Jersey JAX-RS MessageException when using a ResponseBuilder - exception

Question

When I throw a WebApplicationException in my service like the following, I get a 404 response code which is what I'm expecting
throw new WebApplicationException(Response.Status.NOT_FOUND);
When I attempt to put a little more information in my exception via a ResponseBuilder, I'm getting a 500 response code. Here's my enhanced code and the response message I get back:
List<Error> errors = new ArrayList<>();
errors.add(new Error(ErrorCode.PDF_GENERATION_ERROR));
ErrorResponse errResponse = new ErrorResponse();
errResponse.setErrors(errors);
throw new WebApplicationException(Response.status(Response.Status.NOT_FOUND).entity(errResponse).build());
javax.ws.rs.WebApplicationException:
com.sun.jersey.api.MessageExceptio n: A message body writer for Java
class idexx.ordering.rest.common.types.ErrorRe sponse, and Java type
class idexx.ordering.rest.common.types.ErrorResponse, and MIME media
type application/octet-stream was not found
My REST service has the following method signature:
#Produces("application/pdf")
#GET
#Path("/{id}")
public Response getPdfById(#PathParam("id") final Long id) {
Is there anyway I can get that extra error code information into the response when I throw a WebApplicationException?

Answer 1

Try this:
String errResponse = "convert your errors to text";
throw new WebApplicationException(Response.status(Response.Status.NOT_FOUND).entity(errResponse).build());
Probably this will work because JAX-RS can convert basic types, but to convert List<Error> you need to register a custom MessageBodyWriter.