Try-catch: is this acceptable practice?

Question

We have received Java code from a software supplier. It contains a lot of try-catch blocks with nothing in the catch part. They're all over the place. Example:

        try {
            spaceBlock.enable(LindsayModel);
        } catch (Exception e) {
        }

My questions are: Is the above acceptable practice? If so, when? Or should I just go ahead and remove all of these "bogus" try and catch statements?

To me this looks like terrible practice, but I'm not experienced enough in Java to tell for sure. Why catch errors if you're not going to do anything with them? Seems to me, you would only do that if you were confident that an exception would be of absolutely no consequence and you don't care if one occurs. However, this is not really the case in our particular application.

EDIT To give some context: We bought a Java-scriptable product from the supplier. Alongside the product, they provided a large proof-of-concept script tailored to our needs. This script came "free of charge" (though we wouldn't have bought the product if it hadn't come with the script) and it "works". But the script is a real pain to build upon, due to many things that even I as a Java novice recognise as awful practice, one instance being this bogus try-catch business.

Answer 1

What did your contract with the supplier specify? If what they wrote, bad practice and all, meets the spec then they will charge you for a rewrite.

Better to specify a set of tests that will enter many or all of those try-catch blocks and hence fail. If the tests fail you have a better argument to make them fix their terrible code.