Need to set attribute before calling super

I'm creating a custom exception to parse a specific file format. The base class is FileFormatException (I've replaced the name of the file format with FileFormat). It has a constructor public FileFormatException(String filepath) that will output a generic error message, such as "Error parsing <filepath>".

Now, the difficulty occurs when I try and create subclasses for more specific errors. These subclasses would have their own error messages, which requires a method such as public FileFormatException(String message). But this is not possible, as it conflicts with the first constructor (they both have the same parameters).

I tried to solve the issue by having a protected setMessage method in FileFormatException, which the subclasses can call, but this won't work, as Java does not allow setting attributes before calling super().

I have a working solution as well, but it very rigid. When a subclass is invoked, I'm forced to include the default message every time with the subclass's custom message.

The constraints are:

• Subclasses must inherit from FileFormatException
• The message can only be set by calling super(message), since Exception does not have a setter for the message.

I feel like Java is forcing me into a weird corner, since Exceptions don't have setters.

Example

public class FileFormatException extends Exception {
    public FileFormatException(String filepath) {
        super("Error parsing the file: " + filepath);
    }

    // This is prohibited in Java
    public FileFormatException(String message) {
        super(message);
    }
}

public class SpecificException extends FileFormatException {
    public SpecificException(String filepath) {
        super("Printing specific error message for: " + filepath);
    }
}

Unsuccessful attempt

public class FileFormatException extends Exception {
    private String message = null;

    public FileFormatException(String filepath) {
        super("Error parsing the file: " + filepath);
    }

    public FileFormatException() {
        if (message == null) { // This is probably not allowed either
            super();
        } else {
            super(message);
        }
    }

    public void setMessage(String message) {
        this.message = message;
    }
}

public class SpecificException extends FileFormatException {
    public SpecificException(String filepath) {
        setMessage(message); // Java does not allow this
        super();
    }
}

Just use File or preferably Path for any file system paths, and then there is no ambiguity about whether you mean a message or a file

public FileFormatException(Path path) {
    super("Error parsing the file: " + path);
}
public FileFormatException(String message) {
    super(message);
}
...
public SpecificException(Path path) {
    super(path);
    // or
    super("Something else is wrong with: "+path);
}