/**
     * builds a MD5 hash for the input string
     * @param hashMe the string to hash
     * @return MD5 hash converted to string
     */
    public static String getMD5String(String hashMe) {
        log.debug("Request for MD5 of string [" + hashMe+"]");
        if (hashMe == null) {
            return null;
        }
        try {
            MessageDigest md = MessageDigest.getInstance("MD5");
            md.update(hashMe.getBytes());
            byte[] result = md.digest();
            String retval = getHexString(result);
            log.debug("returning MD5 is " + retval);
            return retval;
        } catch (NoSuchAlgorithmException ex) {
            log.error(ex.getMessage(),ex);
            return null;
        }
    }