code: public boolean getValue (String name, boolean defval)
      {
          String val = _props.getProperty(name);
          if (val != null) {
              defval = !val.equalsIgnoreCase("false");
          }
          return 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.
  The returned value will be <code>false</code> if the config value is <code>"false"</code>
  (case-insensitive), else the return value will be true.
  
  @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.