diff --git a/dgbuilder/red/util.js b/dgbuilder/red/util.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7ca72b0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dgbuilder/red/util.js
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright 2014 IBM Corp.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ **/
+
+function ensureString(o) {
+    if (Buffer.isBuffer(o)) {
+        return o.toString();
+    } else if (typeof o === "object") {
+        return JSON.stringify(o);
+    } else if (typeof o === "string") {
+        return o;
+    }
+    return ""+o;
+}
+
+function ensureBuffer(o) {
+    if (Buffer.isBuffer(o)) {
+        return o;
+    } else if (typeof o === "object") {
+        o = JSON.stringify(o);
+    } else if (typeof o !== "string") {
+        o = ""+o;
+    }
+    return new Buffer(o);
+}
+
+module.exports = {
+    ensureString: ensureString,
+    ensureBuffer: ensureBuffer,
+};
+