public function writeEquals($spaces = true)
    {
        try {
            if ($spaces === true) {
                $this->getStream()->write(' = ');
            } else {
                $this->getStream()->write('=');
            }
        } catch (StreamException $e) {
            $msg = "An error occured while writing the PHP equality symbol (=).";
            throw new StreamAccessException($msg, $this, 0, $e);
        }
    }