updates

Hi,
 I updated the importing and generation scripts. I boosted performance
on the generating scripts by about 30%. Cleaning up lots of useless
calls to expensive functions helps. :)

I also added exceptions into a couple of places in the importing so
errors can be handled more gracefully.

When people get back from vacations and breaks and what not I'd
appreciate suggestions or comments about what things need to be
changed/fixed/etc before a public draft is published.

Thanks
-sv