if (settingsPath == null || settingsPath.trim().length() == 0) {
// no settings specified, so take the default one
if (ivy == null) {
IvySettings ivySettings = createIvySettings();
try {
ivySettings.loadDefault();
} catch (ParseException e) {
IvyDEException ex = new IvyDEException(
"Parsing error of the default Ivy settings",
"The default Ivy settings file could not be parsed: " + e.getMessage(),
e);