diff --git a/TextParser.Tests/TextParserTests.cs b/TextParser.Tests/TextParserTests.cs
index 593bb4f..d84c650 100644
--- a/TextParser.Tests/TextParserTests.cs
+++ b/TextParser.Tests/TextParserTests.cs
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ public class TextParserTests
                                          bca 
                                          cab";
     private const string testInput11 = @"2 x y 4 x y 6 x y 4 x y 1 x y";
+    private const string testInput12 = @"abcd";
 
     [Fact]
     public void LineParser_TestSimpleRepetition()
@@ -443,4 +444,27 @@ public class TextParserTests
         Assert.Equal(4, numbers[3]);
         Assert.Equal(1, numbers[4]);
     }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void TextParser_TestCharExplicit()
+    {
+        var schemaBuilder = new InputSchemaBuilder();
+        var schema = schemaBuilder
+                        .Repeat()
+                            .Expect(InputType.Char)
+                        .EndRepetition()
+                        .Build();
+
+        var parser = new TextParser<InputSchemaContext>(schema);
+        var numbers = parser
+                        .SetInputText(testInput12)
+                        .Parse()
+                        .AsSingleStream<string>();
+
+        Assert.Equal(4, numbers.Count);
+        Assert.Equal("a", numbers[0]);
+        Assert.Equal("b", numbers[1]);
+        Assert.Equal("c", numbers[2]);
+        Assert.Equal("d", numbers[3]);
+    }
 }
diff --git a/TextParser/Schema/BuildingBlocks/CharBlock.cs b/TextParser/Schema/BuildingBlocks/CharBlock.cs
index e8fe029..fb8cddd 100644
--- a/TextParser/Schema/BuildingBlocks/CharBlock.cs
+++ b/TextParser/Schema/BuildingBlocks/CharBlock.cs
@@ -44,6 +44,6 @@ class CharBlock : BuildingBlockBase
 
     public override BlockType GetBlockType()
     {
-        return BlockType.String;
+        return BlockType.Char;
     }
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/TextParser/Schema/FragmentSchema.cs b/TextParser/Schema/FragmentSchema.cs
index af28373..51faea4 100644
--- a/TextParser/Schema/FragmentSchema.cs
+++ b/TextParser/Schema/FragmentSchema.cs
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ public class FragmentSchema : ISchema<FragmentSchemaContext>
     private string fragmentRegex;
     private List<string> namedGroups = new List<string>();
     private List<string> namedLiterals = new List<string>();
+    private bool ignoreEmptyMatches = true;
 
     public FragmentSchema(string fragmentRegex, List<string> namedGroups, List<string> namedLiterals)
     {
@@ -33,6 +34,11 @@ public class FragmentSchema : ISchema<FragmentSchemaContext>
         // one token per match
         foreach (Match match in r.Matches(inputs.YieldWord()))
         {
+            if(this.ignoreEmptyMatches && string.IsNullOrEmpty(match.Value))
+            {
+                continue;
+            }
+
             var newToken = new FragmentToken(match.Value);
             // token contains data from all included matches
             foreach (var groupName in this.namedGroups)
@@ -109,4 +115,9 @@ public class FragmentSchema : ISchema<FragmentSchemaContext>
     {
         return new FragmentSchemaContext();
     }
+
+    public void ShouldIgnoreEmptyMatches(bool ignoreEmptyMatches)
+    {
+        this.ignoreEmptyMatches = ignoreEmptyMatches;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/TextParser/Schema/FragmentSchemaBuilder.cs b/TextParser/Schema/FragmentSchemaBuilder.cs
index 269d76a..3a7ccd5 100644
--- a/TextParser/Schema/FragmentSchemaBuilder.cs
+++ b/TextParser/Schema/FragmentSchemaBuilder.cs
@@ -52,12 +52,22 @@ public class FragmentSchemaBuilder : RepetitionSchemaBuilder<FragmentSchemaBuild
             case InputType.Integer:
                 this.fragmentRegex += "(" + groupNamePrefix + "\\d+)";
                 break;
+            case InputType.Char:
+                this.fragmentRegex += "(" + groupNamePrefix + "[a-zA-Z])";
+                break;
             default:
                 throw new Exception("Unrecognized InputType");
         }
         return this;
     }
 
+    public FragmentSchemaBuilder ShouldIgnoreEmptyMatches(bool ignoreEmptyMatches)
+    {
+        this.ShouldIgnoreEmptyMatches(ignoreEmptyMatches);
+
+        return this;
+    }
+
     public FragmentSchemaBuilder Expect(string literal, string name = "")
     {
         string groupNamePrefix = "";
@@ -130,6 +140,10 @@ public class FragmentSchemaBuilder : RepetitionSchemaBuilder<FragmentSchemaBuild
         }
 
         oldSchemaBuilder.fragmentRegex += "(" + currentRegex + ")";
+        var groupsToAdd = currentBuilder.namedGroups.Where(g => !oldSchemaBuilder.namedGroups.Contains(g)).ToList();
+        var literalsToAdd = currentBuilder.namedLiterals.Where(l => !oldSchemaBuilder.namedLiterals.Contains(l)).ToList();
+        oldSchemaBuilder.namedGroups.AddRange(groupsToAdd);
+        oldSchemaBuilder.namedLiterals.AddRange(literalsToAdd);
 
         return oldSchemaBuilder;
     }