diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index b27ee69..00d3cab 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
 
     <groupId>com.americanexpress.unify.jdocs</groupId>
     <artifactId>unify-jdocs</artifactId>
-    <version>1.6.0</version>
+    <version>1.7.0</version>
     <packaging>jar</packaging>
 
     <name>unify-jdocs</name>
diff --git a/readme.md b/readme.md
index c2274ed..a80dbe8 100644
--- a/readme.md
+++ b/readme.md
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ JDocs is available as a jar file in Maven central with the following latest Mave
 ````pom
 <groupId>com.americanexpress.unify.jdocs</groupId>
 <artifactId>unify-jdocs</artifactId>
-<version>1.6.0</version>
+<version>1.7.0</version>
 ````
 
 ---
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/americanexpress/unify/jdocs/JDocument.java b/src/main/java/com/americanexpress/unify/jdocs/JDocument.java
index 8cb4c64..c40a22a 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/americanexpress/unify/jdocs/JDocument.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/americanexpress/unify/jdocs/JDocument.java
@@ -1403,10 +1403,6 @@ protected final void setValue(String path, List<Token> tokenList, Object value)
   }
 
   public static String getStaticPath(String path, String... vargs) {
-    if (vargs.length == 0) {
-      return path;
-    }
-
     int size = path.length();
     StringBuffer sb = new StringBuffer();
     int counter = 0;
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/americanexpress/unify/jdocs/DocumentTest.java b/src/test/java/com/americanexpress/unify/jdocs/DocumentTest.java
index 5c6ca75..f7f0986 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/americanexpress/unify/jdocs/DocumentTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/americanexpress/unify/jdocs/DocumentTest.java
@@ -818,7 +818,7 @@ void testValidateAtReadWriteOnly() {
       d = getTypedDocument("sample_23_model", "/jdocs/sample_23.json");
       assert (false);
     }
-    catch (UnifyException e) {
+    catch (Exception e) {
     }
 
     d = getTypedDocument("sample_23_model", "/jdocs/sample_23.json", true);
@@ -827,14 +827,14 @@ void testValidateAtReadWriteOnly() {
       d.getString("$.phone_cell");
       assert (false);
     }
-    catch (UnifyException e) {
+    catch (Exception e) {
     }
 
     try {
       d.getString("$.giberish");
       assert (false);
     }
-    catch (UnifyException e) {
+    catch (Exception e) {
     }
 
     String s = d.getString("$.first_name");
@@ -855,14 +855,14 @@ void testValidateAtReadWriteOnly() {
       d.validate("sample_23_model");
       assert (false);
     }
-    catch (UnifyException e) {
+    catch (Exception e) {
     }
 
     try {
       d.setType("sample_23_model");
       assert (false);
     }
-    catch (UnifyException e) {
+    catch (Exception e) {
     }
 
     d.setType("sample_23_model", true);
@@ -871,7 +871,7 @@ void testValidateAtReadWriteOnly() {
       d.validate("sample_23_model");
       assert (false);
     }
-    catch (UnifyException e) {
+    catch (Exception e) {
     }
 
     // we now set the default to be true
@@ -883,14 +883,14 @@ void testValidateAtReadWriteOnly() {
       d.validate("sample_23_model"); // will fail validation here
       assert (false);
     }
-    catch (UnifyException e) {
+    catch (Exception e) {
     }
 
     try {
       d = getTypedDocument("sample_23_model", "/jdocs/sample_23.json"); // will fail validation here
       assert (false);
     }
-    catch (UnifyException e) {
+    catch (Exception e) {
     }
 
     d = getTypedDocument("sample_23_model", "/jdocs/sample_23.json", true); // this should pass
@@ -1297,7 +1297,7 @@ void testValidation() {
       d = getTypedDocument("sample_23_model", "/jdocs/sample_23.json", CONSTS_JDOCS.VALIDATION_TYPE.ALL_DATA_PATHS);
       assert (false);
     }
-    catch (UnifyException e) {
+    catch (Exception e) {
     }
 
     // test - doc construction will succeed but read of field will fail
@@ -1306,7 +1306,7 @@ void testValidation() {
       d.getString("$.phone_cell");
       assert (false);
     }
-    catch (UnifyException e) {
+    catch (Exception e) {
     }
 
     // test - doc construction will succeed but read of field will fail
@@ -1315,7 +1315,7 @@ void testValidation() {
       d.getString("$.phone_cell");
       assert (false);
     }
-    catch (UnifyException e) {
+    catch (Exception e) {
     }
 
     // valid test
@@ -1342,7 +1342,7 @@ void testValidation() {
       d.setType("sample_23_model");
       assert (false);
     }
-    catch (UnifyException e) {
+    catch (Exception e) {
     }
 
     // test only model paths -  will succeed
@@ -1353,7 +1353,7 @@ void testValidation() {
       d.validateAllPaths("sample_23_model");
       assert (false);
     }
-    catch (UnifyException e) {
+    catch (Exception e) {
     }
 
     // we now set the default to only at read write
@@ -1365,7 +1365,7 @@ void testValidation() {
       d.validateAllPaths("sample_23_model"); // will fail validation here
       assert (false);
     }
-    catch (UnifyException e) {
+    catch (Exception e) {
     }
     d.validateModelPaths("sample_23_model"); // will succeed
 
@@ -1373,7 +1373,7 @@ void testValidation() {
       d = getTypedDocument("sample_23_model", "/jdocs/sample_23.json"); // will fail validation here
       assert (false);
     }
-    catch (UnifyException e) {
+    catch (Exception e) {
     }
 
     d = getTypedDocument("sample_23_model", "/jdocs/sample_23.json", CONSTS_JDOCS.VALIDATION_TYPE.ONLY_MODEL_PATHS); // this should pass
@@ -1391,7 +1391,7 @@ void testValidation() {
       d.validateAllPaths("sample_23_model"); // will fail validation here
       assert (false);
     }
-    catch (UnifyException e) {
+    catch (Exception e) {
     }
     d.validateModelPaths("sample_23_model"); // will succeed
 
@@ -1399,7 +1399,7 @@ void testValidation() {
       d = getTypedDocument("sample_23_model", "/jdocs/sample_23.json"); // will fail validation here
       assert (false);
     }
-    catch (UnifyException e) {
+    catch (Exception e) {
     }
 
     d = getTypedDocument("sample_23_model", "/jdocs/sample_23.json", CONSTS_JDOCS.VALIDATION_TYPE.ONLY_MODEL_PATHS); // this should pass
@@ -1409,4 +1409,38 @@ void testValidation() {
     JDocument.init(CONSTS_JDOCS.VALIDATION_TYPE.ALL_DATA_PATHS);
   }
 
+  @Test
+  void testMissingParams() {
+    Document d = new JDocument();
+
+    try {
+      String s = d.getString("$.names[name=%].first_name");
+      assert (false);
+    }
+    catch (Exception e) {
+    }
+
+    try {
+      String s = d.getString("$.names[name=%].other[number=%].first_name");
+      assert (false);
+    }
+    catch (Exception e) {
+    }
+
+    try {
+      String s = d.getString("$.names[name=%].other[number=%].first_name", "Deepak");
+      assert (false);
+    }
+    catch (Exception e) {
+    }
+
+    try {
+      String s = d.getString("$.names[%].first_name");
+      assert (false);
+    }
+    catch (Exception e) {
+    }
+
+  }
+
 }