diff --git a/src/org/hibernate/util/PropertiesHelper.java b/src/org/hibernate/util/PropertiesHelper.java
index 1ede939076..5fe6d3e2f6 100644
--- a/src/org/hibernate/util/PropertiesHelper.java
+++ b/src/org/hibernate/util/PropertiesHelper.java
@@ -7,58 +7,178 @@ import java.util.Properties;
 import java.util.StringTokenizer;
 import java.util.Iterator;
 
-
+/**
+ * Collection of helper methods for dealing with {@link java.util.Properties}
+ * objects.
+ *
+ * @author Gavin King
+ * @author Steve Ebersole
+ */
 public final class PropertiesHelper {
 
 	private static final String PLACEHOLDER_START = "${";
 
-	public static boolean getBoolean(String property, Properties properties) {
-		String setting = properties.getProperty(property);
-		return setting != null && Boolean.valueOf( setting.trim() ).booleanValue();
+	/**
+	 * Disallow instantiation
+	 */
+	private PropertiesHelper() {
 	}
 
-	public static boolean getBoolean(String property, Properties properties, boolean defaultValue) {
-		String setting = properties.getProperty(property);
-		return setting==null ? defaultValue : Boolean.valueOf( setting.trim() ).booleanValue();
+	/**
+	 * Get a property value as a string.
+	 *
+	 * @see #extractPropertyValue(String, java.util.Properties)
+	 *
+	 * @param propertyName The name of the property for which to retrieve value
+	 * @param properties The properties object
+	 * @param defaultValue The default property value to use.
+	 * @return The property value; may be null.
+	 */
+	public static String getString(String propertyName, Properties properties, String defaultValue) {
+		String value = extractPropertyValue( propertyName, properties );
+		return value == null ? defaultValue : value;
 	}
 
-	public static int getInt(String property, Properties properties, int defaultValue) {
-		String propValue = properties.getProperty(property);
-		return propValue==null ? defaultValue : Integer.parseInt( propValue.trim() );
+	/**
+	 * Extract a property value by name from the given properties object.
+	 * <p/>
+	 * Both <tt>null</tt> and <tt>empty string</tt> are viewed as the same, and return null.
+	 *
+	 * @param propertyName The name of the property for which to extract value
+	 * @param properties The properties object
+	 * @return The property value; may be null.
+	 */
+	public static String extractPropertyValue(String propertyName, Properties properties) {
+		String value = properties.getProperty( propertyName );
+		if ( value == null ) {
+			return null;
+		}
+		value = value.trim();
+		if ( StringHelper.isEmpty( value ) ) {
+			return null;
+		}
+		return value;
 	}
 
-	public static String getString(String property, Properties properties, String defaultValue) {
-		String propValue = properties.getProperty(property);
-		return propValue==null ? defaultValue : propValue;
+	/**
+	 * Get a property value as a boolean.  Shorthand for calling
+	 * {@link #getBoolean(String, java.util.Properties, boolean)} with <tt>false</tt>
+	 * as the default value.
+	 *
+	 * @param propertyName The name of the property for which to retrieve value
+	 * @param properties The properties object
+	 * @return The property value.
+	 */
+	public static boolean getBoolean(String propertyName, Properties properties) {
+		return getBoolean( propertyName, properties, false );
 	}
 
-	public static Integer getInteger(String property, Properties properties) {
-		String propValue = properties.getProperty(property);
-		return propValue==null ? null : Integer.valueOf( propValue.trim() );
+	/**
+	 * Get a property value as a boolean.
+	 * <p/>
+	 * First, the string value is extracted, and then {@link Boolean#valueOf(String)} is
+	 * used to determine the correct boolean value.
+	 *
+	 * @see #extractPropertyValue(String, java.util.Properties)
+	 *
+	 * @param propertyName The name of the property for which to retrieve value
+	 * @param properties The properties object
+	 * @param defaultValue The default property value to use.
+	 * @return The property value.
+	 */
+	public static boolean getBoolean(String propertyName, Properties properties, boolean defaultValue) {
+		String value = extractPropertyValue( propertyName, properties );
+		return value == null ? defaultValue : Boolean.valueOf( value ).booleanValue();
 	}
 
-	public static Map toMap(String property, String delim, Properties properties) {
+	/**
+	 * Get a property value as an int.
+	 * <p/>
+	 * First, the string value is extracted, and then {@link Integer#parseInt(String)} is
+	 * used to determine the correct int value for any non-null property values.
+	 *
+	 * @see #extractPropertyValue(String, java.util.Properties)
+	 *
+	 * @param propertyName The name of the property for which to retrieve value
+	 * @param properties The properties object
+	 * @param defaultValue The default property value to use.
+	 * @return The property value.
+	 */
+	public static int getInt(String propertyName, Properties properties, int defaultValue) {
+		String value = extractPropertyValue( propertyName, properties );
+		return value == null ? defaultValue : Integer.parseInt( value );
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Get a property value as an Integer.
+	 * <p/>
+	 * First, the string value is extracted, and then {@link Integer#valueOf(String)} is
+	 * used to determine the correct boolean value for any non-null property values.
+	 *
+	 * @see #extractPropertyValue(String, java.util.Properties)
+	 *
+	 * @param propertyName The name of the property for which to retrieve value
+	 * @param properties The properties object
+	 * @return The property value; may be null.
+	 */
+	public static Integer getInteger(String propertyName, Properties properties) {
+		String value = extractPropertyValue( propertyName, properties );
+		return value == null ? null : Integer.valueOf( value );
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Constructs a map from a property value.
+	 * <p/>
+	 * The exact behavior here is largely dependant upon what is passed in as
+	 * the delimiter.
+	 *
+	 * @see #extractPropertyValue(String, java.util.Properties)
+	 *
+	 * @param propertyName The name of the property for which to retrieve value
+	 * @param delim The string defining tokens used as both entry and key/value delimiters.
+	 * @param properties The properties object
+	 * @return The resulting map; never null, though perhaps empty.
+	 */
+	public static Map toMap(String propertyName, String delim, Properties properties) {
 		Map map = new HashMap();
-		String propValue = properties.getProperty(property);
-		if (propValue!=null) {
-			StringTokenizer tokens = new StringTokenizer(propValue, delim);
+		String value = extractPropertyValue( propertyName, properties );
+		if ( value != null ) {
+			StringTokenizer tokens = new StringTokenizer( value, delim );
 			while ( tokens.hasMoreTokens() ) {
-				map.put(
-					tokens.nextToken(),
-				    tokens.hasMoreElements() ? tokens.nextToken() : ""
-				);
+				map.put( tokens.nextToken(), tokens.hasMoreElements() ? tokens.nextToken() : "" );
 			}
 		}
 		return map;
 	}
 
-	public static String[] toStringArray(String property, String delim, Properties properties) {
-		return toStringArray( properties.getProperty(property), delim );
+	/**
+	 * Get a property value as a string array.
+	 *
+	 * @see #extractPropertyValue(String, java.util.Properties)
+	 * @see #toStringArray(String, String)
+	 *
+	 * @param propertyName The name of the property for which to retrieve value
+	 * @param delim The delimiter used to separate individual array elements.
+	 * @param properties The properties object
+	 * @return The array; never null, though may be empty.
+	 */
+	public static String[] toStringArray(String propertyName, String delim, Properties properties) {
+		return toStringArray( extractPropertyValue( propertyName, properties ), delim );
 	}
 
-	public static String[] toStringArray(String propValue, String delim) {
-		if (propValue!=null) {
-			return StringHelper.split(delim, propValue);
+	/**
+	 * Convert a string to an array of strings.  The assumption is that
+	 * the individual array elements are delimited in the source stringForm
+	 * param by the delim param.
+	 *
+	 * @param stringForm The string form of the string array.
+	 * @param delim The delimiter used to separate individual array elements.
+	 * @return The array; never null, though may be empty.
+	 */
+	public static String[] toStringArray(String stringForm, String delim) {
+		// todo : move to StringHelper?
+		if ( stringForm != null ) {
+			return StringHelper.split( delim, stringForm );
 		}
 		else {
 			return ArrayHelper.EMPTY_STRING_ARRAY;
@@ -73,13 +193,18 @@ public final class PropertiesHelper {
 	 * @return cloned and masked properties
 	 */
 	public static Properties maskOut(Properties props, String key) {
-		Properties clone = (Properties) props.clone();
-		if (clone.get(key) != null) {
-			clone.setProperty(key, "****");
+		Properties clone = ( Properties ) props.clone();
+		if ( clone.get( key ) != null ) {
+			clone.setProperty( key, "****" );
 		}
 		return clone;
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Handles interpolation processing for all entries in a properties object.
+	 *
+	 * @param properties The properties object.
+	 */
 	public static void resolvePlaceHolders(Properties properties) {
 		Iterator itr = properties.entrySet().iterator();
 		while ( itr.hasNext() ) {
@@ -99,6 +224,12 @@ public final class PropertiesHelper {
 		}
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Handles interpolation processing for a single property.
+	 *
+	 * @param property The property value to be processed for interpolation.
+	 * @return The (possibly) interpolated property value.
+	 */
 	public static String resolvePlaceHolder(String property) {
 		if ( property.indexOf( PLACEHOLDER_START ) < 0 ) {
 			return property;
@@ -143,7 +274,4 @@ public final class PropertiesHelper {
 			return null;
 		}
 	}
-
-
-	private PropertiesHelper() {}
 }