code: private Properties parseProperties(String propertiesString) {
          Properties properties = null;
          String[] propPairs = propertiesString.split(";");
          if (propPairs.length > 0) {
              properties = new Properties();
              for (String propPair : propPairs) {
                  int eq = propPair.indexOf('=');
                  assert eq > -1 : "Invalid properties syntax: " + propertiesString;
                  properties.put(propPair.substring(0, eq), propPair.substring(eq + 1, propPair.length()));
              }
          }
          return properties;
      }
docs: Parse the propertiesString into a Properties object.  The string must have the format of:
  propertyName=propertyValue;propertyName=propertyValue;...
  
  @param propertiesString
  @return A Properties instance or null if parse fails