def METHOD_NAME(self):
    """
    If the {@link #url} has been set to null or the empty string, then no
    upgrade check will be performed (silently). If however the string is an
    invalid URL, a warning will be printed.
    This method should <em>never</em> throw an exception.
    """
    # If None or empty, the upgrade check is disabled.
    if self.url is None or len(self.url) == 0:
        return
        # EARLY EXIT!
    try:
        params = {}
        params["version"] = self.version
        params["os.name"] = platform.system()
        params["os.arch"] = platform.machine()
        params["os.version"] = self.getOSVersion()
        params["python.version"] = platform.python_version()
        params["python.compiler"] = platform.python_compiler()
        params["python.build"] = platform.python_build()
        headers = {'User-Agent': self.agent}
        request = requests.get(
            self.url, headers=headers, params=params,
            timeout=self.DEFAULT_TIMEOUT
        )
        result = request.text
    except Exception as e:
        self.log.error(str(e), exc_info=0)
        self._set(None, e)
        return
    if len(result) == 0:
        self.log.info("no update needed")
        self._set(None, None)
    else:
        self.log.warn("UPGRADE AVAILABLE:" + result)
        self._set(result, None)