diff --git a/include/common/standard.h b/include/common/standard.h
index fcfb52f..cb5a3ec 100644
--- a/include/common/standard.h
+++ b/include/common/standard.h
@@ -42,6 +42,15 @@
  * power of 2, and 0 otherwise */
 #define POWEROF2(x) (((x) & ((x)-1)) == 0)
 
+/* operators to compare values. They're ordered that way so that the lowest bit
+ * serves as a negation for the test and contains all tests that are not equal.
+ */
+enum {
+	STD_OP_LE = 0, STD_OP_GT = 1,
+	STD_OP_EQ = 2, STD_OP_NE = 3,
+	STD_OP_GE = 4, STD_OP_LT = 5,
+};
+
 /*
  * copies at most <size-1> chars from <src> to <dst>. Last char is always
  * set to 0, unless <size> is 0. The number of chars copied is returned
@@ -407,4 +416,7 @@
  */
 const char *quote_arg(const char *ptr);
 
+/* returns an operator among STD_OP_* for string <str> or < 0 if unknown */
+int get_std_op(const char *str);
+
 #endif /* _COMMON_STANDARD_H */
diff --git a/src/standard.c b/src/standard.c
index 12954b0..8aaa594 100644
--- a/src/standard.c
+++ b/src/standard.c
@@ -1078,6 +1078,29 @@
 	return val;
 }
 
+/* returns an operator among STD_OP_* for string <str> or < 0 if unknown */
+int get_std_op(const char *str)
+{
+	int ret = -1;
+
+	if (*str == 'e' && str[1] == 'q')
+		ret = STD_OP_EQ;
+	else if (*str == 'n' && str[1] == 'e')
+		ret = STD_OP_NE;
+	else if (*str == 'l') {
+		if (str[1] == 'e') ret = STD_OP_LE;
+		else if (str[1] == 't') ret = STD_OP_LT;
+	}
+	else if (*str == 'g') {
+		if (str[1] == 'e') ret = STD_OP_GE;
+		else if (str[1] == 't') ret = STD_OP_GT;
+	}
+
+	if (ret == -1 || str[2] != '\0')
+		return -1;
+	return ret;
+}
+
 /*
  * Local variables:
  *  c-indent-level: 8