     
     public func parser(parser: NSXMLParser, foundCharacters string: String) {
 
-        if let feedElement = AtomFeedElementPath(rawValue: self.currentXMLDOMPath?.absoluteString ?? "") {
+        if let feedElement = AtomFeedElementPath(rawValue: self.currentXMLDOMPath.absoluteString) {
             self.map(string, toFeed: self.atomFeed!, forElement: feedElement)
         }
         
-        else if let feedElement = RSSFeedElementPath(rawValue: self.currentXMLDOMPath?.absoluteString ?? "") {
+        else if let feedElement = RSSFeedElementPath(rawValue: self.currentXMLDOMPath.absoluteString) {
             self.map(string, toFeed: self.rssFeed!, forElement: feedElement)
         }
             
-        else if let syndicationElement = SyndicationElementPaths(rawValue: self.currentXMLDOMPath?.lastPathComponent ?? "") {
+        else if let syndicationElement = SyndicationElementPaths(rawValue: self.currentXMLDOMPath.lastPathComponent ?? "") {
             self.map(string, toFeed: self.rssFeed!, forElement: syndicationElement)
         }
             
-        else if let dublinCoreChannelElement = DublinCoreChannelElementPath(rawValue: self.currentXMLDOMPath?.absoluteString ?? "") {
+        else if let dublinCoreChannelElement = DublinCoreChannelElementPath(rawValue: self.currentXMLDOMPath.absoluteString) {
             self.map(string, toFeed: self.rssFeed!, forElement: dublinCoreChannelElement)
         }
             
-        else if let dublinCoreChannelItemElement = DublinCoreChannelItemElementPath(rawValue: self.currentXMLDOMPath?.absoluteString ?? "") {
+        else if let dublinCoreChannelItemElement = DublinCoreChannelItemElementPath(rawValue: self.currentXMLDOMPath.absoluteString) {
             self.map(string, toFeed: self.rssFeed!, forElement: dublinCoreChannelItemElement)
         }
         

    public func parser(parser: NSXMLParser, didStartElement elementName: String, namespaceURI: String?, qualifiedName qName: String?, attributes attributeDict: [String : String]) {
        
        // Update the current path along the XML's DOM elements by appending the new component with `elementName`
        self.currentXMLDOMPath = self.currentXMLDOMPath?.URLByAppendingPathComponent(elementName)

        // Get the feed type from the element, if it hasn't been done yet
        guard let feedType = self.feedType else {

    public func parser(parser: NSXMLParser, didEndElement elementName: String, namespaceURI: String?, qualifiedName qName: String?) {
        
        // Update the current path along the XML's DOM elements by deleting last component
        self.currentXMLDOMPath = self.currentXMLDOMPath.URLByDeletingLastPathComponent!
        
    }
    
