diff --git a/examples/util/util.isph b/examples/util/util.isph
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1e598dc5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/util/util.isph
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+
+// utility function to read the value of programCount from C/C++
+export uniform int32 get_programCount() {
+  return programCount;
+}