# == Synopsis
# add a blank? method to all Objects
class Object
  # return asserted if object is nil or empty
  # TODO: not the safest coding, probably should dup before stripping.  Maybe should also compact
  def blank?
    result = nil?
    unless result
      if respond_to? 'empty?'
        if respond_to? 'strip'
          result = strip.empty?
        else
          result = empty?
        end
      end
    end
    result
  end
end