diff --git a/examples/wsperf/wscmd.cpp b/examples/wsperf/wscmd.cpp
index 3a26e95266..253940af25 100644
--- a/examples/wsperf/wscmd.cpp
+++ b/examples/wsperf/wscmd.cpp
@@ -68,3 +68,11 @@ wscmd::cmd wscmd::parse(const std::string& m) {
     return command;
 }
 
+bool wscmd::extract_string(wscmd::cmd command,const std::string& key,std::string& val) {
+    if (command.args[key] != "") {
+        val = command.args[key];
+       return true;
+    } else {
+        return false;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/examples/wsperf/wscmd.hpp b/examples/wsperf/wscmd.hpp
index 6b720ae69c..5ed3bf4030 100644
--- a/examples/wsperf/wscmd.hpp
+++ b/examples/wsperf/wscmd.hpp
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ namespace wscmd {
     wscmd::cmd parse(const std::string& m);
     
     template <typename T>
-    bool extract_number(wscmd::cmd command,std::string key,T& val) {
+    bool extract_number(wscmd::cmd command,const std::string& key,T& val) {
         if (command.args[key] != "") {
             std::istringstream buf(command.args[key]);
             
@@ -70,6 +70,8 @@ namespace wscmd {
         }
         return false;
     }
+    
+    bool extract_string(wscmd::cmd command,const std::string& key,std::string& val);
 } // namespace wscmd
 
 #endif // WSCMD_HPP