diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 0db5dafd9e..1476227f1f 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -5,3 +5,4 @@ target/
 **/Cargo.lock
 !/Cargo.lock
 lcov.info
+.idea
diff --git a/data_model/src/sys.rs b/data_model/src/sys.rs
index 58813340a6..0086eff0a6 100644
--- a/data_model/src/sys.rs
+++ b/data_model/src/sys.rs
@@ -48,6 +48,11 @@ impl<'a> IoSliceMut<'a> {
         self.iov.iov_len as usize
     }
 
+    #[inline]
+    pub fn is_empty(&self) -> bool {
+        self.iov.iov_len == 0
+    }
+
     /// Gets a const pointer to this slice's memory.
     #[inline]
     pub fn as_ptr(&self) -> *const u8 {