diff --git a/projects/samskivert/src/java/com/samskivert/webmacro/FormUtil.java b/projects/samskivert/src/java/com/samskivert/webmacro/FormUtil.java
index 421eec6c..3ae380a2 100644
--- a/projects/samskivert/src/java/com/samskivert/webmacro/FormUtil.java
+++ b/projects/samskivert/src/java/com/samskivert/webmacro/FormUtil.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 //
-// $Id: FormUtil.java,v 1.4 2001/03/04 08:18:28 mdb Exp $
+// $Id: FormUtil.java,v 1.5 2001/03/15 19:33:37 mdb Exp $
 
 package com.samskivert.webmacro;
 
@@ -65,6 +65,22 @@ public class FormUtil
         return parseDateParameter(context.getForm(name), invalidDataMessage);
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Fetches the supplied parameter from the request. If the parameter
+     * does not exist, either null or the empty string will be returned
+     * depending on the value of the <code>returnNull</code> parameter.
+     */
+    public static String getParameter (WebContext context, String name,
+                                       boolean returnNull)
+    {
+	String value = context.getForm(name);
+        if (returnNull || !StringUtil.blank(value)) {
+            return value;
+        } else {
+            return "";
+        }
+    }
+
     /**
      * Fetches the supplied parameter from the request and converts it to
      * a date. The value of the parameter should be a date formatted like