private Level selectFinestLevel(Level a,Level b){
  if (a == null)   return b;
 else   if (b == null)   return a;
 else   if (b.intValue() < a.intValue())   return b;
 else   return a;
}

private Level selectFinestLevel ( Level a , Level b ) { if ( a == null ) return b ; else if ( b == null ) return a ; else if ( b . intValue ( ) < a . intValue ( ) ) return b ; else return a ; }
returns the finest of the two levels .
