public static boolean readBooleanAttribute(Element elem, String name,
                                             boolean defaultValue)
  {
    boolean back = defaultValue ;

    String str = elem.getAttribute(name) ;
    if (str != null)
    {
      if (str.length() > 0)
      {
        int hash = str.hashCode() ;
        if ( (hash == "yes".hashCode()) || (hash == "true".hashCode()))
        {
          back = true ;
        }
        else
        {
          back = false ;
        }
      }
    }

    return back ;
  }