diff --git a/sched/util.inc b/sched/util.inc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3ed81090c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sched/util.inc
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+<?php
+
+// look for an element in some XML text
+//
+function parse_element($xml, $tag) {
+    $element = null;
+    $x = strstr($xml, $tag);
+    if ($x) {
+        $y = substr($x, strlen($tag));
+        $n = strpos($y, "<");
+        if ($n) {
+            $element = substr($y, 0, $n);
+        }
+    }
+    return $element;
+}
+
+// look for a particular element in the config.xml file
+//
+function parse_config($tag) {
+    $element = null;
+    $fp = fopen("config.xml", "r");
+    if (!$fp) return false;
+    while (1) {
+        $buf = fgets($fp, 1024);
+        if ($buf == null) break;
+        $element = parse_element($buf, $tag);
+        if ($element) break;
+    }
+    fclose($fp);
+    return $element;
+}
+
+function db_init() {
+    $retval = mysql_pconnect();
+    if (!$retval) return false;
+    $db_name = parse_config("<db_name>");
+    if (!$db_name) return false;
+    return mysql_select_db($db_name);
+}
+
+?>