--- a/src/java/de/intevation/mxd/reader/FeatureLayerReader.java	Thu Jun 16 12:05:34 2011 +0200
+++ b/src/java/de/intevation/mxd/reader/FeatureLayerReader.java	Thu Jun 16 14:06:09 2011 +0200
@@ -58,7 +58,8 @@
      *
      * @return The layer XML element.
      */
-    public Element read() {
+    public Element read()
+    throws IOException{
         logger.debug("read()");
         Element layerElement;
         try {
@@ -66,7 +67,9 @@
         }
         catch(Exception e) {
             logger.error("Failed to create DOM-Element for Layer.");
-            return null;
+            throw new IOException(
+                this.getClass()+toString() +
+                "Error creating dom element");
         }
 
         try {
@@ -157,7 +160,9 @@
         }
         catch(IOException ioe) {
             logger.warn("Could not read datasource. Stopped reading layer.");
-            return null;
+            throw new IOException(
+                this.getClass().toString() +
+                "Error reading datasource.");
         }
 
         try {
@@ -198,7 +203,9 @@
             logger.error(
                 "Could not read layer datasource." +
                 " Stopped reading layer.");
-            return null;
+            throw new IOException(
+                this.getClass().toString() +
+                " Error reading data source.");
         }
         return layerElement;
     }