Maybe your SQLException should be caller's IOException? I don't code Java but IMO callers should be hit with errors at the right abstraction level. If caller is

Maybe your SQLException should be caller's IOException? I don't code Java but IMO callers should be hit with errors at the right abstraction level. If caller is using that interface and not your low-level backend functions directly then caller should expect IOException not SQLException. If the interface does not provide exception types for all cases so you are stuck rethrowing your error as a wrong one, and I'd say that means the interface is bad but not checked errors are bad...