Java EE (Java Enterprise Edition) General Discussion

In a form I need to set some values based on an id that is a member of the form. The problem is that, to set these values, I have to retrieve the object that has the given id; this operation can cause an exception to be thrown.
I noticed that, while a getter propagates the exception and allows me to go to the error page, the setter just goes on with the original operation. I can see something doesn't work because, after the page is "normally" loaded, when I click on a command link nothing happens.
This seems to be a bug, but I couldn't find anything in the bug database. Does anyone know if this is expected behaviour, what the rationale is, and if there is a way to solve the problem?

Thanks