diff --git a/src/helma/doc/DocElement.java b/src/helma/doc/DocElement.java
index 151a77c7..0a5094ac 100644
--- a/src/helma/doc/DocElement.java
+++ b/src/helma/doc/DocElement.java
@@ -250,6 +250,21 @@ public abstract class DocElement implements IPathElement	{
 		return arr;
 	}
 
+	/**
+	  * walks up the tree and tries to find a DocApplication object
+	  */
+	public DocApplication getDocApplication () {
+		DocElement el = this;
+		while (el != null) {
+			if (el instanceof DocApplication) {
+				return (DocApplication) el;
+			}
+			el = (DocElement) el.getParentElement ();
+		}
+		return null;
+	}
+
+
 	/**
 	  * from helma.framework.IPathElement. Elements are named
 	  * like this: typename_name