diff --git a/libmaxsi/Makefile b/libmaxsi/Makefile
index e2e088ef..a2334125 100644
--- a/libmaxsi/Makefile
+++ b/libmaxsi/Makefile
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ dir.o \
 fddir-sortix.o \
 setjmp.o \
 sortix-sound.o \
+readparamstring.o \
 process.o \
 thread.o \
 io.o \
diff --git a/libmaxsi/include/readparamstring.h b/libmaxsi/include/readparamstring.h
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..fe9fe7dc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libmaxsi/include/readparamstring.h
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+/*******************************************************************************
+
+	Copyright(C) Jonas 'Sortie' Termansen 2012.
+
+	This file is part of LibMaxsi.
+
+	LibMaxsi is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
+	the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by the Free
+	Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option)
+	any later version.
+
+	LibMaxsi 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 Lesser General Public License for more
+	details.
+
+	You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+	along with LibMaxsi. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+	readparamstring.h
+	A kinda dirty hack to ease transition to the /dev/video API.
+
+*******************************************************************************/
+
+#ifndef _READPARAMSTRING_H
+#define _READPARAMSTRING_H 1
+
+#include <features.h>
+
+__BEGIN_DECLS
+
+bool ReadParamString(const char* str, ...);
+
+__END_DECLS
+
+#endif
diff --git a/libmaxsi/readparamstring.cpp b/libmaxsi/readparamstring.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e0c9dab8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libmaxsi/readparamstring.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+/*******************************************************************************
+
+	Copyright(C) Jonas 'Sortie' Termansen 2012.
+
+	This file is part of LibMaxsi.
+
+	LibMaxsi is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
+	the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by the Free
+	Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option)
+	any later version.
+
+	LibMaxsi 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 Lesser General Public License for more
+	details.
+
+	You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+	along with LibMaxsi. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+	readparamstring.cpp
+	A kinda dirty hack to ease transition to the /dev/video API.
+
+*******************************************************************************/
+
+#include <libmaxsi/platform.h>
+#include <libmaxsi/error.h>
+#include <libmaxsi/string.h>
+#include <readparamstring.h>
+
+using namespace Maxsi;
+
+extern "C" bool ReadParamString(const char* str, ...)
+{
+	if ( String::Seek(str, '\n') ) { Error::Set(EINVAL); }
+	const char* keyname;
+	va_list args;
+	while ( *str )
+	{
+		size_t varlen = String::Reject(str, ",");
+		if ( !varlen ) { str++; continue; }
+		size_t namelen = String::Reject(str, "=");
+		if ( !namelen ) { Error::Set(EINVAL); goto cleanup; }
+		if ( !str[namelen] ) { Error::Set(EINVAL); goto cleanup; }
+		if ( varlen < namelen ) { Error::Set(EINVAL); goto cleanup; }
+		size_t valuelen = varlen - 1 /*=*/ - namelen;
+		char* name = String::Substring(str, 0, namelen);
+		if ( !name ) { goto cleanup; }
+		char* value = String::Substring(str, namelen+1, valuelen);
+		if ( !value ) { delete[] name; goto cleanup; }
+		va_start(args, str);
+		while ( (keyname = va_arg(args, const char*)) )
+		{
+			char** nameptr = va_arg(args, char**);
+			if ( String::Compare(keyname, name) ) { continue; }
+			*nameptr = value;
+			break;
+		}
+		va_end(args);
+		if ( !keyname ) { delete[] value; }
+		delete[] name;
+		str += varlen;
+		str += String::Accept(str, ",");
+	}
+	return true;
+
+cleanup:
+	va_start(args, str);
+	while ( (keyname = va_arg(args, const char*)) )
+	{
+		char** nameptr = va_arg(args, char**);
+		delete[] *nameptr; *nameptr = NULL;
+	}
+	va_end(args);
+	return false;
+}