2 files changed, 7 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/lib/custodian/alertfactory.rb b/lib/custodian/alertfactory.rb
index e176f6d..3df6233 100644
--- a/lib/custodian/alertfactory.rb
+++ b/lib/custodian/alertfactory.rb
@@ -31,6 +31,9 @@ module Custodian
     #
     def self.create( alert_type, obj )
 
+      raise ArgumentError, "The type of alerter to create cannot be nil" if ( alert_type.nil? )
+      raise ArgumentError, "The type of alerter to create must be a string" unless ( alert_type.kind_of? String )
+
       c = @@subclasses[alert_type]
       if c
         c.new( obj )
diff --git a/lib/custodian/testfactory.rb b/lib/custodian/testfactory.rb
index f5e342d..ccfc89e 100644
--- a/lib/custodian/testfactory.rb
+++ b/lib/custodian/testfactory.rb
@@ -31,6 +31,10 @@ module Custodian
     #
     def self.create( line )
 
+
+      raise ArgumentError, "The type of test to create cannot be nil" if ( line.nil? )
+      raise ArgumentError, "The type of test to create must be a string" unless ( line.kind_of? String )
+
       #
       # If this is an obvious protocol test.
       #