code: public String getValue (String name, String defval)
      {
          return _props.getProperty(name, defval);
      }
docs: Fetches and returns the value for the specified configuration property. If the value is not
  specified in the associated properties file, the supplied default value is returned instead.
  
  @param name the name of the property to be fetched.
  @param defval the value to return if the property is not specified in the config file.
  
  @return the value of the requested property.