code: public static Map<String, String> loadProperties(InputStream is)
          throws StorageException {
          Map<String, String> propertiesMap = null;
          if (is != null) {
              try {
                  String properties = readStringFromStream(is);
                  propertiesMap = deserializeMap(properties);
              } catch (Exception e) {
                  String err = "Could not read properties " +
                               " due to error: " + e.getMessage();
                  throw new StorageException(err, e);
              }
          }
  
          if (propertiesMap == null) {
              propertiesMap = new HashMap<String, String>();
          }
  
          return propertiesMap;
      }
docs: Loads a stream containing properties and populates a map
  with the properties name/value pairs.
  
  @param is
  @return
  @throws StorageException