protected boolean isEqualValue(Object value1,Object value2){
  return (value1 == value2 || value1.equals(value2));
}

protected boolean isEqualValue ( Object value1 , Object value2 ) { return ( value1 == value2 || value1 . equals ( value2 ) ) ; }
compares two values , in external form , to see if they are equal . this implementation uses the equals method and assumes neither value is null . subclasses can override this to match differently .
