diff --git a/src/Record.cpp b/src/Record.cpp
index 439758820..32328cb3f 100644
--- a/src/Record.cpp
+++ b/src/Record.cpp
@@ -42,6 +42,12 @@ Record::Record (const Record& other)
   *this = other;
 }
 
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+Record::Record (const std::string& input)
+{
+  parse (input);
+}
+
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 Record& Record::operator= (const Record& other)
 {
diff --git a/src/Record.h b/src/Record.h
index e28ecc380..d8313e595 100644
--- a/src/Record.h
+++ b/src/Record.h
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
 
 #include <vector>
 #include <map>
+#include <string>
 #include "Att.h"
 
 class Record : public std::map <std::string, Att>
@@ -36,12 +37,12 @@ class Record : public std::map <std::string, Att>
 public:
   Record ();                         // Default constructor
   Record (const Record&);            // Copy constructor
+  Record (const std::string&);       // Copy constructor
   Record& operator= (const Record&); // Assignment operator
   virtual ~Record ();                // Destructor
 
-  virtual std::string composeCSV () = 0;
-
   std::string composeF4 ();
+  std::string composeCSV ();
   void parse (const std::string&);
 
   std::vector <Att> all ();
diff --git a/src/tests/Makefile b/src/tests/Makefile
index 6e887b90f..76f9de225 100644
--- a/src/tests/Makefile
+++ b/src/tests/Makefile
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 PROJECT = t.t tdb.t date.t duration.t t.benchmark.t text.t autocomplete.t      \
-          parse.t seq.t att.t mod.t stringtable.t # subst.t record.t
+          parse.t seq.t att.t mod.t stringtable.t record.t # subst.t
 CFLAGS  = -I. -I.. -Wall -pedantic -ggdb3 -fno-rtti
 LFLAGS  = -L/usr/local/lib
 OBJECTS = ../TDB.o ../T.o ../parse.o ../text.o ../Date.o ../Duration.o         \
diff --git a/src/tests/record.t.cpp b/src/tests/record.t.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f78b7d690
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/tests/record.t.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+// task - a command line task list manager.
+//
+// Copyright 2006 - 2009, Paul Beckingham.
+// All rights reserved.
+//
+// This program 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 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later
+// version.
+//
+// This program 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
+// this program; if not, write to the
+//
+//     Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
+//     51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor,
+//     Boston, MA
+//     02110-1301
+//     USA
+//
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+#include <iostream>
+#include <Att.h>
+#include <Record.h>
+#include <test.h>
+
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+Record parseRecord (const std::string& input)
+{
+  try { Record r (input); return r; }
+  catch (...) {}
+  return Record ();
+}
+
+int main (int argc, char** argv)
+{
+  UnitTest t (4);
+
+  // (blank)
+  Record record = parseRecord ("");
+  t.is (record.size (), (size_t)0, "Record (blank)");
+
+  // []
+  record = parseRecord ("[]");
+  t.is (record.size (), (size_t)0, "Record []");
+
+  // [name:value]
+  record = parseRecord ("[name:value]");
+  t.is (record.size (), (size_t)1, "Record [name:value]");
+  if (record.size () == 1)
+  {
+    Att a = record["name"];
+    t.is (a.name (), "name", "Record [name:value] -> 'name'");
+  }
+  else
+  {
+    t.fail ("Record [name:value] -> 'name'");
+  }
+
+  // TODO [name:"value"]
+  // TODO [name:"one two"]
+  // TODO [one:two three:four]
+
+  // TODO FF3
+  // TODO FF2
+  // TODO FF1
+
+  return 0;
+}
+
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////