diff --git a/include/common/standard.h b/include/common/standard.h
index 0b8a327..69d760d 100644
--- a/include/common/standard.h
+++ b/include/common/standard.h
@@ -87,6 +87,12 @@
 	int host_len;
 };
 
+/* generic structure associating a name and a value, for use in arrays */
+struct name_desc {
+	const char *name;
+	const char *desc;
+};
+
 extern THREAD_LOCAL int itoa_idx; /* index of next itoa_str to use */
 
 /*