public long getUnicodeAsLong() {
    long retval = -1;

    String s = getUnicodeAsString();
    if (s.equals("")) {
      return retval;
    } // if

    try {
      retval = Long.parseLong(s, 16);
    } catch (NumberFormatException e) {
      retval = -1;
    } // try-catch

    return retval;
  }