diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 6d855fc..42dadd3 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ This library is a collection of various utility packages for PL/SQL, as well as
 
 ##Parse JSON using PL/SQL
 
-  * http://sourceforge.net/projects/pljson/
+  * https://github.com/pljson/pljson
   * http://reseau.erasme.org/pl-sql-library-for-JSON?lang=en
 
 
diff --git a/ora/ooxml_util_pkg.pkb b/ora/ooxml_util_pkg.pkb
index 6cf17f5..97e7365 100755
--- a/ora/ooxml_util_pkg.pkb
+++ b/ora/ooxml_util_pkg.pkb
@@ -401,7 +401,7 @@ begin
   if l_type = 's' then
     l_string_index := to_number (l_returnvalue);
     l_xml := get_xml (p_xlsx, 'xl/sharedStrings.xml');
-    l_returnvalue := xml_util_pkg.extract_value (l_xml, '/sst/si[' || (l_string_index + 1) || ']/t/text()', g_namespace_xlsx_sharedstrings);
+    l_returnvalue := xml_util_pkg.extract_value (l_xml, '/sst/si[' || (l_string_index + 1) || ']//t/text()', g_namespace_xlsx_sharedstrings);
   end if;
 
   return l_returnvalue;
@@ -453,7 +453,7 @@ begin
   
     if l_type = 's' then
       l_string_index := to_number (l_returnvalue(i));
-      l_returnvalue(i) := xml_util_pkg.extract_value (l_shared_strings, '/sst/si[' || (l_string_index + 1) || ']/t/text()', g_namespace_xlsx_sharedstrings);
+      l_returnvalue(i) := xml_util_pkg.extract_value (l_shared_strings, '/sst/si[' || (l_string_index + 1) || ']//t/text()', g_namespace_xlsx_sharedstrings);
     end if;
     
   end loop;
diff --git a/ora/string_util_pkg.pkb b/ora/string_util_pkg.pkb
index de009e6..8999916 100755
--- a/ora/string_util_pkg.pkb
+++ b/ora/string_util_pkg.pkb
@@ -487,6 +487,50 @@ begin
 end remove_non_alpha_chars;
 
 
+function is_str_alpha (p_str in varchar2) return boolean
+as
+  l_returnvalue boolean;
+begin
+
+  /*
+  
+  Purpose:    returns true if string only contains alpha characters
+  
+  Who     Date        Description
+  ------  ----------  -------------------------------------
+  MJH     12.05.2015  Created
+  
+  */
+
+  l_returnvalue := regexp_instr(p_str, '[^a-z|A-Z]') = 0;
+
+  return l_returnvalue;
+
+end is_str_alpha;
+  
+  
+function is_str_alphanumeric (p_str in varchar2) return boolean
+as
+  l_returnvalue boolean;
+begin
+
+  /*
+
+  Purpose:    returns true if string is alphanumeric
+
+  Who     Date        Description
+  ------  ----------  -------------------------------------
+  MJH     12.05.2015  Created
+
+  */
+
+  l_returnvalue := regexp_instr(p_str, '[^a-z|A-Z|0-9]') = 0;
+
+  return l_returnvalue;
+
+end is_str_alphanumeric;
+
+
 function is_str_empty (p_str in varchar2) return boolean
 as
   l_returnvalue boolean;
@@ -557,6 +601,28 @@ begin
 end is_str_number;
 
 
+function is_str_integer (p_str in varchar2) return boolean
+as
+  l_returnvalue boolean;
+begin
+
+  /*
+
+  Purpose:    returns true if string is an integer
+
+  Who     Date        Description
+  ------  ----------  -------------------------------------
+  MJH     12.05.2015  Created
+  
+  */
+
+  l_returnvalue := regexp_instr(p_str, '[^0-9]') = 0;
+
+  return l_returnvalue;
+
+end is_str_integer;
+
+
 function short_str (p_str in varchar2,
                     p_length in number,
                     p_truncation_indicator in varchar2 := '...') return varchar2
@@ -694,10 +760,11 @@ begin
   Who     Date        Description
   ------  ----------  -------------------------------------
   MBR     06.01.2009  Created
+  MJH     12.05.2015  Leverage string_util_pkg.str_to_bool in order to reduce code redundancy
   
   */
   
-  if lower(p_str) in ('y', 'yes', 'true', '1') then
+  if str_to_bool(p_str) then
     l_returnvalue := g_yes;
   end if;
   
diff --git a/ora/string_util_pkg.pks b/ora/string_util_pkg.pks
index 3fbc4db..bf5667f 100755
--- a/ora/string_util_pkg.pks
+++ b/ora/string_util_pkg.pks
@@ -92,6 +92,12 @@ as
   -- remove all non-alpha characters (A-Z) from string
   function remove_non_alpha_chars (p_str in varchar2) return varchar2;
 
+  -- returns true if string only contains alpha characters
+  function is_str_alpha (p_str in varchar2) return boolean;  
+  
+  -- returns true if string is alphanumeric
+  function is_str_alphanumeric (p_str in varchar2) return boolean;
+
   -- returns true if string is "empty" (contains only whitespace characters)
   function is_str_empty (p_str in varchar2) return boolean;
 
@@ -100,6 +106,9 @@ as
                           p_decimal_separator in varchar2 := null,
                           p_thousand_separator in varchar2 := null) return boolean;
 
+  -- returns true if string is an integer
+  function is_str_integer (p_str in varchar2) return boolean;
+
   -- returns substring and indicates if string has been truncated
   function short_str (p_str in varchar2,
                       p_length in number,