diff --git a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/io/cursor/JdbcCursorItemReader.java b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/io/cursor/JdbcCursorItemReader.java
index 7384e9972..14382397f 100644
--- a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/io/cursor/JdbcCursorItemReader.java
+++ b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/io/cursor/JdbcCursorItemReader.java
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ import org.springframework.batch.io.support.AbstractTransactionalIoSource;
 import org.springframework.batch.item.ExecutionAttributes;
 import org.springframework.batch.item.ItemStream;
 import org.springframework.batch.item.KeyedItemReader;
+import org.springframework.batch.item.exception.ResetFailedException;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.InitializingBean;
 import org.springframework.dao.DataAccessException;
 import org.springframework.dao.InvalidDataAccessResourceUsageException;
@@ -70,11 +71,11 @@ import org.springframework.util.StringUtils;
  * </p>
  * 
  * <p>
- * {@link ExecutionAttributes}: The current row is returned as restart data, and when
- * restored from that same data, the cursor is opened and the current row set to
- * the value within the restart data. There are also two statistics returned by
- * this input source: the current line being processed and the number of lines
- * that have been skipped.
+ * {@link ExecutionAttributes}: The current row is returned as restart data,
+ * and when restored from that same data, the cursor is opened and the current
+ * row set to the value within the restart data. There are also two statistics
+ * returned by this input source: the current line being processed and the
+ * number of lines that have been skipped.
  * </p>
  * 
  * <p>
@@ -107,8 +108,8 @@ import org.springframework.util.StringUtils;
  * @author Lucas Ward
  * @author Peter Zozom
  */
-public class JdbcCursorItemReader extends AbstractTransactionalIoSource implements KeyedItemReader,
-		InitializingBean, ItemStream, Skippable {
+public class JdbcCursorItemReader extends AbstractTransactionalIoSource implements KeyedItemReader, InitializingBean,
+		ItemStream, Skippable {
 
 	private static Log log = LogFactory.getLog(JdbcCursorItemReader.class);
 
@@ -241,7 +242,7 @@ public class JdbcCursorItemReader extends AbstractTransactionalIoSource implemen
 	 * 
 	 * @throws DataAccessException
 	 */
-	public void reset() {
+	public void reset() throws ResetFailedException {
 		try {
 			currentProcessedRow = lastCommittedRow;
 			if (currentProcessedRow > 0) {
@@ -253,7 +254,8 @@ public class JdbcCursorItemReader extends AbstractTransactionalIoSource implemen
 
 		}
 		catch (SQLException se) {
-			throw getExceptionTranslator().translate("Attempted to move ResultSet to last committed row", sql, se);
+			throw new ResetFailedException(getExceptionTranslator().translate(
+					"Attempted to move ResultSet to last committed row", sql, se));
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -374,7 +376,8 @@ public class JdbcCursorItemReader extends AbstractTransactionalIoSource implemen
 		}
 	}
 
-	/* (non-Javadoc)
+	/*
+	 * (non-Javadoc)
 	 * @see org.springframework.batch.item.stream.ItemStreamAdapter#getExecutionAttributes()
 	 */
 	public ExecutionAttributes getExecutionAttributes() {
@@ -386,7 +389,8 @@ public class JdbcCursorItemReader extends AbstractTransactionalIoSource implemen
 		return context;
 	}
 
-	/* (non-Javadoc)
+	/*
+	 * (non-Javadoc)
 	 * @see org.springframework.batch.item.stream.ItemStreamAdapter#restoreFrom(org.springframework.batch.item.ExecutionAttributes)
 	 */
 	public void restoreFrom(ExecutionAttributes data) {
diff --git a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/io/file/FlatFileItemWriter.java b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/io/file/FlatFileItemWriter.java
index 0b5fb8110..d0123898b 100644
--- a/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/io/file/FlatFileItemWriter.java
+++ b/spring-batch-infrastructure/src/main/java/org/springframework/batch/io/file/FlatFileItemWriter.java
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ import org.springframework.batch.io.support.AbstractTransactionalIoSource;
 import org.springframework.batch.item.ExecutionAttributes;
 import org.springframework.batch.item.ItemStream;
 import org.springframework.batch.item.ItemWriter;
+import org.springframework.batch.item.exception.ResetFailedException;
 import org.springframework.batch.item.exception.StreamException;
 import org.springframework.batch.item.writer.ItemTransformer;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.InitializingBean;
@@ -113,25 +114,6 @@ public class FlatFileItemWriter extends AbstractTransactionalIoSource implements
 		this.resource = resource;
 	}
 
-	/**
-	 * Commit the transaction.
-	 */
-	protected void transactionCommitted() {
-		mark();
-	}
-
-	/**
-	 * Rollback the transaction.
-	 */
-	protected void transactionRolledBack() {
-		reset();
-	}
-
-	// This method removes any information in the file before this reset point.
-	private void resetPositionForRestart() {
-		getOutputState().truncate();
-	}
-
 	/**
 	 * Writes out a string followed by a "new line", where the format of the new
 	 * line separator is determined by the underlying operating system. If the
@@ -251,9 +233,7 @@ public class FlatFileItemWriter extends AbstractTransactionalIoSource implements
 	public void restoreFrom(ExecutionAttributes data) {
 		if (data == null)
 			return;
-
 		getOutputState().restoreFrom(data.getProperties());
-
 	}
 
 	// Returns object representing state.
@@ -396,8 +376,8 @@ public class FlatFileItemWriter extends AbstractTransactionalIoSource implements
 				fileChannel.truncate(lastMarkedByteOffsetPosition);
 				fileChannel.position(lastMarkedByteOffsetPosition);
 			}
-			catch (Exception e) {
-				throw new BatchCriticalException("An Error occured while reseting position in a file for restart", e);
+			catch (IOException e) {
+				throw new BatchCriticalException("An Error occured while truncating output file", e);
 			}
 		}
 
@@ -458,7 +438,7 @@ public class FlatFileItemWriter extends AbstractTransactionalIoSource implements
 
 			// in case of restarting reset position to last commited point
 			if (restarted) {
-				this.resetPosition();
+				this.reset();
 			}
 
 			initialized = true;
@@ -497,9 +477,9 @@ public class FlatFileItemWriter extends AbstractTransactionalIoSource implements
 		 * truncates the file to that reset position, and set the cursor to
 		 * start writing at that point.
 		 */
-		private void resetPosition() {
+		public void reset() throws BatchCriticalException {
 			checkFileSize();
-			resetPositionForRestart();
+			getOutputState().truncate();
 		}
 
 		/**
@@ -508,14 +488,14 @@ public class FlatFileItemWriter extends AbstractTransactionalIoSource implements
 		 * file has been damaged in some way and whole task must be started over
 		 * again from the beginning.
 		 */
-		public void checkFileSize() {
+		private void checkFileSize() {
 			long size = -1;
 
 			try {
 				outputBufferedWriter.flush();
 				size = fileChannel.size();
 			}
-			catch (Exception e) {
+			catch (IOException e) {
 				throw new BatchCriticalException("An Error occured while checking file size", e);
 			}
 
@@ -550,8 +530,11 @@ public class FlatFileItemWriter extends AbstractTransactionalIoSource implements
 	 * (non-Javadoc)
 	 * @see org.springframework.batch.io.support.AbstractTransactionalIoSource#reset(org.springframework.batch.item.ExecutionAttributes)
 	 */
-	public void reset() {
-		getOutputState().checkFileSize();
-		resetPositionForRestart();
+	public void reset() throws ResetFailedException {
+		try {
+			getOutputState().reset();
+		} catch (BatchCriticalException e) {
+			throw new ResetFailedException(e);
+		}
 	}
 }