diff --git a/nodes/Node.h b/nodes/Node.h
index 87c5a14..42a0655 100644
--- a/nodes/Node.h
+++ b/nodes/Node.h
@@ -78,6 +78,7 @@ class PrimitiveTypeNode : public Node
 {
     public:
         PrimitiveTypeNode(uint64_t type) { m_integer = type; }
+        virtual std::string getString();
 };
 
 class ProgramNode : public Node
diff --git a/nodes/PrimitiveTypeNode.cc b/nodes/PrimitiveTypeNode.cc
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f0d2822
--- /dev/null
+++ b/nodes/PrimitiveTypeNode.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+
+#include <iostream>
+#include "Node.h"
+#include "parser/parser.h"
+using namespace std;
+
+string PrimitiveTypeNode::getString()
+{
+    switch (m_integer)
+    {
+    case BYTE:
+        return "int8_t";
+    case UBYTE:
+        return "uint8_t";
+    case CHAR:
+        return "char";
+    case WCHAR:
+        return "wchar_t";
+    case SHORT:
+        return "int16_t";
+    case USHORT:
+        return "uint16_t";
+    case INT:
+        return "int32_t";
+    case UINT:
+        return "uint32_t";
+    case LONG:
+        return "int64_t";
+    case ULONG:
+        return "uint64_t";
+    default:
+        cerr << "Error: Unknown primitive type " << m_integer << endl;
+        return "<UNKNOWN-TYPE>";
+    }
+}
diff --git a/parser/parser.h b/parser/parser.h
index 75b5ceb..e24d34d 100644
--- a/parser/parser.h
+++ b/parser/parser.h
@@ -7,6 +7,9 @@
 
 #define YYSTYPE refptr<Node>
 
+/* include this AFTER defining YYSTYPE */
+#include "parser/parser.tab.hh"
+
 YYSTYPE parse(const char * fileName);
 
 #endif
diff --git a/parser/parser.lex b/parser/parser.lex
index d671b91..e04c632 100644
--- a/parser/parser.lex
+++ b/parser/parser.lex
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@
 #include <stdint.h>
 #include <string>
 #include "parser.h"
-#include "parser.tab.hh"
 using namespace std;
 static string build_string;
 
diff --git a/parser/parser.yy b/parser/parser.yy
index bc9fdc7..7bf308f 100644
--- a/parser/parser.yy
+++ b/parser/parser.yy
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <iostream>
 #include "parser.h"
-#include "parser.tab.hh"        /* bison-generated header with YY[SL]TYPE */
 using namespace std;
 
 #define yyerror(msg) errFunc(msg, &yylloc)