code: private EventRecord readGroup(EventRecord er, StringBuffer sb, String prefix) {
  
      Pattern pattern = Pattern.compile(".*(" + prefix
          + "\\s*\\d*)\\s*:\\s*(\\+?\\d+)", Pattern.MULTILINE);
      Matcher matcher = pattern.matcher(sb);
  
      while (matcher.find())
        er.set(matcher.group(1), matcher.group(2));
  
      return er;
    }
docs: Reads and parses lines that provide the output
  of a group of sensors with the same functionality.
  
  @param er the EventRecord to which the new attributes are added
  @param sb the text to parse
  @param prefix a String prefix specifying the common prefix of the
  sensors' names in the group (e.g. "fan", "in", "temp"
  
  @return the EventRecord created