question: protected void merge ( Properties from , Properties to , String what , String where ) { if ( ! from . isEmpty ( ) ) { if ( to == null ) { to = getProperties ( ) ; } PropUtils . copyProperties ( from , to ) ; } else { if ( what != null && DEBUG ) { logger . fine ( "no " + what + " found" + ( where == null ? "." : ( " in " + where ) ) ) ; } } }
target:  Take the from properties, copy them into the to properties. The what and where are simple for a more clearly defined logging statement. The what and where are only used for debugging statements when there are no properties found, so don't put too much work into creating them, like adding strings together before passing them in. The what and where fit into a debug output statement like: PropertyHandler.merge(): no _what_ found in _where_.