public static function importClass($path)
    {
        // extract classname
        if (($pos = strrpos($path, '.')) === false) {
            $class = $path;
        } else {
            $class = substr($path, $pos + 1);
        }

        // check if class exists, using autoloader to attempt to load it.
        if (class_exists($class, $useAutoload = true)) {
            return $class;
        }

        // turn to filesystem path
        $path = strtr($path, '.', DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR) . '.php';

        // include class
        $ret = include_once($path);
        if ($ret === false) {
            throw new PropelException("Unable to import class: " . $class . " from " . $path);
        }

        // return qualified name
        return $class;
    }