code: public static String getColumnString(Cursor cursor, String columnName) {
          int col = cursor.getColumnIndex(columnName);
          return getStringOrNull(cursor, col);
      }
docs: Gets the value of a string column by name.
  
  @param cursor Cursor to read the value from.
  @param columnName The name of the column to read.
  @return The value of the given column, or <code>null</null>
  if the cursor does not contain the given column.