@classmethod
def _get_xml_node_value(cls, root, *name):
    """
        return the named value from an XML node, if it exists
        """
    if len(name) == 1:
        node = root.find(name[0])
    elif len(name) == 2:
        node = root.find(name[0], name[1])
    if not node:
        return None
    elif len(node.text) < 1:
        return None
    else:
        return node.text.strip()
