code: static public Properties loadProperties(Properties base, File file) throws IOException {
  	FileReader reader = new FileReader(file);
  	Properties props = new Properties();
  	props.load(reader);
  	if (base != null) props.putAll(base);
  	reader.close();
  	return props;
      }
docs: Loads the given file into a Properties object.
  @param base Properties that should override those loaded from the file
  @param file The file to load
  @return Properties loaded from the file