code: public String getDbProperty(String key) {
  
          // extract the database key out of the entire key
          String databaseKey = key.substring(0, key.indexOf('.'));
          Properties databaseProperties = getDatabaseProperties().get(databaseKey);
  
          return databaseProperties.getProperty(key, "");
      }
docs: Returns the value for a given key from the database properties.
  
  @param key the property key
  
  @return the string value for a given key