What is the efficient way of null and empty check in setter

I need to add null and empty checks to each of the 27 fields in my DTO class, and I'm searching for the most effective method to accomplish it. Can anyone suggest any ideas?

private String settingType;
private String settingCode;
private String executionEndDate;
private String startToday;

        if (!ObjectUtils.isEmpty(updateRequest.getSettingType())) {
            builder.setSettingType(updateRequest.getSettingType());
        }
        if (!ObjectUtils.isEmpty(updateRequest.getSettingCode())) {
            builder.setSettingCode(updateRequest.getSettingCode());
        }
        if (!ObjectUtils.isEmpty(updateRequest.getExecutionEndDate())) {
            builder.setExecutionEndDate(updateRequest.getExecutionEndDate());
        }
        if (!ObjectUtils.isEmpty(updateRequest.isStartToday())) {
            builder.setStartToday(updateRequest.getStartToday());
        }

We can use this method using consumer

import java.util.function.Consumer;

    private <T> void setFieldIfNotEmpty(Consumer<T> setter, T value) {
        if (ObjectUtils.isNotEmpty(value)) {
            setter.accept(value);
        }
    }

Then use the above method for null and empty check as well

		setFieldIfNotEmpty(builder::setSettingType, updateRequest.getSettingType());

        setFieldIfNotEmpty(builder::setSettingCode, updateRequest.getSettingCode());

        builder.setStartToday(updateRequest.getStartToday());

        setFieldIfNotEmpty(builder::setExecutionEndDate, updateRequest.getExecutionEndDate());

Like this

One approach is to change methods that might return null values to instead return Optional types, e.g.:

Optional<String> getSettingType() {
    return Optional.ofNullable(settingType);
}

This has the advantage of being self-documenting (the fact that it might return no value is now explicit), and also means you can replace your code with something like this:

updateRequest.getSettingType().ifPresent(builder::setSettingType);
updateRequest.getSettingCode().ifPresent(builder::setSettingCode);
updateRequest.getExecutionEndDate().ifPresent(builder::setExecutionEndDate);
updateRequest.getStartToday().ifPresent(builder::setStartToday);

THis approach does mean creating short-lived Optional objects, so whether it's sufficiently "efficient" is something you would need to decide.

1.) It would be better to initialise some value in the constructor, So that it wouldn't got the null value for any fields.

2.) Java 8 optional would be more than beneficial for null values check.