code: public static short requiredShortAttribute(final XMLStreamReader reader, final String localName)
              throws XMLStreamException {
          return requiredShortAttribute(reader, null, localName);
      }
docs: Returns the value of an attribute as a short. If the attribute is empty, this method throws
  an exception.
  
  @param reader
  <code>XMLStreamReader</code> that contains attribute values.
  @param localName
  local name of attribute (the namespace is ignored).
  @return value of attribute as short
  @throws XMLStreamException
  if attribute is empty.