diff --git a/c_tools/libzobov/particleInfo.cpp b/c_tools/libzobov/particleInfo.cpp
index fa6f467..d3eb2e8 100644
--- a/c_tools/libzobov/particleInfo.cpp
+++ b/c_tools/libzobov/particleInfo.cpp
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+#include <cstdlib>
 #include <netcdfcpp.h>
 #include <CosmoTool/fortran.hpp>
 #include "particleInfo.hpp"
@@ -5,6 +6,34 @@
 using namespace std;
 using namespace CosmoTool;
 
+template<bool failure>
+double retrieve_attr_safe_double(NcFile& f, const char *name, double defval)
+{
+  NcAtt *a = f.get_att(name);
+  if (a == 0)
+    {
+      if (failure)
+        abort();
+      return defval;
+    }
+  return a->as_double(0);
+}
+
+template<bool failure>
+int retrieve_attr_safe_int(NcFile& f, const char *name, int defval)
+{
+  NcAtt *a = f.get_att(name);
+  if (a == 0)
+    {
+      if (failure)
+        abort();
+      return defval;
+    }
+  return a->as_int(0);
+}
+
+  
+
 bool loadParticleInfo(ParticleInfo& info,
 		      const std::string& particles, 
 		      const std::string& extra_info)
@@ -13,18 +42,19 @@ bool loadParticleInfo(ParticleInfo& info,
       int isObservation;
 
   NcFile f_info(extra_info.c_str());
+  NcError nerr(NcError::verbose_nonfatal);
  
   if (!f_info.is_valid())
     return false;
 
-  info.ranges[0][0] = f_info.get_att("range_x_min")->as_double(0);
-  info.ranges[0][1] = f_info.get_att("range_x_max")->as_double(0);
-  info.ranges[1][0] = f_info.get_att("range_y_min")->as_double(0);
-  info.ranges[1][1] = f_info.get_att("range_y_max")->as_double(0);
-  info.ranges[2][0] = f_info.get_att("range_z_min")->as_double(0);
-  info.ranges[2][1] = f_info.get_att("range_z_max")->as_double(0);
-  info.mask_index = f_info.get_att("mask_index")->as_int(0); //PMS
-  isObservation = f_info.get_att("is_observation")->as_int(0); //PMS
+  info.ranges[0][0] = retrieve_attr_safe_double<true>(f_info, "range_x_min", 0);
+  info.ranges[0][1] = retrieve_attr_safe_double<true>(f_info, "range_x_max", 0);
+  info.ranges[1][0] = retrieve_attr_safe_double<true>(f_info, "range_y_min", 0);
+  info.ranges[1][1] = retrieve_attr_safe_double<true>(f_info, "range_y_max", 0);
+  info.ranges[2][0] = retrieve_attr_safe_double<true>(f_info, "range_z_min", 0);
+  info.ranges[2][1] = retrieve_attr_safe_double<true>(f_info, "range_z_max", 0);
+  info.mask_index = retrieve_attr_safe_int<true>(f_info, "mask_index", 0);
+  isObservation = retrieve_attr_safe_int<false>(f_info, "is_observation", 0);
 
   for (int i = 0; i < 3; i++)
     info.length[i] = info.ranges[i][1] - info.ranges[i][0];