public function getParam($param, $default = null)
    {
        try {
            $this->parse();
            $value = $this->getParams($param, null);
        } catch (\Exception $e) {
            // skip error on file read problems, just return default value
        }
        if (isset($value)) {
            return $value;
        } else {
            return $default;
        }
    }