diff --git a/test/GenericHelpers.h b/test/GenericHelpers.h
new file mode 100644
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--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/GenericHelpers.h
@@ -0,0 +1,102 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements. See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership. The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+
+#ifndef _THRIFT_TEST_GENERICHELPERS_H_
+#define _THRIFT_TEST_GENERICHELPERS_H_ 1
+
+#include <protocol/TBinaryProtocol.h>
+#include <transport/TBufferTransports.h>
+#include <Thrift.h>
+
+using boost::shared_ptr;
+using namespace apache::thrift::protocol;
+
+/* ClassName Helper for cleaner exceptions */
+class ClassNames {
+ public:
+  template <typename T>
+  static const char* getName() { return "Unknown type"; }
+};
+
+template <> const char* ClassNames::getName<int8_t>() { return "byte"; }
+template <> const char* ClassNames::getName<int16_t>() { return "short"; }
+template <> const char* ClassNames::getName<int32_t>() { return "int"; }
+template <> const char* ClassNames::getName<int64_t>() { return "long"; }
+template <> const char* ClassNames::getName<double>() { return "double"; }
+template <> const char* ClassNames::getName<std::string>() { return "string"; }
+
+/* Generic Protocol I/O function for tests */
+class GenericIO {
+ public:
+
+  /* Write functions */
+
+  static uint32_t write(shared_ptr<TProtocol> proto, const int8_t& val) {
+    return proto->writeByte(val);
+  }
+
+  static uint32_t write(shared_ptr<TProtocol> proto, const int16_t& val) {
+    return proto->writeI16(val);
+  }
+
+  static uint32_t write(shared_ptr<TProtocol> proto, const int32_t& val) {
+    return proto->writeI32(val);
+  }
+
+  static uint32_t write(shared_ptr<TProtocol> proto, const double& val) {
+    return proto->writeDouble(val);
+  }
+
+  static uint32_t write(shared_ptr<TProtocol> proto, const int64_t& val) {
+    return proto->writeI64(val);
+  }
+
+  static uint32_t write(shared_ptr<TProtocol> proto, const std::string& val) {
+    return proto->writeString(val);
+  }
+
+  /* Read functions */
+
+  static uint32_t read(shared_ptr<TProtocol> proto, int8_t& val) {
+    return proto->readByte(val);
+  }
+
+  static uint32_t read(shared_ptr<TProtocol> proto, int16_t& val) {
+    return proto->readI16(val);
+  }
+
+  static uint32_t read(shared_ptr<TProtocol> proto, int32_t& val) {
+    return proto->readI32(val);
+  }
+
+  static uint32_t read(shared_ptr<TProtocol> proto, int64_t& val) {
+    return proto->readI64(val);
+  }
+
+  static uint32_t read(shared_ptr<TProtocol> proto, double& val) {
+    return proto->readDouble(val);
+  }
+
+  static uint32_t read(shared_ptr<TProtocol> proto, std::string& val) {
+    return proto->readString(val);
+  }
+
+};
+
+#endif