--- a
+++ b/utils/writedescription.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+/* Copyright (C) 2017 J.F.Dockes
+ *   This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ *   it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ *   the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
+ *   (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ *   This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ *   but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ *   MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ *   GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ *   You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ *   along with this program; if not, write to the
+ *   Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
+ *   59 Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307, USA.
+ */
+#include "writedescription.h"
+
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <iostream>
+
+using namespace std;
+
+static void neutchars(const string& str, string& out, const string& chars)
+{
+    string::size_type startPos, pos;
+    out.clear();
+    for (pos = 0;;) {
+        // Skip initial chars, break if this eats all.
+        if ((startPos = str.find_first_not_of(chars, pos)) == string::npos) {
+            break;
+        }
+        // Find next delimiter or end of string (end of token)
+        pos = str.find_first_of(chars, startPos);
+        // Add token to the output. Note: token cant be empty here
+        if (pos == string::npos) {
+            out += str.substr(startPos);
+        } else {
+            out += str.substr(startPos, pos - startPos) + "_";
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+static bool make_file(const string& nm, const string& content)
+{
+    FILE *fp = fopen(nm.c_str(), "wb");
+    if (nullptr == fp) {
+        cerr << "Could not create/open " << nm << endl;
+        perror("fopen");
+        return false;
+    }
+    if (fwrite(content.c_str(), content.size(), 1, fp) != 1) {
+        fclose(fp);
+        cerr << "Could not write to  " << nm << endl;
+        perror("fwrite");
+        return false;
+    }
+    fclose(fp);
+    return true;
+}
+
+
+bool writeDescriptionFiles(
+    const string& dirname, const string& devname, const string& deviceXML,
+    const unordered_map<string, string>& srvsXML)
+{
+    string path, fn, fn1;
+    fn = devname + "-description.xml";
+    neutchars(fn, fn1, "/ \n\r\t");
+    path = dirname + "/" + fn1;
+    if (!make_file(path, deviceXML)) {
+        return false;
+    }
+    for (auto entry : srvsXML) {
+        fn = entry.first + ".xml";
+        neutchars(fn, fn1, "/ \n\r\t");
+        path = dirname + "/" + fn1;
+        if (!make_file(path, entry.second)) {
+            return false;
+        }
+    }        
+    return true;
+}
+