1 files changed, 14 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/lib/xmlreader.js b/lib/xmlreader.js
index f219d2b..551366f 100644
--- a/lib/xmlreader.js
+++ b/lib/xmlreader.js
@@ -85,6 +85,16 @@ function mapObject(input, valueFunc, keyFunc) {
     }, {});
 }
 
+var emptyElement = {
+    first: function() {
+        return null;
+    },
+    firstOrEmpty: function() {
+        return emptyElement;
+    },
+    attributes: {}
+};
+
 function Element(name, attributes, children) {
     this.type = "element";
     this.name = name;
@@ -98,6 +108,10 @@ Element.prototype.first = function(name) {
     });
 };
 
+Element.prototype.firstOrEmpty = function(name) {
+    return this.first(name) || emptyElement;
+};
+
 Element.prototype.getElementsByTagName = function(name) {
     var elements = _.filter(this.children, function(child) {
         return child.name == name;