Properties properties;
Properties properties = new Properties();
    private static Properties loadProperties() throws IOException{        // default properties        StringBuffer propertiesFilename = new StringBuffer(PROPERTIES_FILENAME_START);        propertiesFilename.append(PROPERTIES_FILENAME_END);        // browser dependent properties        String browserType = SessionManager.getSession().getUserAgent().getBrowserType().getShortName();        StringBuffer browserPropertiesFilename = new StringBuffer(PROPERTIES_FILENAME_START);        browserPropertiesFilename.append(".");        browserPropertiesFilename.append(browserType);        browserPropertiesFilename.append(PROPERTIES_FILENAME_END);        Properties properties;        properties = loadProperties(propertiesFilename);        // catch IOExceptions b/c these files are totally optional        try {            properties.putAll(loadProperties(browserPropertiesFilename));        } catch (IOException e) {            log.info("the (optional) browser properties files did not get loaded.\n If this is ok (default), ignore the log messages above.");        }        return properties;    }