iText beware!!!!

Even though it advertises itself as 'free' and 'open source'. If you use this library for commercial use you have to pay for it (and it is not cheap).

Spring MVC JSR 303 Empty Strings

/**
* Ensures empty strings come in as NULL's
*
* @param binder
*/
protected void initBinder(final WebDataBinder binder) {
binder.registerCustomEditor(String.class, new StringTrimmerEditor(true));
binder.registerCustomEditor(Date.class, new StringTrimmerEditor(true));
}