diff --git a/libsaria/xm.py b/libsaria/xm.py
index b67d9704..742bb679 100644
--- a/libsaria/xm.py
+++ b/libsaria/xm.py
@@ -24,21 +24,27 @@ def child(doc):
 		return list[0]
 	return None
 
-def add_child(doc, node, name):
+def check_type(value):
+	if value.__class__ == unicode:
+		return value.encode("utf-8")
+	return str(value)
+
+def add_child(doc, node, name, attrs = {}):
 	child = doc.createElement(name)
+	for attr in attrs:
+		value = check_type(attrs[attr])
+		child.setAttribute(attr, value)
 	node.appendChild(child)
 	return child
 
 def add_text(doc, node, value):
-	if value.__class__ == int or value.__class__ == long:
-		value = str(value)
-	elif value.__class__ == unicode:
-		value = value.encode("utf-8")
+	value = check_type(value)
 	try:
 		child = doc.createTextNode( value )
 		node.appendChild(child)
 		return value
-	except:
+	except Exception, e:
+		print e
 		print value, value.__class__
 
 def get_elements(doc, tag):