diff --git a/projects/samskivert/src/java/com/samskivert/xml/XMLUtil.java b/projects/samskivert/src/java/com/samskivert/xml/XMLUtil.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c3c39e51
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+++ b/projects/samskivert/src/java/com/samskivert/xml/XMLUtil.java
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+//
+// $Id: XMLUtil.java,v 1.1 2001/07/20 22:56:00 shaper Exp $
+
+package com.samskivert.xml;
+
+import org.xml.sax.*;
+import org.xml.sax.helpers.DefaultHandler;
+import org.xml.sax.helpers.XMLReaderFactory;
+
+import java.io.*;
+import javax.xml.parsers.*;
+
+/**
+ * The XMLUtil class provides a simplified interface for XML parsing.
+ *
+ * <p> Classes wishing to parse XML data should extend the
+ * <code>org.xml.sax.helpers.DefaultHandler</code> class, override the
+ * desired SAX event handler methods, and call<code>XMLUtil.parse()</code>.
+ */
+public class XMLUtil
+{
+    /**
+     * Parse the XML data in the given input stream, using the
+     * specified handler object as both the content and error handler.
+     *
+     * @param handler the SAX event handler
+     * @param in the input stream containing the XML to be parsed
+     */
+    public static void parse (DefaultHandler handler, InputStream in)
+	throws IOException, ParserConfigurationException, SAXException
+    {
+	XMLReader xr = _pfactory.newSAXParser().getXMLReader();
+
+	xr.setContentHandler(handler);
+	xr.setErrorHandler(handler);
+
+	xr.parse(new InputSource(in));
+    }
+
+    /** The factory from whence we obtain XMLReader objects */
+    protected static SAXParserFactory _pfactory;
+
+    static {
+	_pfactory = SAXParserFactory.newInstance();
+	_pfactory.setValidating(false);
+    }
+}