code: public static String asString(Object object, String otherwise) {
  		return object != null ? object.toString() : otherwise;
  	}
docs: Returns the given object as a string, if not null, otherwise
  returns null.
  
  @param object
  the object to be safely converted to a string.
  @param otherwise
  if the object is null, return this value instead.
  @return
  the string representation of the object if not null, the default
  value passed in otherwise.