public function addPath($path)
    {
        // just force to array
        settype($path, 'array');

        // loop through the path directories
        foreach ($path as $dir) {
            // no surrounding spaces allowed!
            $dir = trim($dir);

            // remove trailing slash
            if (substr($dir, -1) == DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR) {
                $dir = substr_replace($dir, '', -1);
            }

            // add to the top of the search dirs
            array_unshift($this->_paths, $dir);
        }
    }