diff --git a/applications/present3D/SpellChecker.cpp b/applications/present3D/SpellChecker.cpp
index 97694af8a..ae2da32ad 100644
--- a/applications/present3D/SpellChecker.cpp
+++ b/applications/present3D/SpellChecker.cpp
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 
 #include <osgDB/FileNameUtils>
 #include <osgDB/FileUtils>
+#include <osg/Notify>
 
 #include <iostream>
 
@@ -89,3 +90,167 @@ SpellChecker::WordList SpellChecker::suggest(const std::string& word) const
 {
     return WordList();
 }
+
+//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+XmlPatcher::XmlPatcher()
+{
+}
+
+void XmlPatcher::stripP3dXml(const std::string& filename, std::ostream& fout) const
+{
+    std::string foundFileName = osgDB::findDataFile( filename );
+    if (foundFileName.empty()) return;
+
+    std::ifstream fin(foundFileName.c_str());
+
+    osgDB::XmlNode::Input input;
+    input.attach(fin);
+    input.readAllDataIntoBuffer();
+
+    osg::ref_ptr<osgDB::XmlNode> doc = new osgDB::XmlNode;
+    doc->read(input);
+
+    if (!doc) return;
+
+    stripXml(doc.get(), fout);
+}
+
+void XmlPatcher::stripXml(osgDB::XmlNode* node, std::ostream& fout) const
+{
+    if (node->name=="presentation" ||
+        node->name=="slide" ||
+        node->name=="layer" ||
+        node->name=="page" ||
+        node->name=="paragraph" ||
+        node->name=="bullet")
+    {
+        if (!(node->children.empty()))
+        {
+            fout<<"<"<<node->name<<">"<<std::endl;
+            for(osgDB::XmlNode::Children::iterator itr = node->children.begin();
+                itr != node->children.end();
+                ++itr)
+            {
+                stripXml(itr->get(), fout);
+            }
+            fout<<"</"<<node->name<<">"<<std::endl;
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            fout<<"<"<<node->name<<">"<<node->contents<<"</"<<node->name<<">"<<std::endl;
+        }
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        for(osgDB::XmlNode::Children::iterator itr = node->children.begin();
+            itr != node->children.end();
+            ++itr)
+        {
+            stripXml(itr->get(), fout);
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+osgDB::XmlNode* XmlPatcher::simplifyP3dXml(const std::string& filename) const
+{
+    std::string foundFileName = osgDB::findDataFile( filename );
+    if (foundFileName.empty()) return 0;
+
+    std::ifstream fin(foundFileName.c_str());
+
+    osgDB::XmlNode::Input input;
+    input.attach(fin);
+    input.readAllDataIntoBuffer();
+
+    osg::ref_ptr<osgDB::XmlNode> doc = new osgDB::XmlNode;
+    doc->read(input);
+
+    if (!doc) return 0;
+
+    return simplifyXml(doc.get());
+}
+
+osgDB::XmlNode* XmlPatcher::simplifyXml(osgDB::XmlNode* node) const
+{
+    if (node->name.empty() ||
+        node->name=="presentation" ||
+        node->name=="slide" ||
+        node->name=="layer" ||
+        node->name=="page" ||
+        node->name=="paragraph" ||
+        node->name=="bullet")
+    {
+        osgDB::XmlNode* newNode = new osgDB::XmlNode;
+        newNode->type = node->type;
+        newNode->name = node->name;
+        newNode->contents = node->contents;
+        for(osgDB::XmlNode::Children::iterator itr = node->children.begin();
+            itr != node->children.end();
+            ++itr)
+        {
+            osgDB::XmlNode* child = simplifyXml(itr->get());
+            if (child)  newNode->children.push_back(child);
+        }
+        return newNode;
+    }
+    else
+    {
+        return 0;
+    }
+}
+osgDB::XmlNode* XmlPatcher::mergeP3dXml(const std::string& lhs_filename, const std::string& rhs_filename) const
+{
+    std::string lhs_foundFileName = osgDB::findDataFile( lhs_filename );
+    if (lhs_foundFileName.empty()) return 0;
+
+    std::string rhs_foundFileName = osgDB::findDataFile( rhs_filename );
+    if (rhs_foundFileName.empty()) return 0;
+
+    osg::ref_ptr<osgDB::XmlNode> lhs_doc = new osgDB::XmlNode;
+    osg::ref_ptr<osgDB::XmlNode> rhs_doc = new osgDB::XmlNode;
+
+    {
+        std::ifstream fin(lhs_foundFileName.c_str());
+
+        osgDB::XmlNode::Input input;
+        input.attach(fin);
+        input.readAllDataIntoBuffer();
+
+        lhs_doc->read(input);
+        if (!lhs_doc) return 0;
+    }
+
+    {
+        std::ifstream fin(rhs_foundFileName.c_str());
+
+        osgDB::XmlNode::Input input;
+        input.attach(fin);
+        input.readAllDataIntoBuffer();
+
+        rhs_doc->read(input);
+        if (!rhs_doc) return 0;
+    }
+
+    lhs_doc = mergeXml(lhs_doc.get(), rhs_doc.get());
+    return lhs_doc.release();
+}
+
+osgDB::XmlNode* XmlPatcher::mergeXml(osgDB::XmlNode* lhs_node, osgDB::XmlNode* rhs_node) const
+{
+    if (lhs_node->name == rhs_node->name)
+    {
+        lhs_node->contents = rhs_node->contents;
+        osgDB::XmlNode::Children::iterator rhs_itr = rhs_node->children.begin();
+        for(osgDB::XmlNode::Children::iterator lhs_itr = lhs_node->children.begin();
+            lhs_itr != lhs_node->children.end() && rhs_itr != rhs_node->children.end();
+            ++lhs_itr)
+        {
+            if ((*lhs_itr)->name == (*rhs_itr)->name)
+            {
+                mergeXml(lhs_itr->get(), rhs_itr->get());
+                ++rhs_itr;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    return lhs_node;
+}
diff --git a/applications/present3D/SpellChecker.h b/applications/present3D/SpellChecker.h
index 370d5c0b8..12781208f 100644
--- a/applications/present3D/SpellChecker.h
+++ b/applications/present3D/SpellChecker.h
@@ -34,6 +34,23 @@ class SpellChecker
         WordList suggest(const std::string& word) const;
 };
 
+
+class XmlPatcher
+{
+    public:
+        XmlPatcher();
+
+        void stripP3dXml(const std::string& filename, std::ostream& fout) const;
+        void stripXml(osgDB::XmlNode* xmlNode, std::ostream& fout) const;
+
+        osgDB::XmlNode* simplifyP3dXml(const std::string& filename) const;
+        osgDB::XmlNode* simplifyXml(osgDB::XmlNode* xmlNode) const;
+
+        osgDB::XmlNode* mergeP3dXml(const std::string& lhs_filename, const std::string& rhs_filename) const;
+        osgDB::XmlNode* mergeXml(osgDB::XmlNode* lhs_node, osgDB::XmlNode* rhs_node) const;
+
+};
+
 }
 
 #endif
diff --git a/applications/present3D/present3D.cpp b/applications/present3D/present3D.cpp
index fa051d439..9ce6fc6c6 100644
--- a/applications/present3D/present3D.cpp
+++ b/applications/present3D/present3D.cpp
@@ -436,6 +436,31 @@ int main( int argc, char **argv )
         return 1;
     }
 
+    if (arguments.read("--strip-text",filename))
+    {
+        p3d::XmlPatcher patcher;
+        // patcher.stripP3dXml(filename, osg::notify(osg::NOTICE));
+
+        osg::ref_ptr<osgDB::XmlNode> newNode = patcher.simplifyP3dXml(filename);
+        if (newNode.valid())
+        {
+            newNode->write(std::cout);
+        }
+        return 1;
+    }
+
+    std::string lhs_filename, rhs_filename;
+    if (arguments.read("--merge",lhs_filename, rhs_filename))
+    {
+        p3d::XmlPatcher patcher;
+        osg::ref_ptr<osgDB::XmlNode> newNode = patcher.mergeP3dXml(lhs_filename, rhs_filename);
+        if (newNode.valid())
+        {
+            newNode->write(std::cout);
+        }
+        return 1;
+    }
+
 
     // construct the viewer.
     osgViewer::Viewer viewer(arguments);