// check if entity was explictly set otherwise return params as entity if (entity.getContentLength() > 0) { return entity; } else if (!params.isEmpty()) { // construct entity if not already set return new UrlEncodedFormEntity(params, DEFAULT_ENCODING); } return null; } public static String base64Encode(String str) { byte[] bytes = str.getBytes(); return Base64.encodeToString(bytes, Base64.NO_WRAP); } public static Throwable getRootCause(Throwable throwable) { if (throwable.getCause() != null) { return getRootCause(throwable.getCause()); } return throwable;