From 59ea275d443c4a05cbd75d4053e704cb90a13dad Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: riverwanderer <58135975+riverwanderer@users.noreply.github.com>
Date: Mon, 4 Sep 2023 18:30:11 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] Use null-safe test on VassalNextSide.

---
 vassal-app/src/main/java/VASSAL/build/module/PlayerRoster.java | 3 ++-
 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/vassal-app/src/main/java/VASSAL/build/module/PlayerRoster.java b/vassal-app/src/main/java/VASSAL/build/module/PlayerRoster.java
index 7aff946bb4..87e3a2edcc 100644
--- a/vassal-app/src/main/java/VASSAL/build/module/PlayerRoster.java
+++ b/vassal-app/src/main/java/VASSAL/build/module/PlayerRoster.java
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@
 import VASSAL.tools.SequenceEncoder;
 import VASSAL.tools.swing.FlowLabel;
 import net.miginfocom.swing.MigLayout;
+import org.apache.commons.lang3.StringUtils;
 import org.netbeans.spi.wizard.WizardController;
 import org.w3c.dom.Attr;
 import org.w3c.dom.Document;
@@ -777,7 +778,7 @@ protected String promptForSide() {
     // Reserved property VassalNextSide may override hotseat default; must be an available side
     String nextChoice = (String) GameModule.getGameModule().getProperty("VassalNextSide");
 
-    if (nextChoice.isEmpty() || !availableSides.contains(nextChoice)) {
+    if (StringUtils.isEmpty(nextChoice) || !availableSides.contains(nextChoice)) {
       boolean found = false;       // If we find a usable side
       final String mySide = getMySide(); // Get our own side, so we can find the "next" one
       final int myidx = (mySide != null) ? sides.indexOf(mySide) : -1; // See if we have a current non-observe side.