+ /**
+ * convert a string representing a decimal number, to an int
+ */
+ int to_int(const std::string& s, int base = 10);
+
+ /**
+ * Like strcmp(), but for dotted versions strings NN.NN.NN
+ * any number of terms are support.
+ * @return 0 if versions match, -ve number if v1 is lower, +ve if v1
+ * is greater
+ */
+ int compare_versions(const std::string& v1, const std::string& v2);
+
+ /**
+ * Convert a string to upper case.
+ * @return upper case string
+ */
+ std::string uppercase(const std::string &s);
+
+ /**
+ * convert a string in the local Windows 8-bit encoding to UTF-8
+ * (no-op on other platforms)
+ */
+ std::string convertWindowsLocal8BitToUtf8(const std::string& a);
+