 
 		if(isPreparedToSave()){
 			return true;
diff --git a/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/CreateBrmsParamPolicy.java b/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/CreateBrmsParamPolicy.java
index 5abe7ce10..b27dd22ca 100644
--- a/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/CreateBrmsParamPolicy.java
+++ b/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/CreateBrmsParamPolicy.java
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ import org.onap.policy.pap.xacml.rest.daoimpl.CommonClassDaoImpl;
 import org.onap.policy.rest.adapter.PolicyRestAdapter;
 import org.onap.policy.rest.jpa.BRMSParamTemplate;
 
+import com.att.research.xacml.api.pap.PAPException;
 import com.att.research.xacml.std.IdentifierImpl;
 
 import oasis.names.tc.xacml._3_0.core.schema.wd_17.AdviceExpressionType;
@@ -164,7 +165,7 @@ public class CreateBrmsParamPolicy extends Policy {
 	}
 
 	@Override
-	public Map<String, String> savePolicies() throws Exception {
+	public Map<String, String> savePolicies() throws PAPException {
 		
 		Map<String, String> successMap = new HashMap<>();
 		if(isPolicyExists()){
@@ -303,7 +304,7 @@ public class CreateBrmsParamPolicy extends Policy {
 	// separately because the fully configured policy is used for multiple
 	// things
 	@Override
-	public boolean prepareToSave() throws Exception {
+	public boolean prepareToSave() throws PAPException {
 		
 		if (isPreparedToSave()) {
 			// we have already done this
diff --git a/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/CreateBrmsRawPolicy.java b/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/CreateBrmsRawPolicy.java
index 4bcb05788..a6240e0ee 100644
--- a/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/CreateBrmsRawPolicy.java
+++ b/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/CreateBrmsRawPolicy.java
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ import org.onap.policy.common.logging.eelf.PolicyLogger;
 import org.onap.policy.pap.xacml.rest.controller.BRMSDictionaryController;
 import org.onap.policy.rest.adapter.PolicyRestAdapter;
 
+import com.att.research.xacml.api.pap.PAPException;
 import com.att.research.xacml.std.IdentifierImpl;
 
 import oasis.names.tc.xacml._3_0.core.schema.wd_17.AdviceExpressionType;
@@ -115,7 +116,7 @@ public class CreateBrmsRawPolicy extends Policy {
 	}
 
 	@Override
-	public Map<String, String> savePolicies() throws Exception {
+	public Map<String, String> savePolicies() throws PAPException {
 		
 		Map<String, String> successMap = new HashMap<>();
 		if(isPolicyExists()){
@@ -146,7 +147,7 @@ public class CreateBrmsRawPolicy extends Policy {
 	// separately because the fully configured policy is used for multiple
 	// things
 	@Override
-	public boolean prepareToSave() throws Exception {
+	public boolean prepareToSave() throws PAPException {
 
 		if (isPreparedToSave()) {
 			// we have already done this
diff --git a/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/CreateClosedLoopPerformanceMetrics.java b/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/CreateClosedLoopPerformanceMetrics.java
index ada704465..68cc9eff7 100644
--- a/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/CreateClosedLoopPerformanceMetrics.java
+++ b/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/CreateClosedLoopPerformanceMetrics.java
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ import org.onap.policy.common.logging.flexlogger.FlexLogger;
 import org.onap.policy.common.logging.flexlogger.Logger;
 import org.onap.policy.rest.adapter.PolicyRestAdapter;
 
+import com.att.research.xacml.api.pap.PAPException;
 import com.att.research.xacml.std.IdentifierImpl;
 
 import oasis.names.tc.xacml._3_0.core.schema.wd_17.AdviceExpressionType;
@@ -99,7 +100,7 @@ public class CreateClosedLoopPerformanceMetrics extends Policy {
 	}
 	
 	@Override
-	public Map<String, String> savePolicies() throws Exception {
+	public Map<String, String> savePolicies() throws PAPException {
 
 		Map<String, String> successMap = new HashMap<>();
 		if(isPolicyExists()){
@@ -124,7 +125,7 @@ public class CreateClosedLoopPerformanceMetrics extends Policy {
 	//This is the method for preparing the policy for saving.  We have broken it out
 	//separately because the fully configured policy is used for multiple things
 	@Override
-	public boolean prepareToSave() throws Exception{
+	public boolean prepareToSave() throws PAPException{
 
 		if(isPreparedToSave()){
 			//we have already done this
diff --git a/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/DecisionPolicy.java b/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/DecisionPolicy.java
index fe9c581e9..6e43c967c 100644
--- a/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/DecisionPolicy.java
+++ b/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/DecisionPolicy.java
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ import org.onap.policy.xacml.api.XACMLErrorConstants;
 import org.onap.policy.xacml.std.pip.engines.aaf.AAFEngine;
 import org.onap.policy.xacml.util.XACMLPolicyScanner;
 
+import com.att.research.xacml.api.pap.PAPException;
 import com.att.research.xacml.std.IdentifierImpl;
 
 import oasis.names.tc.xacml._3_0.core.schema.wd_17.AdviceExpressionType;
@@ -118,7 +119,7 @@ public class DecisionPolicy extends Policy {
 	}
 	
 	@Override
-	public Map<String, String> savePolicies() throws Exception {
+	public Map<String, String> savePolicies() throws PAPException {
 
 		Map<String, String> successMap = new HashMap<>();
 		if(isPolicyExists()){
@@ -142,7 +143,7 @@ public class DecisionPolicy extends Policy {
 	//This is the method for preparing the policy for saving.  We have broken it out
 	//separately because the fully configured policy is used for multiple things
 	@Override
-	public boolean prepareToSave() throws Exception{
+	public boolean prepareToSave() throws PAPException{
 
 		if(isPreparedToSave()){
 			//we have already done this
@@ -176,12 +177,17 @@ public class DecisionPolicy extends Policy {
 			yamlParams.put(ONAPNAME, policyAdapter.getOnapName());
 			Map<String, String> params = policyAdapter.getDynamicFieldConfigAttributes();
 			yamlParams.putAll(params);
-			// Call YAML to XACML 
-			PolicyType decisionPolicy = getGuardPolicy(yamlParams, policyAdapter.getRuleProvider());
-			decisionPolicy.setRuleCombiningAlgId(policyAdapter.getRuleCombiningAlgId());
-			decisionPolicy.setVersion(Integer.toString(version));
-			policyAdapter.setPolicyData(decisionPolicy);
-			policyAdapter.setData(decisionPolicy);
+			// Call YAML to XACML
+            try {
+                PolicyType decisionPolicy = getGuardPolicy(yamlParams, policyAdapter.getRuleProvider());
+                decisionPolicy.setRuleCombiningAlgId(policyAdapter.getRuleCombiningAlgId());
+                decisionPolicy.setVersion(Integer.toString(version));
+                policyAdapter.setPolicyData(decisionPolicy);
+                policyAdapter.setData(decisionPolicy);
+            } catch (BuilderException e) {
+                LOGGER.error(e);
+                throw new PAPException(e);
+            }
 		}else if (policyAdapter.getData() != null) {
 			PolicyType decisionPolicy = (PolicyType)  policyAdapter.getData();
 			
diff --git a/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/FirewallConfigPolicy.java b/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/FirewallConfigPolicy.java
index 0c8784c81..d95b36709 100644
--- a/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/FirewallConfigPolicy.java
+++ b/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/FirewallConfigPolicy.java
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ import org.onap.policy.rest.jpa.ServiceList;
 import org.onap.policy.rest.jpa.TermList;
 import org.onap.policy.rest.jpa.UserInfo;
 
+import com.att.research.xacml.api.pap.PAPException;
 import com.att.research.xacml.std.IdentifierImpl;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.JsonNode;
 import com.github.fge.jackson.JsonLoader;
@@ -129,7 +130,7 @@ public class FirewallConfigPolicy extends Policy {
 	}
 
 	@Override
-	public Map<String, String> savePolicies() throws Exception {
+	public Map<String, String> savePolicies() throws PAPException {
 		Map<String, String> successMap = new HashMap<>();
 		if(isPolicyExists()){
 			successMap.put("EXISTS", "This Policy already exist on the PAP");
@@ -147,7 +148,11 @@ public class FirewallConfigPolicy extends Policy {
 			if (policyAdapter.isEditPolicy()) {
 				dbIsUpdated = updateFirewallDictionaryData(policyAdapter.getJsonBody(), policyAdapter.getPrevJsonBody());
 			} else {
-				dbIsUpdated = insertFirewallDicionaryData(policyAdapter.getJsonBody());
+				try {
+                    dbIsUpdated = insertFirewallDicionaryData(policyAdapter.getJsonBody());
+                } catch (SQLException e) {
+                    throw new PAPException(e);
+                }
 			}
 		} else {
 			dbIsUpdated = true;
@@ -174,7 +179,7 @@ public class FirewallConfigPolicy extends Policy {
 	//This is the method for preparing the policy for saving.  We have broken it out
 	//separately because the fully configured policy is used for multiple things
 	@Override
-	public boolean prepareToSave() throws Exception{
+	public boolean prepareToSave() throws PAPException{
 
 		if(isPreparedToSave()){
 			//we have already done this
diff --git a/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/MicroServiceConfigPolicy.java b/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/MicroServiceConfigPolicy.java
index b45d2941a..b0e48a7f4 100644
--- a/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/MicroServiceConfigPolicy.java
+++ b/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/MicroServiceConfigPolicy.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 package org.onap.policy.pap.xacml.rest.components;
 
 import java.io.File;
+import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.PrintWriter;
 import java.net.URI;
 import java.net.URISyntaxException;
@@ -42,6 +43,7 @@ import org.onap.policy.pap.xacml.rest.daoimpl.CommonClassDaoImpl;
 import org.onap.policy.rest.adapter.PolicyRestAdapter;
 import org.onap.policy.rest.jpa.MicroServiceModels;
 
+import com.att.research.xacml.api.pap.PAPException;
 import com.att.research.xacml.std.IdentifierImpl;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.JsonNode;
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
@@ -100,7 +102,7 @@ public class MicroServiceConfigPolicy extends Policy {
 	
 	
 	@Override
-	public Map<String, String> savePolicies() throws Exception {
+	public Map<String, String> savePolicies() throws PAPException {
 
 		Map<String, String> successMap = new HashMap<>();
 		if(isPolicyExists()){
@@ -125,7 +127,7 @@ public class MicroServiceConfigPolicy extends Policy {
 	//This is the method for preparing the policy for saving.  We have broken it out
 	//separately because the fully configured policy is used for multiple things
 	@Override
-	public boolean prepareToSave() throws Exception{
+	public boolean prepareToSave() throws PAPException{
 
 		if(isPreparedToSave()){
 			//we have already done this
@@ -172,26 +174,28 @@ public class MicroServiceConfigPolicy extends Policy {
 			
             //setup values for pulling out matching attributes
             ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
-            JsonNode rootNode = mapper.readTree(policyAdapter.getJsonBody());
             String matching = null;
-            
-            if (policyAdapter.getTtlDate()==null){
-                policyAdapter.setTtlDate("NA");
-            }
-            if (policyAdapter.getServiceType().contains("-v")){
-                matching = getValueFromDictionary(policyAdapter.getServiceType());
-            } else {
-                String jsonVersion  = StringUtils.replaceEach(rootNode.get("version").toString(), new String[]{"\""}, new String[]{""});
-                matching = getValueFromDictionary(policyAdapter.getServiceType() + "-v" + jsonVersion);
-            }
-
             Map<String, String> matchMap = null;
-            if (matching != null && !matching.isEmpty()){
-                matchMap = Splitter.on(",").withKeyValueSeparator("=").split(matching);
-		setMatchMap(matchMap);
-                if(policyAdapter.getJsonBody() != null){
-                    pullMatchValue(rootNode);           
+            try {
+                JsonNode rootNode = mapper.readTree(policyAdapter.getJsonBody());
+                if (policyAdapter.getTtlDate()==null){
+                    policyAdapter.setTtlDate("NA");
+                }
+                if (policyAdapter.getServiceType().contains("-v")){
+                    matching = getValueFromDictionary(policyAdapter.getServiceType());
+                } else {
+                    String jsonVersion  = StringUtils.replaceEach(rootNode.get("version").toString(), new String[]{"\""}, new String[]{""});
+                    matching = getValueFromDictionary(policyAdapter.getServiceType() + "-v" + jsonVersion);
+                }
+                if (matching != null && !matching.isEmpty()){
+                    matchMap = Splitter.on(",").withKeyValueSeparator("=").split(matching);
+            setMatchMap(matchMap);
+                    if(policyAdapter.getJsonBody() != null){
+                        pullMatchValue(rootNode);           
+                    }
                 }
+            } catch (IOException e1) {
+                throw new PAPException(e1);
             }
             
 			// Match for policyName
diff --git a/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/Policy.java b/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/Policy.java
index 130b2e55a..169e6e14e 100644
--- a/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/Policy.java
+++ b/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/Policy.java
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ import org.onap.policy.rest.XACMLRestProperties;
 import org.onap.policy.rest.adapter.PolicyRestAdapter;
 import org.onap.policy.xacml.util.XACMLPolicyWriter;
 
+import com.att.research.xacml.api.pap.PAPException;
 import com.att.research.xacml.std.IdentifierImpl;
 import com.att.research.xacml.util.XACMLProperties;
 import com.att.research.xacmlatt.pdp.policy.PolicyDef;
@@ -144,11 +145,11 @@ public abstract class Policy {
 	 * @return Either the PolicyAdapter.getData() or PolicyAdapter.getPolicyData()
 	 */
 	public abstract Object getCorrectPolicyDataObject();
-	public abstract Map<String, String>  savePolicies() throws Exception;
+	public abstract Map<String, String>  savePolicies() throws PAPException;
 
 	//This is the method for preparing the policy for saving.  We have broken it out
 	//separately because the fully configured policy is used for multiple things
-	public abstract boolean prepareToSave() throws Exception;
+	public abstract boolean prepareToSave() throws PAPException;
 
 
 	// create match for onap and config name
@@ -213,7 +214,7 @@ public abstract class Policy {
 	protected static boolean isJSONValid(String data) {
 		JsonReader jsonReader = null;
 		try {
-			JSONObject j = new JSONObject(data);
+		    new JSONObject(data);
 			InputStream stream = new ByteArrayInputStream(data.getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8));
 			jsonReader = Json.createReader(stream);
 			LOGGER.info("Json Value is: " + jsonReader.read().toString() );
@@ -350,13 +351,13 @@ public abstract class Policy {
 		return actionHome;
 	}
 
-	private static void loadWebapps() throws Exception{
+	private static void loadWebapps() throws PAPException{
 		if(actionHome == null || configHome == null){
 			Path webappsPath = Paths.get(XACMLProperties.getProperty(XACMLRestProperties.PROP_PAP_WEBAPPS));
 			//Sanity Check
 			if (webappsPath == null) {
 				PolicyLogger.error("Invalid Webapps Path Location property : " + XACMLRestProperties.PROP_PAP_WEBAPPS);
-				throw new Exception("Invalid Webapps Path Location property : " + XACMLRestProperties.PROP_PAP_WEBAPPS);
+				throw new PAPException("Invalid Webapps Path Location property : " + XACMLRestProperties.PROP_PAP_WEBAPPS);
 			}
 			Path webappsPathConfig;
 			Path webappsPathAction;
@@ -367,14 +368,14 @@ public abstract class Policy {
 				webappsPathConfig = Paths.get(webappsPath.toString()+"/Config");
 				webappsPathAction = Paths.get(webappsPath.toString()+"/Action");
 			}
-			if(Files.notExists(webappsPathConfig)){
+			if(!webappsPathConfig.toFile().exists()){
 				try {
 					Files.createDirectories(webappsPathConfig);
 				} catch (IOException e) {
 					PolicyLogger.error(MessageCodes.ERROR_PROCESS_FLOW, e, "Policy", "Failed to create config directory");
 				}
 			}
-			if(Files.notExists(webappsPathAction)){
+			if(!webappsPathAction.toFile().exists()){
 				try {
 					Files.createDirectories(webappsPathAction);
 				} catch (IOException e) {
diff --git a/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/PolicyDBDao.java b/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/PolicyDBDao.java
index 876e87580..bf632f1f1 100644
--- a/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/PolicyDBDao.java
+++ b/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/PolicyDBDao.java
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ import java.io.FileWriter;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.InputStream;
 import java.io.StringReader;
+import java.io.UnsupportedEncodingException;
 import java.net.HttpURLConnection;
 import java.net.MalformedURLException;
 import java.net.ProtocolException;
@@ -37,7 +38,9 @@ import java.nio.file.Files;
 import java.nio.file.InvalidPathException;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
 import java.nio.file.Paths;
+import java.security.InvalidKeyException;
 import java.security.Key;
+import java.security.NoSuchAlgorithmException;
 import java.util.Base64;
 import java.util.Date;
 import java.util.HashMap;
@@ -49,7 +52,10 @@ import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Set;
 import java.util.UUID;
 
+import javax.crypto.BadPaddingException;
 import javax.crypto.Cipher;
+import javax.crypto.IllegalBlockSizeException;
+import javax.crypto.NoSuchPaddingException;
 import javax.crypto.spec.SecretKeySpec;
 import javax.persistence.EntityManager;
 import javax.persistence.EntityManagerFactory;
@@ -71,6 +77,7 @@ import org.onap.policy.common.logging.flexlogger.Logger;
 import org.onap.policy.pap.xacml.rest.XACMLPapServlet;
 import org.onap.policy.rest.XACMLRestProperties;
 import org.onap.policy.rest.adapter.PolicyRestAdapter;
+import org.onap.policy.rest.dao.PolicyDBException;
 import org.onap.policy.rest.jpa.ActionBodyEntity;
 import org.onap.policy.rest.jpa.ConfigurationDataEntity;
 import org.onap.policy.rest.jpa.DatabaseLockEntity;
@@ -115,7 +122,7 @@ public class PolicyDBDao {
 	 * @return The new instance of PolicyDBDao or throw exception if the given emf is null.
 	 * @throws IllegalStateException if a PolicyDBDao has already been constructed. Call getPolicyDBDaoInstance() to get this.
 	 */
-	public static PolicyDBDao getPolicyDBDaoInstance(EntityManagerFactory emf) throws Exception{
+	public static PolicyDBDao getPolicyDBDaoInstance(EntityManagerFactory emf){
 		logger.debug("getPolicyDBDaoInstance(EntityManagerFactory emf) as getPolicyDBDaoInstance("+emf+") called");
 		if(currentInstance == null){
 			if(emf != null){
@@ -132,7 +139,7 @@ public class PolicyDBDao {
 	 * @return The instance of PolicyDBDao or throws exception if the given instance is null.
 	 * @throws IllegalStateException if a PolicyDBDao instance is null. Call createPolicyDBDaoInstance(EntityManagerFactory emf) to get this.
 	 */
-	public static PolicyDBDao getPolicyDBDaoInstance() throws Exception{
+	public static PolicyDBDao getPolicyDBDaoInstance(){
 		logger.debug("getPolicyDBDaoInstance() as getPolicyDBDaoInstance() called");
 		if(currentInstance != null){
 			return currentInstance;
@@ -324,15 +331,15 @@ public class PolicyDBDao {
 		return urlUserPass;
 	}
 
-	private static String encryptPassword(String password) throws Exception{
+	private static String encryptPassword(String password) throws UnsupportedEncodingException, NoSuchAlgorithmException, NoSuchPaddingException, InvalidKeyException, IllegalBlockSizeException, BadPaddingException{
 		Cipher cipher = Cipher.getInstance("AES");		
 		cipher.init(Cipher.ENCRYPT_MODE, aesKey());
 		byte[] encryption = cipher.doFinal(password.getBytes("UTF-8"));
-		System.out.println(encryption);
+		logger.debug("Encryption value is " + encryption);
 		return new String(Base64.getMimeEncoder().encode(encryption),"UTF-8");
 	}
 
-	private static String decryptPassword(String encryptedPassword) throws Exception{
+	private static String decryptPassword(String encryptedPassword) throws NoSuchAlgorithmException, NoSuchPaddingException, InvalidKeyException, IllegalBlockSizeException, BadPaddingException, UnsupportedEncodingException{
 		Cipher cipher = Cipher.getInstance("AES");
 		cipher.init(Cipher.DECRYPT_MODE, aesKey());
 		byte[] password = cipher.doFinal(Base64.getDecoder().decode(encryptedPassword.getBytes("UTF-8")));
@@ -700,7 +707,7 @@ public class PolicyDBDao {
 		//no changes should be being made in this function, we still need to close
 		transaction.rollbackTransaction();
 	}
-	private void handleIncomingGroupChange(String url, String groupId, String extraData,PolicyDBDaoTransaction transaction,XACMLPapServlet xacmlPapServlet) throws PAPException{
+	private void handleIncomingGroupChange(String url, String groupId, String extraData,PolicyDBDaoTransaction transaction,XACMLPapServlet xacmlPapServlet) throws PAPException, PolicyDBException{
 		GroupEntity groupRecord = null;
 		long groupIdLong = -1;
 		try{
@@ -824,7 +831,7 @@ public class PolicyDBDao {
 		//call command that corresponds to the change that was made
 	}
 	//this will also handle removes, since incoming pdpGroup has no policies internally, we are just going to add them all in from the db
-	private boolean updateGroupPoliciesInFileSystem(OnapPDPGroup pdpGroup,OnapPDPGroup oldPdpGroup, GroupEntity groupRecord, PolicyDBDaoTransaction transaction) throws PAPException{
+	private boolean updateGroupPoliciesInFileSystem(OnapPDPGroup pdpGroup,OnapPDPGroup oldPdpGroup, GroupEntity groupRecord, PolicyDBDaoTransaction transaction) throws PAPException, PolicyDBException{
 		if(!(pdpGroup instanceof StdPDPGroup)){
 			throw new PAPException("group is not a StdPDPGroup");
 		}
@@ -862,7 +869,7 @@ public class PolicyDBDao {
 		return didUpdate;
 
 	}
-	private String removeExtensionAndVersionFromPolicyName(String originalPolicyName){
+	private String removeExtensionAndVersionFromPolicyName(String originalPolicyName) throws PolicyDBException{
         return getPolicyNameAndVersionFromPolicyFileName(originalPolicyName)[0];
     }
 
@@ -871,14 +878,14 @@ public class PolicyDBDao {
      * @param originalPolicyName: a policy file name ex: Config_policy.2.xml
      * @return An array [0]: The policy name, [1]: the policy version, as a string
      */
-    private String[] getPolicyNameAndVersionFromPolicyFileName(String originalPolicyName){
+    private String[] getPolicyNameAndVersionFromPolicyFileName(String originalPolicyName) throws PolicyDBException{
         String policyName = originalPolicyName;
         String[] nameAndVersion = new String[2];
         try{
             policyName = removeFileExtension(policyName);
             nameAndVersion[0] = policyName.substring(0,policyName.lastIndexOf('.'));
             if(isNullOrEmpty(nameAndVersion[0])){
-                throw new Exception();
+                throw new PolicyDBException();
             }
         } catch(Exception e){
             nameAndVersion[0] = originalPolicyName;         
@@ -887,7 +894,7 @@ public class PolicyDBDao {
         try{
             nameAndVersion[1] = policyName.substring(policyName.lastIndexOf('.')+1);
             if(isNullOrEmpty(nameAndVersion[1])){
-                throw new Exception();
+                throw new PolicyDBException();
             }
         } catch(Exception e){
             nameAndVersion[1] = "1";
@@ -2584,7 +2591,7 @@ public class PolicyDBDao {
 
 
 		@Override
-		public void deleteGroup(OnapPDPGroup group, OnapPDPGroup moveToGroup, String username) throws PAPException {
+		public void deleteGroup(OnapPDPGroup group, OnapPDPGroup moveToGroup, String username) throws PolicyDBException {
 			logger.debug("deleteGroup(PDPGroup group, PDPGroup moveToGroup, String username) as deleteGroup("+group+", "+moveToGroup+","+username+") called");
 			if(group == null){
 				throw new IllegalArgumentException("PDPGroup group cannot be null");
@@ -2595,7 +2602,7 @@ public class PolicyDBDao {
 
 			if(group.isDefaultGroup()){
 				PolicyLogger.error("The default group "+group.getId()+" was attempted to be deleted. It cannot be.");
-				throw new PAPException("You cannot delete the default group.");
+				throw new PolicyDBException("You cannot delete the default group.");
 			}
 			synchronized(emLock){
 				checkBeforeOperationRun();
@@ -2665,7 +2672,7 @@ public class PolicyDBDao {
 						}
 					} else {
 						PolicyLogger.error("Group "+group.getId()+" is trying to be delted with PDPs. No group was provided to move them to");
-						throw new PAPException("Group has PDPs. Must provide a group for them to move to");
+						throw new PolicyDBException("Group has PDPs. Must provide a group for them to move to");
 					}
 				} 
 
@@ -2681,7 +2688,7 @@ public class PolicyDBDao {
 		}
 
 		@Override
-		public void addPolicyToGroup(String groupID, String policyID, String username) {
+		public void addPolicyToGroup(String groupID, String policyID, String username) throws PolicyDBException {
 			logger.debug("addPolicyToGroup(String groupID, String policyID, String username) as addPolicyToGroup("+groupID+", "+policyID+","+username+") called");
 			if(isNullOrEmpty(groupID, policyID, username)){
 				throw new IllegalArgumentException("groupID, policyID, and username must not be null or empty");
@@ -2802,16 +2809,16 @@ public class PolicyDBDao {
 		String computeScope(String fullPath, String pathToExclude){
 			return PolicyDBDao.computeScope(fullPath, pathToExclude);
 		}
-		String encryptPassword(String password) throws Exception{
+		String encryptPassword(String password) throws InvalidKeyException, UnsupportedEncodingException, NoSuchAlgorithmException, NoSuchPaddingException, IllegalBlockSizeException, BadPaddingException{
 			return PolicyDBDao.encryptPassword(password);
 		}
-		String decryptPassword(String password) throws Exception{
+		String decryptPassword(String password) throws InvalidKeyException, NoSuchAlgorithmException, NoSuchPaddingException, IllegalBlockSizeException, BadPaddingException, UnsupportedEncodingException{
 			return PolicyDBDao.decryptPassword(password);
 		}
 		String getDescriptionFromXacml(String xacmlData){
 			return PolicyDBDao.getDescriptionFromXacml(xacmlData);
 		}
-        String[] getPolicyNameAndVersionFromPolicyFileName(String originalPolicyName){
+        String[] getPolicyNameAndVersionFromPolicyFileName(String originalPolicyName) throws PolicyDBException{
             return PolicyDBDao.this.getPolicyNameAndVersionFromPolicyFileName(originalPolicyName);
         }
 	}
diff --git a/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/PolicyDBDaoTransaction.java b/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/PolicyDBDaoTransaction.java
index f5a22bcd4..dfe5c70f3 100644
--- a/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/PolicyDBDaoTransaction.java
+++ b/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/PolicyDBDaoTransaction.java
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import java.util.List;
 
 import javax.persistence.PersistenceException;
 
+import org.onap.policy.rest.dao.PolicyDBException;
 import org.onap.policy.rest.jpa.GroupEntity;
 import org.onap.policy.rest.jpa.PdpEntity;
 import org.onap.policy.xacml.api.pap.OnapPDP;
@@ -48,7 +49,7 @@ public interface PolicyDBDaoTransaction {
 	 * @throws PersistenceException If a database error occurs
 	 * @throws IllegalArgumentException If the Policy's PolicyRestAdapter contains incorrect data.
 	 */
-	public void createPolicy(Policy policy, String username) throws IllegalStateException, PersistenceException, IllegalArgumentException;
+	public void createPolicy(Policy policy, String username) throws PolicyDBException;
 	
 	/**
 	 * Check if the PolicyDBDaoTransaction is currently open
@@ -63,9 +64,9 @@ public interface PolicyDBDaoTransaction {
 	 * @param policyToDelete The file path of the policy to delete
 	 * @throws IllegalArgumentException If the file path given can not be parsed
 	 * @throws IllegalStateException If a transaction is open that has not yet been committed
-	 * @throws PersistenceException If a database error occurs
+	 * @throws PolicyDBException If a database error occurs
 	 */
-	public void deletePolicy(String policyToDelete) throws IllegalStateException, PersistenceException, IllegalArgumentException;
+	public void deletePolicy(String policyToDelete) throws PolicyDBException;
 	
 	/**
 	 * Rollback (undo) the current transaction.
@@ -88,7 +89,7 @@ public interface PolicyDBDaoTransaction {
 	 * @throws IllegalStateException If a transaction is already open
 	 * @throws PersistenceException If a database error occurs
 	 */
-	public void createGroup(String groupID, String groupName, String groupDescription, String username) throws IllegalArgumentException, IllegalStateException, PersistenceException;
+	public void createGroup(String groupID, String groupName, String groupDescription, String username) throws PolicyDBException;
 	
 	/**
 	 * Updates a group in the database with a new name of description
@@ -98,7 +99,7 @@ public interface PolicyDBDaoTransaction {
 	 * @throws IllegalStateException If a transaction is already open
 	 * @throws PersistenceException If a database error occurs or if the group can not be found
 	 */
-	public void updateGroup(OnapPDPGroup group, String username) throws IllegalArgumentException, IllegalStateException, PersistenceException;
+	public void updateGroup(OnapPDPGroup group, String username) throws PolicyDBException;
 	
 	/**
 	 * Updates a PDP in the database with new information
@@ -108,7 +109,7 @@ public interface PolicyDBDaoTransaction {
 	 * @throws IllegalStateException If a transaction is already open
 	 * @throws PersistenceException If a database error occurs or if the pdp can not be found
 	 */
-	public void updatePdp(OnapPDP pdp, String username) throws IllegalArgumentException, IllegalStateException, PersistenceException;
+	public void updatePdp(OnapPDP pdp, String username) throws PolicyDBException;
 	
 	/**
 	 * Change the default group in the database to the group provided.
@@ -118,7 +119,7 @@ public interface PolicyDBDaoTransaction {
 	 * @throws IllegalStateException If a transaction is already open
 	 * @throws PersistenceException If a database error occurs
 	 */
-	public void changeDefaultGroup(OnapPDPGroup group, String username) throws IllegalArgumentException, IllegalStateException, PersistenceException;
+	public void changeDefaultGroup(OnapPDPGroup group, String username) throws PolicyDBException;
 	
 	/**
 	 * Moves a PDP to a new group.
@@ -129,7 +130,7 @@ public interface PolicyDBDaoTransaction {
 	 * @throws IllegalStateException If a transaction is already open
 	 * @throws PersistenceException If a database error occurs
 	 */
-	public void movePdp(OnapPDP pdp, OnapPDPGroup group, String username) throws IllegalArgumentException, IllegalStateException, PersistenceException;
+	public void movePdp(OnapPDP pdp, OnapPDPGroup group, String username) throws PolicyDBException;
 	
 	/**
 	 * Add a new PDP to an existing group
@@ -143,7 +144,7 @@ public interface PolicyDBDaoTransaction {
 	 * @throws IllegalStateException If a transaction is already open
 	 * @throws PersistenceException If a database error occurs
 	 */
-	public void addPdpToGroup(String pdpID, String groupID, String pdpName, String pdpDescription, int pdpJmxPort, String username) throws IllegalArgumentException, IllegalStateException, PersistenceException;
+	public void addPdpToGroup(String pdpID, String groupID, String pdpName, String pdpDescription, int pdpJmxPort, String username) throws PolicyDBException;
 	
 	/**
 	 * Add an existing policy to an existing group
@@ -152,12 +153,13 @@ public interface PolicyDBDaoTransaction {
 	 * @throws IllegalArgumentException If non-optional parameters are null or empty strings
 	 * @throws IllegalStateException If a transaction is already open
 	 * @throws PersistenceException If a database error occurs
+	 * @throws PolicyDBException 
 	 */
-	public void addPolicyToGroup(String group, String policyID, String username) throws IllegalArgumentException, IllegalStateException, PersistenceException;
+	public void addPolicyToGroup(String group, String policyID, String username) throws PolicyDBException;
 	
 	
 	/**
-	 * Delete an existing PDP group
+	 * Delete an existing PDP groupPolicyDBException
 	 * @param group A PDPGroup object representing the group to delete
 	 * @param moveToGroup A PDPGroup object representing another existing group which PDPs in the group being deleted should be moved to
 	 * @throws IllegalArgumentException If non-optional parameters are null or empty strings
@@ -165,7 +167,7 @@ public interface PolicyDBDaoTransaction {
 	 * @throws PersistenceException If a database error occurs
 	 * @throws PAPException If an error relating to how groups are handled occurs
 	 */
-	public void deleteGroup(OnapPDPGroup group, OnapPDPGroup moveToGroup, String username)throws IllegalArgumentException, IllegalStateException, PersistenceException, PAPException;
+	public void deleteGroup(OnapPDPGroup group, OnapPDPGroup moveToGroup, String username)throws PolicyDBException;
 	
 	/**
 	 * Removes an existing PDP from its group and deletes it.
@@ -174,7 +176,7 @@ public interface PolicyDBDaoTransaction {
 	 * @throws IllegalStateException If a transaction is already open
 	 * @throws PersistenceException If a database error occurs
 	 */
-	public void removePdpFromGroup(String pdpID, String username) throws IllegalArgumentException, IllegalStateException, PersistenceException;
+	public void removePdpFromGroup(String pdpID, String username) throws PolicyDBException;
 	
 	public GroupEntity getGroup(long groupKey);
 	public GroupEntity getGroup(String groupId);
diff --git a/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/controller/ActionPolicyDictionaryController.java b/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/controller/ActionPolicyDictionaryController.java
index 75b02ab58..b5a3b45e8 100644
--- a/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/controller/ActionPolicyDictionaryController.java
+++ b/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/controller/ActionPolicyDictionaryController.java
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ package org.onap.policy.pap.xacml.rest.controller;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.PrintWriter;
-import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Date;
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.LinkedHashMap;
diff --git a/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/controller/DictionaryController.java b/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/controller/DictionaryController.java
index 1fef35459..85e3944fd 100644
--- a/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/controller/DictionaryController.java
+++ b/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/controller/DictionaryController.java
@@ -22,7 +22,6 @@ package org.onap.policy.pap.xacml.rest.controller;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.PrintWriter;
-import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Date;
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.LinkedHashMap;
diff --git a/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/controller/DictionaryImportController.java b/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/controller/DictionaryImportController.java
index 62b830d6d..aee05da45 100644
--- a/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/controller/DictionaryImportController.java
+++ b/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/controller/DictionaryImportController.java
@@ -28,11 +28,9 @@ import java.io.FileOutputStream;
 import java.io.FileReader;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.OutputStream;
-import java.io.UnsupportedEncodingException;
 import java.util.List;
 
 import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest;
-import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse;
 
 import org.apache.commons.compress.utils.IOUtils;
 import org.onap.policy.rest.dao.CommonClassDao;
@@ -45,8 +43,8 @@ import org.onap.policy.rest.jpa.Category;
 import org.onap.policy.rest.jpa.Datatype;
 import org.onap.policy.rest.jpa.DecisionSettings;
 import org.onap.policy.rest.jpa.DescriptiveScope;
-import org.onap.policy.rest.jpa.OnapName;
 import org.onap.policy.rest.jpa.GroupServiceList;
+import org.onap.policy.rest.jpa.OnapName;
 import org.onap.policy.rest.jpa.PEPOptions;
 import org.onap.policy.rest.jpa.PrefixList;
 import org.onap.policy.rest.jpa.ProtocolList;
diff --git a/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/elk/client/PolicyElasticSearchController.java b/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/elk/client/PolicyElasticSearchController.java
index e9c4af27e..97da76708 100644
--- a/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/elk/client/PolicyElasticSearchController.java
+++ b/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/elk/client/PolicyElasticSearchController.java
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ public class PolicyElasticSearchController{
 		private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
 	};
 	
-	public static CommonClassDao commonClassDao;
+	private static CommonClassDao commonClassDao;
 
 	@Autowired
 	public PolicyElasticSearchController(CommonClassDao commonClassDao) {
diff --git a/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/model/PDPPolicyContainer.java b/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/model/PDPPolicyContainer.java
index 18f0636a8..23aa761be 100644
--- a/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/model/PDPPolicyContainer.java
+++ b/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/model/PDPPolicyContainer.java
@@ -71,23 +71,23 @@ public class PDPPolicyContainer extends PolicyItemSetChangeNotifier implements P
     /**
      * List of the string identifiers for the available properties.
      */
-    public static Collection<String> PDPPOLICY_PROPERTIES;
+    private static Collection<String> pdpPolicyProperties;
  
-    private final Object data;
-    private List<PDPPolicy> policies;
+    private final transient Object data;
+    private transient List<PDPPolicy> policies;
     
 	@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
 	public PDPPolicyContainer(Object data) {
 		super();
 		this.data = data;
 		if (this.data instanceof PDPGroup) {
-			policies = new ArrayList<PDPPolicy> (((PDPGroup) this.data).getPolicies());
+			policies = new ArrayList<> (((PDPGroup) this.data).getPolicies());
 		}
 		if (this.data instanceof PDP) {
-			policies = new ArrayList<PDPPolicy> (((PDP) this.data).getPolicies());
+			policies = new ArrayList<> (((PDP) this.data).getPolicies());
 		}
 		if (this.data instanceof Set) {
-			policies = new ArrayList<PDPPolicy> ((Set<PDPPolicy>)data);
+			policies = new ArrayList<> ((Set<PDPPolicy>)data);
 		}
 		if (this.policies == null) {
 			logger.info("NULL policies");
@@ -165,14 +165,13 @@ public class PDPPolicyContainer extends PolicyItemSetChangeNotifier implements P
 	}
 
 	@Override
-	public Object addItemAfter(Object previousItemId)
-			throws UnsupportedOperationException {
+	public Object addItemAfter(Object previousItemId){
 		return null;
 	}
 
 	@Override
 	public Collection<?> getContainerPropertyIds() {
-		return PDPPOLICY_PROPERTIES;
+		return pdpPolicyProperties;
 	}
 
 	@Override
@@ -220,13 +219,12 @@ public class PDPPolicyContainer extends PolicyItemSetChangeNotifier implements P
 	}
 
 	@Override
-	public Object addItem() throws UnsupportedOperationException {
+	public Object addItem(){
 		throw new UnsupportedOperationException("Cannot add an empty policy.");
 	}
 
 	@Override
-	public boolean removeItem(Object itemId)
-			throws UnsupportedOperationException {
+	public boolean removeItem(Object itemId){
 		if (logger.isTraceEnabled()) {
 			logger.trace("removeItem: " + itemId);
 		}
@@ -248,18 +246,17 @@ public class PDPPolicyContainer extends PolicyItemSetChangeNotifier implements P
 
 	@Override
 	public boolean addContainerProperty(Object propertyId, Class<?> type,
-			Object defaultValue) throws UnsupportedOperationException {
+			Object defaultValue){
 		return false;
 	}
 
 	@Override
-	public boolean removeContainerProperty(Object propertyId)
-			throws UnsupportedOperationException {
+	public boolean removeContainerProperty(Object propertyId){
 		return false;
 	}
 
 	@Override
-	public boolean removeAllItems() throws UnsupportedOperationException {
+	public boolean removeAllItems(){
 		return false;
 	}
 
@@ -291,7 +288,7 @@ public class PDPPolicyContainer extends PolicyItemSetChangeNotifier implements P
 	}
 
 	@Override
-	public Object addItemAt(int index) throws UnsupportedOperationException {
+	public Object addItemAt(int index) {
 		if (logger.isTraceEnabled()) {
 			logger.trace("addItemAt: " + index);
 		}
diff --git a/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/model/RemoveGroupPolicy.java b/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/model/RemoveGroupPolicy.java
index 7645535b0..d05a1ab6e 100644
--- a/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/model/RemoveGroupPolicy.java
+++ b/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/model/RemoveGroupPolicy.java
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ public class RemoveGroupPolicy {
 	//Container from where we are fetching the policies
 	private static PDPPolicyContainer policyContainer;
 		
-	private final RemoveGroupPolicy self = this;
+	private RemoveGroupPolicy self = this;
 	private StdPDPGroup updatedObject;
 	private final StdPDPGroup group;
 	private boolean isSaved = false;
@@ -51,8 +51,7 @@ public class RemoveGroupPolicy {
 		if (this.group == null) {
 			return;
 		}
-
-		RemoveGroupPolicy.policyContainer = new PDPPolicyContainer(group);
+		setRemoveGroupPolicy(new PDPPolicyContainer(group));
 
 		RemoveGroupPolicy.policyContainer.removeItem(policy);
 									
@@ -62,13 +61,16 @@ public class RemoveGroupPolicy {
 		
 	}
 	
-	@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
+	private static void setRemoveGroupPolicy(PDPPolicyContainer pdpPolicyContainer) {
+        RemoveGroupPolicy.policyContainer = pdpPolicyContainer;
+    }
+
+    @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
 	protected void doSave() {
 		if (this.group == null) {
 			return;
 		}
 		
-		//StdPDPGroup pdpGroup = (StdPDPGroup) group;
 		StdPDPGroup updatedGroupObject = new StdPDPGroup(
 				group.getId(), 
 				group.isDefaultGroup(), 
diff --git a/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/policycontroller/PolicyCreation.java b/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/policycontroller/PolicyCreation.java
index eff4e7f2f..d989470a2 100644
--- a/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/policycontroller/PolicyCreation.java
+++ b/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/policycontroller/PolicyCreation.java
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ public class PolicyCreation extends AbstractPolicyCreation{
 	
 	@RequestMapping(value="/policycreation/save_policy", method = RequestMethod.POST)
 	@ResponseBody
-	public ResponseEntity<String> savePolicy(@RequestBody PolicyRestAdapter policyData, HttpServletResponse response) throws Exception{
+	public ResponseEntity<String> savePolicy(@RequestBody PolicyRestAdapter policyData, HttpServletResponse response){
 		String body = null;
 		HttpStatus status = HttpStatus.BAD_REQUEST;
 		Map<String, String> successMap = new HashMap<>();
diff --git a/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/service/MetricService.java b/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/service/MetricService.java
index e33f8d5ba..3fff9f266 100644
--- a/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/service/MetricService.java
+++ b/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/service/MetricService.java
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ import java.util.HashSet;
 import java.util.Set;
 
 import javax.persistence.EntityManager;
-import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest;
 import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse;
 
 import org.json.JSONObject;
diff --git a/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/restAuth/CheckPDP.java b/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/restAuth/CheckPDP.java
index 02ec467ed..335b94f51 100644
--- a/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/restAuth/CheckPDP.java
+++ b/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/restAuth/CheckPDP.java
@@ -43,6 +43,8 @@ import org.onap.policy.common.logging.flexlogger.Logger;
 import org.onap.policy.pap.xacml.rest.XACMLPapServlet;
 import org.onap.policy.xacml.api.XACMLErrorConstants;
 
+import com.att.research.xacml.api.pap.PAPException;
+
 public class CheckPDP {
 
 	private static Path pdpPath = null;
@@ -67,23 +69,23 @@ public class CheckPDP {
 		return false;
 	}
 
-	private static void readFile() throws Exception {
+	private static void readFile() throws PAPException {
 		String pdpFile = XACMLPapServlet.getPDPFile();
 		if (pdpFile == null) {
 			PolicyLogger.error(MessageCodes.ERROR_SYSTEM_ERROR + "PDP File name is undefined");
-			throw new Exception(XACMLErrorConstants.ERROR_SYSTEM_ERROR +"PDP File name not Valid : " + pdpFile);
+			throw new PAPException(XACMLErrorConstants.ERROR_SYSTEM_ERROR +"PDP File name not Valid : " + pdpFile);
 		}
 		if (pdpPath == null) {
 			pdpPath = Paths.get(pdpFile);
 			if (Files.notExists(pdpPath)) {
 				PolicyLogger.error(MessageCodes.ERROR_SYSTEM_ERROR + "File doesn't exist in the specified Path");
-				throw new Exception(XACMLErrorConstants.ERROR_SYSTEM_ERROR +"File doesn't exist in the specified Path : "+ pdpPath.toString());
+				throw new PAPException(XACMLErrorConstants.ERROR_SYSTEM_ERROR +"File doesn't exist in the specified Path : "+ pdpPath.toString());
 			} 
 			if (pdpPath.toString().endsWith(".properties")) {
 				readProps();
 			} else {
 				PolicyLogger.error(MessageCodes.ERROR_SYSTEM_ERROR + "Not a .properties file");
-				throw new Exception(XACMLErrorConstants.ERROR_SYSTEM_ERROR +"Not a .properties file");
+				throw new PAPException(XACMLErrorConstants.ERROR_SYSTEM_ERROR +"Not a .properties file");
 			}
 		}
 		// Check if File is updated recently
@@ -97,7 +99,7 @@ public class CheckPDP {
 	}
 
 	@SuppressWarnings({ "rawtypes", "unchecked" })
-	private static void readProps() throws Exception {
+	private static void readProps() throws PAPException {
 		InputStream in;
 		pdpProp = new Properties();
 		try {
@@ -106,7 +108,7 @@ public class CheckPDP {
 			pdpProp.load(in);
 		} catch (IOException e) {
 			PolicyLogger.error(MessageCodes.ERROR_SYSTEM_ERROR, e, "CheckPDP", "Cannot load the Properties file");
-			throw new Exception("Cannot Load the Properties file", e);
+			throw new PAPException("Cannot Load the Properties file", e);
 		}
 		// Read the Properties and Load the PDPs and encoding.
 		pdpMap = new HashMap<>();
@@ -118,7 +120,7 @@ public class CheckPDP {
 			if (propKey.startsWith("PDP_URL")) {
 				String check_val = pdpProp.getProperty(propKey);
 				if (check_val == null) {
-					throw new Exception("Properties file doesn't have the PDP_URL parameter");
+					throw new PAPException("Properties file doesn't have the PDP_URL parameter");
 				}
 				if (check_val.contains(";")) {
 					List<String> pdp_default = new ArrayList<>(Arrays.asList(check_val.split("\\s*;\\s*")));
@@ -135,11 +137,11 @@ public class CheckPDP {
 		}
 		if (pdpMap == null || pdpMap.isEmpty()) {
 			logger.debug(XACMLErrorConstants.ERROR_SYSTEM_ERROR + "Cannot Proceed without PDP_URLs");
-			throw new Exception(XACMLErrorConstants.ERROR_SYSTEM_ERROR +"Cannot Proceed without PDP_URLs");
+			throw new PAPException(XACMLErrorConstants.ERROR_SYSTEM_ERROR +"Cannot Proceed without PDP_URLs");
 		}
 	}
 
-	private static void readPDPParam(String pdpVal) throws Exception{
+	private static void readPDPParam(String pdpVal) throws PAPException{
 		if(pdpVal.contains(",")){
 			List<String> pdpValues = new ArrayList<>(Arrays.asList(pdpVal.split("\\s*,\\s*")));
 			if(pdpValues.size()==3){
@@ -151,11 +153,11 @@ public class CheckPDP {
 				pdpMap.put(pdpValues.get(0), encoder.encodeToString((userID+":"+pass).getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8)));
 			}else{
 				PolicyLogger.error(MessageCodes.ERROR_PERMISSIONS + "No Credentials to send Request");
-				throw new Exception(XACMLErrorConstants.ERROR_PERMISSIONS + "No enough Credentials to send Request. " + pdpValues);
+				throw new PAPException(XACMLErrorConstants.ERROR_PERMISSIONS + "No enough Credentials to send Request. " + pdpValues);
 			}
 		}else{
 			PolicyLogger.error(MessageCodes.ERROR_PERMISSIONS + "No Credentials to send Request: " + pdpVal);
-			throw new Exception(XACMLErrorConstants.ERROR_PERMISSIONS +"No enough Credentials to send Request.");
+			throw new PAPException(XACMLErrorConstants.ERROR_PERMISSIONS +"No enough Credentials to send Request.");
 		}
 	}
 	
diff --git a/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/test/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/PolicyDBDaoTest.java b/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/test/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/PolicyDBDaoTest.java
index 01e4a9b61..14afa01ca 100644
--- a/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/test/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/PolicyDBDaoTest.java
+++ b/ONAP-PAP-REST/src/test/java/org/onap/policy/pap/xacml/rest/components/PolicyDBDaoTest.java
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ import org.onap.policy.common.logging.flexlogger.Logger;
 import org.onap.policy.pap.xacml.rest.components.PolicyDBDao.PolicyDBDaoTestClass;
 import org.onap.policy.rest.XACMLRestProperties;
 import org.onap.policy.rest.adapter.PolicyRestAdapter;
+import org.onap.policy.rest.dao.PolicyDBException;
 import org.onap.policy.rest.jpa.GroupEntity;
 import org.onap.policy.rest.jpa.PdpEntity;
 import org.onap.policy.rest.jpa.PolicyEntity;
@@ -53,7 +54,6 @@ import org.onap.policy.xacml.api.pap.OnapPDPGroup;
 import org.onap.policy.xacml.std.pap.StdPDPGroup;
 import org.onap.policy.xacml.util.XACMLPolicyWriter;
 
-import com.att.research.xacml.api.pap.PAPException;
 import com.att.research.xacml.util.XACMLProperties;
 
 import oasis.names.tc.xacml._3_0.core.schema.wd_17.PolicyType;
@@ -396,7 +396,7 @@ public class PolicyDBDaoTest {
 			group.deleteGroup(groupToDelete, groupToMoveTo,"testuser");
 			group.commitTransaction();
 			Assert.fail();
-		} catch(PAPException pe){
+		} catch(PolicyDBException pe){
 			//good, can't delete group with pdps
 			group.rollbackTransaction();
 		} catch(Exception e){
diff --git a/ONAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/rest/dao/PolicyDBException.java b/ONAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/rest/dao/PolicyDBException.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d1ed7f610
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ONAP-REST/src/main/java/org/onap/policy/rest/dao/PolicyDBException.java
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+/*-
+ * ============LICENSE_START=======================================================
+ * ONAP-REST
+ * ================================================================================
+ * Copyright (C) 2017 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved.
+ * ================================================================================
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ * ============LICENSE_END=========================================================
+ */
+
+package org.onap.policy.rest.dao;
+
+/**
+ * PolicyDBException extends <code>Exception</code> to implement exceptions thrown by Policy Database transactions. 
+ * 
+ * @version 0.1
+ */
+public class PolicyDBException extends Exception {
+    private static final long serialVersionUID = -6162444281003852781L;
+
+    public PolicyDBException() {
+    }
+    
+    public PolicyDBException(String message) {
+        super(message);
+    }
+    
+    public PolicyDBException(Throwable cause){
+        super(cause);
+    }
+    
+    public PolicyDBException(String message, Throwable cause) {
+        super(message, cause);
+    }
+    
+    public PolicyDBException(String message, Throwable cause, boolean enableSuppression, boolean writableStackTrace) {
+        super(message, cause, enableSuppression, writableStackTrace);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index e7699b421..d10aebc70 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -176,7 +176,6 @@
 			<plugin>
 			  <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
 			  <artifactId>maven-site-plugin</artifactId>
-			  <version>3.6</version>
 			  <dependencies>
 			    <dependency>
 			      <groupId>org.apache.maven.wagon</groupId>