public static Byte asByte(Object value) {
   if (value == null) return null;
   if (value instanceof Number) return ((Number) value).byteValue();
   return Byte.valueOf(value.toString());
 }
 // ---- format -------------------------------------------------------
 public static String format(byte value, String format) {
   return NumberUtils.format(Byte.valueOf(value), format);
 }