--- a/python/utils.py	Thu Jul 26 19:46:36 2012 -0400
+++ b/python/utils.py	Fri Jul 27 10:29:24 2012 -0400
@@ -300,7 +300,7 @@
 
 def cleanFilename(s):
     'cleans filenames obtained when contatenating figure characteristics'
-    return s.replace(' ','-').replace('.','')
+    return s.replace(' ','-').replace('.','').replace('/','-')
 
 def listfiles(dirname, extension, remove = False):
     '''Returns the list of files with the extension in the directory dirname
@@ -313,11 +313,22 @@
     else:
         return tmp
 
+def mkdir(dirname):
+    'Creates a directory if it does not exist'
+    import os
+    if not os.path.exists(dirname):
+        os.mkdir(dirname)
+    else:
+        print(dirname+' already exists')
+
 def removeFile(filename):
     '''Deletes the file while avoiding raising an error 
     if the file does not exist'''
+    import os
     if (os.path.exists(filename)):
         os.remove(filename)
+    else:
+        print(filename+' does not exist')
 
 def plotPolygon(poly, options = ''):
     from numpy.core.multiarray import array