diff --git a/src/engine/helper/HL_File.cpp b/src/engine/helper/HL_File.cpp
index 06b440aa..c2f0411e 100644
--- a/src/engine/helper/HL_File.cpp
+++ b/src/engine/helper/HL_File.cpp
@@ -109,3 +109,32 @@ size_t FileHelper::getFreespace(const std::string& path)
 #endif
     return r;
 }
+
+std::string FileHelper::expandUserHome(const std::string &path)
+{
+    if (path.empty() || path[0] != '~')
+        return path;  // No expansion needed
+    
+    const char* home_dir = nullptr;
+
+#ifdef TARGET_WIN
+    home_dir = std::getenv("USERPROFILE");
+    if (!home_dir)
+    {
+        home_dir = std::getenv("HOMEDRIVE");
+        const char* homepath = std::getenv("HOMEPATH");
+        if (home_dir && homepath) {
+            std::string fullpath(home_dir);
+            fullpath += homepath;
+            return fullpath + path.substr(1);
+        }
+    }
+#else
+    home_dir = std::getenv("HOME");
+#endif
+    
+    if (!home_dir)
+        throw std::runtime_error("Unable to determine the home directory");
+    
+    return std::string(home_dir) + path.substr(1);
+}
diff --git a/src/engine/helper/HL_File.h b/src/engine/helper/HL_File.h
index 4616d8dd..b6fc32ef 100644
--- a/src/engine/helper/HL_File.h
+++ b/src/engine/helper/HL_File.h
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ public:
     // Returns free space on volume for path
     // Works for Linux only. For other systems (size_t)-1 is returned (for errors too)
     static size_t getFreespace(const std::string& path);
+    static std::string expandUserHome(const std::string& path);
 };
 
 #endif
diff --git a/src/engine/helper/HL_ThreadPool.cpp b/src/engine/helper/HL_ThreadPool.cpp
index 742a2541..aec62638 100644
--- a/src/engine/helper/HL_ThreadPool.cpp
+++ b/src/engine/helper/HL_ThreadPool.cpp
@@ -20,6 +20,17 @@ void thread_pool::enqueue(const thread_pool::task& t)
     this->condition.notify_one();
 }
 
+void thread_pool::wait(std::chrono::milliseconds interval)
+{
+    while (size() != 0)
+        std::this_thread::sleep_for(interval);
+}
+
+size_t thread_pool::size()
+{
+    std::unique_lock l(this->queue_mutex);
+    return this->tasks.size();
+}
 
 // the destructor joins all threads
 thread_pool::~thread_pool()
@@ -37,7 +48,7 @@ void thread_pool::run_worker()
 {
     ThreadHelper::setName(this->name);
     task t;
-    while(!this->stop)
+    while (!this->stop)
     {
         {
             std::unique_lock<std::mutex> lock(this->queue_mutex);
diff --git a/src/engine/helper/HL_ThreadPool.h b/src/engine/helper/HL_ThreadPool.h
index 9f2ce013..ac76ff82 100644
--- a/src/engine/helper/HL_ThreadPool.h
+++ b/src/engine/helper/HL_ThreadPool.h
@@ -18,11 +18,12 @@ class thread_pool
 public:
     typedef std::function<void()> task;
 
-    thread_pool(size_t num_of_threads, const std::string&);
+    thread_pool(size_t num_of_threads, const std::string& thread_name);
     ~thread_pool();
 
     void enqueue(const task& task);
-
+    void wait(std::chrono::milliseconds interval = std::chrono::milliseconds(50));
+    size_t size();
 private:
     // need to keep track of threads so we can join them
     std::vector< std::thread > workers;
@@ -33,7 +34,7 @@ private:
     // synchronization
     std::mutex queue_mutex;
     std::condition_variable condition;
-    bool stop = false;
+    std::atomic_bool stop = false;
 
     // thread name prefix for worker threads
     std::string name;