programming style: try-catch and external dependents
===

I have a simple style question.  In an application that I am writing there are several class methods that include a try/catch block as well as function external to the block that depends on the result of the block.  For example (in psudo code):


    try {
       start_transaction;
       persist_data;
       stop_transaction;
    }
    catch {
       rollback_transaction;
    }
    finally {
    }
    
    if (transaction_successful)
       send_message;

The only way I can think of for testing if the transaction is successful would be to set a method variable flag in the try catch block and then test it in the if statement.  Of course this would work, however I am curious to know what the conventional "wisdom" is with this?  Maybe "send_message" should be in the try catch block although this may be unneccessary clutter?  I guess this is a fairly straight forward question - just trying to ensure my code is well structured / organised.