code: public static String normalizePattern(final String pattern) {
  		if (pattern == null || "".equals(pattern.trim())) {
  			return "/";
  		}
  		if (pattern.length() > 0 && !pattern.startsWith("/")
  				&& !pattern.startsWith("*")) {
  			return "/" + pattern;
  		}
  		return pattern;
  	}
docs: Normalizes a pattern = prepends the path with slash (/) if the path does
  not start with a slash.
  
  @param pattern to normalize
  @return normalized pattern