diff --git a/src/loaders/JSON_Loader.cpp b/src/loaders/JSON_Loader.cpp
index 65aebe1..5a4f26a 100644
--- a/src/loaders/JSON_Loader.cpp
+++ b/src/loaders/JSON_Loader.cpp
@@ -97,12 +97,12 @@ void JSON_Loader::load_json_string( std::string input, bool verbose )
 
 
 // returns the serialized representation of json_root
-Json::Value JSON_Loader::as_serialized()
-{
-    if ( ! this->populated ) { throw JSON_Loader_NotReady(); }
-
-    return this->json_root;
-}
+//Json::Value JSON_Loader::as_serialized()
+//{
+//    if ( ! this->populated ) { throw JSON_Loader_NotReady(); }
+//
+//    return this->json_root;
+//}
 
 // returns the string representation of json_root
 std::string JSON_Loader::as_string()
diff --git a/src/loaders/Suite.cpp b/src/loaders/Suite.cpp
index 82a6992..62401ba 100644
--- a/src/loaders/Suite.cpp
+++ b/src/loaders/Suite.cpp
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ void Suite::load_units_file( std::string filename, bool verbose )
 
 }
 
-int Suite::load_file(std::string filename): JSON_Loader( filename )
+int Suite::load_file(std::string filename, true): JSON_Loader( filename )
 {
     Json::Value raw_units = this->get_serialized("")
     for ( int index = 0; index < raw_units.size(); index++ )
diff --git a/src/loaders/Unit.cpp b/src/loaders/Unit.cpp
index 95c7df9..1e6872d 100644
--- a/src/loaders/Unit.cpp
+++ b/src/loaders/Unit.cpp
@@ -2,6 +2,13 @@
 #include <iostream>
 #include <fstream>
 #include <cstdlib>
+#include <stdexcept>
+
+class Unit_NotPopulated: public std::runtime_error
+{
+public:
+    Unit_NotPopulated(): std::runtime_error("Unit: Attempted to access a member before loading values.") {}
+};
 
 Unit::Unit() {}
 
@@ -9,19 +16,19 @@ Unit::Unit() {}
 int Unit::load_root(Json::Value loader_root)
 {
 
-    this->name      = loader_root.get("name", "?").asString();
+    this->name      = loader_root.get("name", "").asString();
 
-    this->target    = loader_root.get("target", "?").asString();
+    this->target    = loader_root.get("target", "").asString();
 
-    this->output    = loader_root.get("output", "?").asString();
+    this->output    = loader_root.get("output", "").asString();
 
-    this->rectifier = loader_root.get("rectifier", "?").asString();
+    this->rectifier = loader_root.get("rectifier", "").asString();
 
-    this->active    = loader_root.get("active", "?").asString();
+    this->active    = loader_root.get("active", "").asString();
 
-    this->required  = loader_root.get("required", "?").asString();
+    this->required  = loader_root.get("required", "").asString();
 
-    this->rectify   = loader_root.get("rectify", "?").asString();
+    this->rectify   = loader_root.get("rectify", "").asString();
 
     this->populated = true;
 
@@ -37,44 +44,48 @@ int Unit::load_string(std::string json_val)
     // deserialize
     this->load_root( this->json_root );
 
-    // exit successfully
-    this->populated = true;
-
     return 0;
 }
 
 // getters for Unit type.
 std::string Unit::get_name()
 {
+    if ( ! this->populated ) { throw Unit_NotPopulated(); }
     return this->name;
 }
 
 std::string Unit::get_target()
 {
+    if ( ! this->populated ) { throw Unit_NotPopulated(); }
     return this->target;
 }
 
 std::string Unit::get_output()
 {
+    if ( ! this->populated ) { throw Unit_NotPopulated(); }
     return this->output;
 }
 
 std::string Unit::get_rectifier()
 {
+    if ( ! this->populated ) { throw Unit_NotPopulated(); }
     return this->rectifier;
 }
 
 std::string Unit::get_active()
 {
+    if ( ! this->populated ) { throw Unit_NotPopulated(); }
     return this->active;
 }
 
 std::string Unit::get_required()
 {
+    if ( ! this->populated ) { throw Unit_NotPopulated(); }
     return this->required;
 }
 
 std::string Unit::get_rectify()
 {
+    if ( ! this->populated ) { throw Unit_NotPopulated(); }
     return this->rectify;
 }
\ No newline at end of file