diff --git a/src/include/ranges/range_base.h b/src/include/ranges/range_base.h
index 454584f..92d3d9d 100644
--- a/src/include/ranges/range_base.h
+++ b/src/include/ranges/range_base.h
@@ -78,6 +78,8 @@ namespace MultiArrayTools
 	bool operator==(const RangeBase& in) const;
 	bool operator!=(const RangeBase& in) const;
 
+        std::intptr_t id() const;
+        
 	virtual std::string stringMeta(size_t pos) const = 0;
 	virtual std::vector<char> data() const = 0; // usefull when writing to files, etc...
 
diff --git a/src/lib/ranges/range_base.cc b/src/lib/ranges/range_base.cc
index 26417fa..bfe422e 100644
--- a/src/lib/ranges/range_base.cc
+++ b/src/lib/ranges/range_base.cc
@@ -177,6 +177,10 @@ namespace MultiArrayTools
     {
 	return this != &in;
     }
-
+    
+    std::intptr_t RangeBase::id() const
+    {
+        return reinterpret_cast<std::intptr_t>(this);
+    }
 
 } // end namespace MultiArrayTools