diff --git a/src/perl/make_parameter_source.pl b/src/perl/make_parameter_source.pl
new file mode 100644
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/perl/make_parameter_source.pl
@@ -0,0 +1,435 @@
+#!/usr/bin/perl 
+
+#
+# $Id$
+#
+#  This file is part of the Virtual Leaf.
+#
+#  The Virtual Leaf is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+#  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+#  the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+#  (at your option) any later version.
+#
+#  The Virtual Leaf is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+#  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+#  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+#  GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+#  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+#  along with the Virtual Leaf.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+#
+#  Copyright 2010 Roeland Merks.
+#
+
+# input: parameter file + types
+# format: par_name = default_value/type
+
+# output: C++ source code of class Parameter
+# and sample parameter file
+
+%funname = (
+	    "double" => fgetpar,
+	    "float" => fgetpar,
+	    "int" => igetpar,
+	    "bool" => bgetpar,
+	    "char *" => sgetpar,
+	    "string" => sgetpar,
+	    "double *" => dgetparlist,
+	   );
+
+%typetrans = (
+	      "double" => "double",
+	      "float" => "double",
+	      "int" => "int",
+	      "bool" => "bool",
+	      "char *" => "char *",
+	      "string" => "char *",
+	      "directory" => "char *",
+	      "doublelist" => "double *",
+	      "label" => "label",
+	      "title" => "title",
+);
+
+open parfile,"<$ARGV[0]";
+open cppfile,">parameter.cpp";
+$i=0;
+while (<parfile>) {
+#ignore comments
+  if (/^#/) {
+    next;
+  }
+  @line=split(/=/);
+#ignore empty lines
+  if ($#line<1) {
+    next;
+  }
+  $param[$i]=$line[0];
+  $value_type=$line[1];
+
+  @typel=split(/ \/ /,$value_type);
+  $value[$i] = $typel[0];
+  $type[$i] = $typel[1];
+  
+#get rid of spaces
+  $param[$i] =~ s/ //g;
+  $value[$i] =~ s/ //g;
+  $type[$i] =~ s/ //g;
+  $type[$i] =~s/\n//g;
+  $convtype[$i]=$typetrans{$type[$i]};
+
+  if ($convtype[$i] eq "char *") {
+    $value[$i] = "\"$value[$i]\"";
+  }
+  #print cppfile "param = $param, value = $value, type = $type\n";
+
+  $i++;
+}
+
+$lines=$i;
+
+print cppfile <<END_HEADER;
+// WARNING: This file is automatically generated by make_parameter_source.pl. Do not edit.
+// All edits will be discarded.
+
+#include "parameter.h"
+#include <cstdio>
+#include <cstring>
+#include <cstdlib>
+#include <cerrno>
+#include <iostream>
+#include <sstream>
+#include "output.h"
+#include "parse.h"
+#include "xmlwrite.h"
+
+using namespace std;
+
+
+Parameter::Parameter() {
+END_HEADER
+
+for ($i=0;$i<$lines;$i++) {
+  if ($convtype[$i] ne "label" && $convtype[$i] ne "title") {
+    if ($convtype[$i] eq "char *") {
+      print cppfile "  $param[$i] = strdup($value[$i]);\n";
+    } else {
+      if ($convtype[$i] eq "double *") {
+	#comma separated list expected
+	@paramlist = split(/,/, $value[$i]);
+	$length = $#paramlist+1;
+	print cppfile "  $param[$i] = new double\[$length\];\n";
+	for ($j=0;$j<=$#paramlist;$j++) {
+	  print cppfile "  $param[$i]\[$j\] = $paramlist[$j];\n";
+	}
+      } else {
+	print cppfile "  $param[$i] = $value[$i];\n";
+      }
+    }
+ }
+}
+
+
+print cppfile <<END_HEADER3;
+}
+
+Parameter::~Parameter() {
+  
+  // destruct parameter object
+
+  // free string parameter
+
+  CleanUp();
+
+}
+
+void Parameter::CleanUp(void) {
+END_HEADER3
+
+for ($i=0;$i<$lines;$i++) {
+  if ($convtype[$i] eq "char *" || $convtype[$i] eq "double *") {
+    print cppfile "  if ($param[$i]) \n";
+    print cppfile "     free($param[$i]);\n";
+  }
+}
+print cppfile <<END_HEADER4;
+
+}
+
+void Parameter::Read(const char *filename) {
+  
+  static bool ReadP=false;
+
+  if (ReadP) {
+
+    //throw "Run Time Error in parameter.cpp: Please Read parameter file only once!!";
+    CleanUp();
+    
+  } else
+    ReadP=true;
+
+  FILE *fp=OpenReadFile(filename);
+
+
+END_HEADER4
+
+for ($i=0;$i<$lines;$i++) {
+
+  if ($convtype[$i] eq "label" || $convtype[$i] eq "title") {
+    next;
+  }
+  if ($convtype[$i] eq "double *") {
+    @paramlist = split(/,/,$value[$i]);
+    $length = $#paramlist+1;
+    print cppfile "  $param[$i] = $funname{$convtype[$i]}(fp, \"$param[$i]\", $length, true);\n";
+  } else {
+    print cppfile "  $param[$i] = $funname{$convtype[$i]}(fp, \"$param[$i]\", $value[$i], true);\n";
+  }
+  if ($type[$i] eq "directory") {
+
+    print cppfile "  if (strcmp($param[$i], \".\"))\n";
+    print cppfile "    MakeDir($param[$i]);\n";
+  }
+}
+
+
+
+print cppfile <<END_MIDPART;
+
+}
+
+const char *sbool(const bool &p) {
+
+  const char *true_str="true";
+  const char *false_str="false";
+  if (p)
+    return true_str;
+  else
+    return false_str;
+}
+
+void Parameter::Write(ostream &os) const {
+
+END_MIDPART
+
+for ($i=0;$i<$lines;$i++) {
+ 
+  if ($convtype[$i] eq "label"  || $convtype[$i] eq "title") {
+    next;
+  }
+  if ($convtype[$i] eq "double *") {
+    print cppfile "  os << \" $param[$i] = \"";
+    @paramlist = split(/,/,$value[$i]);
+    for ($j=0;$j<$#paramlist;$j++) {
+      print cppfile "<< $param[$i]\[$j\] << \", \" ";
+    }
+    print cppfile "<< $param[$i]\[$#paramlist\] << endl;\n";
+  } else {
+    if ($convtype[$i] eq "bool") {
+      print cppfile "  os << \" $param[$i] = \" << sbool($param[$i]) << endl;\n";
+    } else {
+      if ($convtype[$i] eq "char *") {
+	print cppfile "\n  if ($param[$i]) \n";
+	print cppfile "  ";
+      }
+      print cppfile "  os << \" $param[$i] = \" << $param[$i] << endl;\n";
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+print cppfile "}\n";
+
+print cppfile <<END_TRAIL2;
+void Parameter::XMLAdd(xmlNode *root) const {
+  xmlNode *xmlparameter = xmlNewChild(root, NULL, BAD_CAST "parameter", NULL);
+END_TRAIL2
+
+for ($i=0;$i<$lines;$i++) {
+  if ($convtype[$i] eq "label" || $convtype[$i] eq "title") {
+    next;
+  }
+  print cppfile "{\n";
+  print cppfile "  xmlNode *xmlpar = xmlNewChild(xmlparameter, NULL, BAD_CAST \"par\", NULL);\n";
+  print cppfile "  xmlNewProp(xmlpar, BAD_CAST \"name\", BAD_CAST \"$param[$i]\" );\n";
+  if ($convtype[$i] eq "double *") {
+    @paramlist = split(/,/,$value[$i]);
+    print cppfile "  xmlNode *xmlvalarray = xmlNewChild(xmlpar, NULL, BAD_CAST \"valarray\", NULL);\n";
+    for ($j=0;$j<=$#paramlist;$j++) {
+      print cppfile "  {\n";
+      print cppfile "    ostringstream text;\n";
+      print cppfile "    text << $param[$i]\[$j\];\n";
+      print cppfile "    xmlNode *xmlval = xmlNewChild(xmlvalarray, NULL, BAD_CAST \"val\", NULL);\n";
+      print cppfile "    xmlNewProp(xmlval, BAD_CAST \"v\", BAD_CAST text.str().c_str());\n";
+      print cppfile "  }\n";
+    }
+    print cppfile "}\n";
+    next;
+} else {
+    print cppfile "  ostringstream text;\n";
+    if ($convtype[$i] eq "bool") {
+      print cppfile "text << sbool($param[$i]);\n";
+    } else {
+      if ($convtype[$i] eq "char *") {
+	print cppfile "\n  if ($param[$i]) \n";
+	print cppfile "  ";
+      }
+      print cppfile "  text << $param[$i];\n";
+    }
+  }
+  print cppfile "xmlNewProp(xmlpar, BAD_CAST \"val\", BAD_CAST text.str().c_str());\n";
+  print cppfile "}\n";
+}
+print cppfile "}\n";
+
+print cppfile "void Parameter::AssignValToPar(const char *namec, const char *valc) {\n";
+print cppfile;
+
+for ($i=0;$i<$lines;$i++) {
+
+  if ($convtype[$i] eq "label" || $convtype[$i] eq "title") {
+    next;
+  }
+  if ($convtype[$i] eq "double *") {
+    next;
+  } else {
+    print cppfile "if (!strcmp(namec, \"$param[$i]\")) {\n";
+    if ($convtype[$i] eq "bool") {
+      print cppfile "$param[$i] = strtobool(valc);\n";
+    } else {
+      if ($convtype[$i] eq "char *") {
+	print cppfile "  if ($param[$i]) { free($param[$i]); }\n";
+	print cppfile "  $param[$i]=strdup(valc);\n";
+      } else {
+	if ($convtype[$i] eq "int") {
+	  print cppfile "  $param[$i] = (int)strtol(valc, 0, 10);\n";
+	} else {
+	  print cppfile "  $param[$i] = strtod(valc, 0);\n";
+	}
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  print cppfile "}\n";
+}
+print cppfile "}\n";
+
+print cppfile "void Parameter::AssignValArrayToPar(const char *namec, vector<double> valarray) {\n";
+print cppfile;
+
+for ($i=0;$i<$lines;$i++) {
+
+  if ($convtype[$i] eq "double *") {
+    @paramlist = split(/,/,$value[$i]);
+    print cppfile "if (!strcmp(namec, \"$param[$i]\")) {\n";
+    print cppfile "  int i=0;\n";
+    print cppfile "  vector<double>::const_iterator v=valarray.begin();\n";
+    print cppfile "  while (v!=valarray.end() && i <= $#paramlist ) {\n";
+    print cppfile "     $param[$i]\[i++\]=*(v++);\n";
+    print cppfile "  }\n";
+    print cppfile "}\n";
+  }
+}
+print cppfile "}\n";
+
+
+print cppfile <<END_TRAILER;
+
+/* void Parameter::XMLRead(xmlNode *root) {
+  
+  xmlNode *cur = root->xmlChildrenNode;
+  while (cur!=NULL) {
+    if ((!xmlStrcmp(cur->name, (const xmlChar *)"parameter"))){
+      xmlNode *par_node = cur->xmlChildrenNode;
+      while (par_node!=NULL) {
+	{
+	  if (!xmlStrcmp(par_node->name, (const xmlChar *)"par")) {
+	    xmlChar *namec = xmlGetProp(par_node, BAD_CAST "name");
+	    xmlChar *valc = xmlGetProp(par_node, BAD_CAST "val");
+	    if (valc) {
+	      AssignValToPar((const char*)namec,(const char*)valc);
+	    } else {
+	      // Probably a valarray
+	      xmlNode *sub_par_node = par_node->xmlChildrenNode;
+	      vector<double> valarray; 
+	      while (sub_par_node != NULL) {
+		if (!xmlStrcmp(sub_par_node->name, (const xmlChar *)"valarray")) {
+		  valarray = XMLIO::XMLReadValArray(sub_par_node);
+		}
+		sub_par_node = sub_par_node->next;
+	      }
+	      AssignValArrayToPar((const char*)namec, valarray);
+	    }
+	  }
+	}	  
+	par_node = par_node->next;
+      }
+
+    }
+    cur=cur->next;
+  }
+    
+}*/
+
+ostream &operator<<(ostream &os, Parameter &p) {
+  p.Write(os);
+  return os;
+}
+
+END_TRAILER
+
+
+
+# parameter.h
+
+open hfile, ">parameter.h";
+print hfile <<END_HEADER2;
+// WARNING: This file is automatically generated by make_parameter_source.pl. Do not edit.
+// All edits will be discarded.
+
+#ifndef _PARAMETER_H_
+#define _PARAMETER_H_
+#include "vector.h"
+#include <vector>
+
+#include <libxml/parser.h>
+#include <libxml/tree.h>
+
+class Parameter {
+  
+ public: 
+  Parameter();
+  ~Parameter();
+  void CleanUp(void);
+  void Read(const char *filename);
+  void Write(ostream &os) const;
+  void XMLAdd(xmlNode *root) const;
+  void XMLRead(xmlNode *root);
+  void AssignValToPar(const char *namec, const char *valc);
+  void AssignValArrayToPar(const char *namec, vector<double> valarray);
+END_HEADER2
+
+  for ($i=0;$i<$lines;$i++) {
+    if ($convtype[$i] ne "label" && $convtype[$i] ne "title") {
+      print hfile "  $convtype[$i] $param[$i];\n";
+    }
+  }
+
+print hfile <<END_TRAILER2;
+ private:
+};
+
+ostream &operator<<(ostream &os, Parameter &p);
+const char *sbool(const bool &p);
+
+
+#endif
+END_TRAILER2
+
+# finally, a parameter file with the default values, based on the template
+
+open parfile,">default.par";
+
+for ($i=0;$i<$lines;$i++) {
+  if ($type[$i] ne "title" && $type[$i] ne "label") {
+    $value[$i] =~ s/\"//g;
+    print parfile "  $param[$i] = $value[$i]\n";
+  }
+}