diff --git a/ipmitool/include/ipmitool/helper.h b/ipmitool/include/ipmitool/helper.h
index 1f49e6d..0bc741f 100644
--- a/ipmitool/include/ipmitool/helper.h
+++ b/ipmitool/include/ipmitool/helper.h
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ struct valstr {
 	const char * str;
 };
 const char * val2str(unsigned short val, const struct valstr * vs);
+unsigned short str2val(const char * str, const struct valstr * vs);
 
 unsigned short buf2short(unsigned char * buf);
 uint32_t buf2long(unsigned char * buf);
@@ -56,5 +57,7 @@ void signal_handler(int sig, void * handler);
 #define SIG_DEFAULT(s)        ((void)signal((s), SIG_DFL))
 #define SIG_HANDLE(s,h)       ((void)signal_handler((s), (h)))
 
+#define min(a, b)  ((a) < (b) ? (a) : (b))
+
 #endif /* IPMI_HELPER_H */
 
diff --git a/ipmitool/lib/helper.c b/ipmitool/lib/helper.c
index 04806a4..be7c4ee 100644
--- a/ipmitool/lib/helper.c
+++ b/ipmitool/lib/helper.c
@@ -38,10 +38,8 @@
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <inttypes.h>
 #include <signal.h>
-#include <ipmitool/helper.h>
-
 #include <string.h>
-
+#include <ipmitool/helper.h>
 
 uint32_t buf2long(unsigned char * buf)
 {
@@ -104,6 +102,19 @@ const char * val2str(unsigned short val, const struct valstr *vs)
 	return un_str;
 }
 
+unsigned short str2val(const char *str, const struct valstr *vs)
+{
+	int i = 0;
+
+	while (vs[i].str) {
+		if (!strncasecmp(vs[i].str, str, strlen(str)))
+			return vs[i].val;
+		i++;
+	}
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
 void signal_handler(int sig, void * handler)
 {
 	struct sigaction act;
@@ -125,4 +136,3 @@ void signal_handler(int sig, void * handler)
 		return;
 	}
 }
-