code: public static String getTsurgeonTextFromReader(BufferedReader reader) throws IOException {
      StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
      for (String thisLine; (thisLine = reader.readLine()) != null; ) {
        thisLine = removeComments(thisLine);
        if (emptyLinePattern.matcher(thisLine).matches()) {
          continue;
        }
        sb.append(thisLine);
        sb.append('\n');
      }
      return sb.toString();
    }
docs: Assumes the given reader has only tsurgeon operations (not a tregex pattern), and returns
  them as a String, mirroring the way the strings appear in the file. This is helpful
  for lazy evaluation of the operations, as in a GUI,
  because you do not parse the operations on load.  Comments are still excised.
  @throws IOException