diff --git a/general_utils b/general_utils
index 50f2764..9490148 100755
--- a/general_utils
+++ b/general_utils
@@ -115,4 +115,12 @@ if [ "${general_utils_sourced:-1}" = "1" ]; then    # include only once
         # log_debug "$1=$__n"
         :
     }
+ 
+    empty_file () {
+	if [[ -f "$1" ]]; then
+	    echo -n "" > $1
+        else    
+            log_error "$1 does not exist"
+        fi
+    }
 fi