private String abbreviateDescription(String description){
  if (description == null) {
    return null;
  }
  if (description.length() <= 200) {
    return description;
  }
  return description.substring(0,197) + "...";
}

private String abbreviateDescription ( String description ) { if ( description == null ) { return null ; } if ( description . length ( ) <= 200 ) { return description ; } return description . substring ( 0 , 197 ) + "..." ; }
abbreviates this description to a length that will fit in the database .
