diff --git a/headers/private/shared/Variant.h b/headers/private/shared/Variant.h
index bc497a30e0..6ba1af10a0 100644
--- a/headers/private/shared/Variant.h
+++ b/headers/private/shared/Variant.h
@@ -64,13 +64,16 @@ public:
 
 	inline	BVariant&			operator=(const BVariant& other);
 
+			bool				operator==(const BVariant& other) const;
+	inline	bool				operator!=(const BVariant& other) const;
+
 	inline	type_code			Type() const		{ return fType; }
 			size_t				Size() const;
 			const uint8*		Bytes() const;
 
-			bool				IsNumber() const;
-			bool				IsInteger() const;
-			bool				IsFloat() const;
+	inline	bool				IsNumber() const;
+	inline	bool				IsInteger(bool* _isSigned = NULL) const;
+	inline	bool				IsFloat() const;
 									// floating point, not just float
 
 			bool				ToBool() const;
@@ -93,6 +96,10 @@ public:
 									// counting as scalar, not string, though)
 
 	static	size_t				SizeOfType(type_code type);
+	static	bool				TypeIsNumber(type_code type);
+	static	bool				TypeIsInteger(type_code type,
+									bool* _isSigned = NULL);
+	static	bool				TypeIsFloat(type_code type);
 
 private:
 			void				_SetTo(const BVariant& other);
@@ -245,6 +252,13 @@ BVariant::operator=(const BVariant& other)
 }
 
 
+bool
+BVariant::operator!=(const BVariant& other) const
+{
+	return !(*this == other);
+}
+
+
 void
 BVariant::SetTo(const BVariant& other)
 {
@@ -365,4 +379,25 @@ BVariant::SetTo(BReferenceable* value, type_code type)
 }
 
 
+bool
+BVariant::IsNumber() const
+{
+	return TypeIsNumber(fType);
+}
+
+
+bool
+BVariant::IsInteger(bool* _isSigned) const
+{
+	return TypeIsInteger(fType, _isSigned);
+}
+
+
+bool
+BVariant::IsFloat() const
+{
+	return TypeIsFloat(fType);
+}
+
+
 #endif	// _VARIANT_H
diff --git a/src/kits/shared/Variant.cpp b/src/kits/shared/Variant.cpp
index 1d63447367..1870d296a1 100644
--- a/src/kits/shared/Variant.cpp
+++ b/src/kits/shared/Variant.cpp
@@ -125,6 +125,55 @@ BVariant::Unset()
 }
 
 
+bool
+BVariant::operator==(const BVariant& other) const
+{
+	if (fType == 0)
+		return other.fType == 0;
+	if (other.fType == 0)
+		return false;
+
+	// TODO: The number comparisons are not really accurate. Particularly a
+	// conversion between signed and unsigned integers might actually change the
+	// value.
+
+	switch (fType) {
+		case B_BOOL_TYPE:
+			return fBool == other.ToBool();
+		case B_INT8_TYPE:
+		case B_INT16_TYPE:
+		case B_INT32_TYPE:
+		case B_INT64_TYPE:
+			if (!other.IsNumber())
+				return false;
+			return ToInt64() == other.ToInt64();
+		case B_UINT8_TYPE:
+		case B_UINT16_TYPE:
+		case B_UINT32_TYPE:
+		case B_UINT64_TYPE:
+			if (!other.IsNumber())
+				return false;
+			return ToUInt64() == other.ToUInt64();
+		case B_FLOAT_TYPE:
+		case B_DOUBLE_TYPE:
+			if (!other.IsNumber())
+				return false;
+			return ToDouble() == other.ToDouble();
+		case B_POINTER_TYPE:
+			return other.fType == B_POINTER_TYPE
+				&& fPointer == other.fPointer;
+		case B_STRING_TYPE:
+			if (other.fType != B_STRING_TYPE)
+				return false;
+			if (fString == NULL || other.fString == NULL)
+				return fString == other.fString;
+			return strcmp(fString, other.fString) == 0;
+		default:
+			return false;
+	}
+}
+
+
 size_t
 BVariant::Size() const
 {
@@ -145,60 +194,6 @@ BVariant::Bytes() const
 }
 
 
-bool
-BVariant::IsNumber() const
-{
-	switch (fType) {
-		case B_INT8_TYPE:
-		case B_UINT8_TYPE:
-		case B_INT16_TYPE:
-		case B_UINT16_TYPE:
-		case B_INT32_TYPE:
-		case B_UINT32_TYPE:
-		case B_INT64_TYPE:
-		case B_UINT64_TYPE:
-		case B_FLOAT_TYPE:
-		case B_DOUBLE_TYPE:
-			return true;
-		default:
-			return false;
-	}
-}
-
-
-bool
-BVariant::IsInteger() const
-{
-	switch (fType) {
-		case B_INT8_TYPE:
-		case B_UINT8_TYPE:
-		case B_INT16_TYPE:
-		case B_UINT16_TYPE:
-		case B_INT32_TYPE:
-		case B_UINT32_TYPE:
-		case B_INT64_TYPE:
-		case B_UINT64_TYPE:
-			return true;
-		default:
-			return false;
-	}
-}
-
-
-bool
-BVariant::IsFloat() const
-{
-	switch (fType) {
-		case B_FLOAT_TYPE:
-		case B_DOUBLE_TYPE:
-			return true;
-		default:
-			return false;
-	}
-}
-
-
-
 bool
 BVariant::ToBool() const
 {
@@ -395,6 +390,64 @@ BVariant::SizeOfType(type_code type)
 }
 
 
+/*static*/ bool
+BVariant::TypeIsNumber(type_code type)
+{
+	switch (type) {
+		case B_INT8_TYPE:
+		case B_UINT8_TYPE:
+		case B_INT16_TYPE:
+		case B_UINT16_TYPE:
+		case B_INT32_TYPE:
+		case B_UINT32_TYPE:
+		case B_INT64_TYPE:
+		case B_UINT64_TYPE:
+		case B_FLOAT_TYPE:
+		case B_DOUBLE_TYPE:
+			return true;
+		default:
+			return false;
+	}
+}
+
+
+/*static*/ bool
+BVariant::TypeIsInteger(type_code type, bool* _isSigned)
+{
+	switch (type) {
+		case B_INT8_TYPE:
+		case B_INT16_TYPE:
+		case B_INT32_TYPE:
+		case B_INT64_TYPE:
+			if (_isSigned != NULL)
+				*_isSigned = true;
+			return true;
+		case B_UINT8_TYPE:
+		case B_UINT16_TYPE:
+		case B_UINT32_TYPE:
+		case B_UINT64_TYPE:
+			if (_isSigned != NULL)
+				*_isSigned = false;
+			return true;
+		default:
+			return false;
+	}
+}
+
+
+/*static*/ bool
+BVariant::TypeIsFloat(type_code type)
+{
+	switch (type) {
+		case B_FLOAT_TYPE:
+		case B_DOUBLE_TYPE:
+			return true;
+		default:
+			return false;
+	}
+}
+
+
 void
 BVariant::_SetTo(bool value)
 {