function round( num, idp )
   return tonumber( string.format("%."..idp.."f", num ) )
end

function findpattern(text, pattern, start)
   return string.sub(text, string.find(text, pattern, start))
end

function valOrNil(t)
  if type(t) == "nil" then
    return "nil"
  else
    return t
  end
end

function pluralize(num)
   if num ~= 1 then return "s" else return "" end
end