private synchronized String prepareChannel(String channel){
  if (channel == null || channel.isEmpty()) {
    return null;
  }
  if (channel.startsWith("#")) {
    channel=channel.substring(1);
    if (channel.isEmpty()) {
      return null;
    }
  }
  return channel;
}

private synchronized String prepareChannel ( String channel ) { if ( channel == null || channel . isEmpty ( ) ) { return null ; } if ( channel . startsWith ( "#" ) ) { channel = channel . substring ( 1 ) ; if ( channel . isEmpty ( ) ) { return null ; } } return channel ; }
checks if a channel is null or empty and removes any ' # ' in front of it if necessary .
