diff --git a/src/dbStatic/dbBase.h b/src/dbStatic/dbBase.h
index 87ff3b85a..f32a3532f 100644
--- a/src/dbStatic/dbBase.h
+++ b/src/dbStatic/dbBase.h
@@ -119,6 +119,13 @@ typedef struct dbText {
 	char		*text;
 }dbText;
 
+typedef struct dbVariableDef {
+	ELLNODE		node;
+	char		*name;
+        char            *type;
+        
+}dbVariableDef;
+
 typedef struct dbRecordType {
 	ELLNODE		node;
 	ELLLIST		attributeList;	/*LIST head of attributes*/
diff --git a/src/dbStatic/dbLexRoutines.c b/src/dbStatic/dbLexRoutines.c
index a412d59f9..0405e7407 100644
--- a/src/dbStatic/dbLexRoutines.c
+++ b/src/dbStatic/dbLexRoutines.c
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ static void dbDevice(char *recordtype,char *linktype,
 	char *dsetname,char *choicestring);
 static void dbDriver(char *name);
 static void dbRegistrar(char *name);
-static void dbVariable(char *name);
+static void dbVariable(char *name, char *type);
 
 static void dbBreakHead(char *name);
 static void dbBreakItem(char *value);
@@ -758,23 +758,24 @@ static void dbRegistrar(char *name)
     ellAdd(&pdbbase->registrarList,&ptext->node);
 }
 
-static void dbVariable(char *name)
+static void dbVariable(char *name, char *type)
 {
-    dbText	*ptext;
+    dbVariableDef	*pvar;
     GPHENTRY	*pgphentry;
 
     pgphentry = gphFind(pdbbase->pgpHash,name,&pdbbase->variableList);
     if(pgphentry) {
 	return;
     }
-    ptext = dbCalloc(1,sizeof(dbText));
-    ptext->text = epicsStrDup(name);
-    pgphentry = gphAdd(pdbbase->pgpHash,ptext->text,&pdbbase->variableList);
+    pvar = dbCalloc(1,sizeof(dbVariableDef));
+    pvar->name = epicsStrDup(name);
+    pvar->type = epicsStrDup(type);
+    pgphentry = gphAdd(pdbbase->pgpHash,pvar->name,&pdbbase->variableList);
     if(!pgphentry) {
 	yyerrorAbort("gphAdd failed");
     } 
-    pgphentry->userPvt = ptext;
-    ellAdd(&pdbbase->variableList,&ptext->node);
+    pgphentry->userPvt = pvar;
+    ellAdd(&pdbbase->variableList,&pvar->node);
 }
 
 static void dbBreakHead(char *name)
diff --git a/src/dbStatic/dbStaticLib.c b/src/dbStatic/dbStaticLib.c
index c89a08a05..470214806 100644
--- a/src/dbStatic/dbStaticLib.c
+++ b/src/dbStatic/dbStaticLib.c
@@ -567,6 +567,8 @@ void epicsShareAPI dbFreeBase(dbBase *pdbbase)
     devSup		*pdevSupNext;
     dbText		*ptext;
     dbText		*ptextNext;
+    dbVariableDef       *pvar;
+    dbVariableDef       *pvarNext;
     drvSup		*pdrvSup;
     drvSup		*pdrvSupNext;
     brkTable		*pbrkTable;
@@ -674,13 +676,14 @@ void epicsShareAPI dbFreeBase(dbBase *pdbbase)
 	free((void *)ptext);
 	ptext = ptextNext;
     }
-    ptext = (dbText *)ellFirst(&pdbbase->variableList);
-    while(ptext) {
-	ptextNext = (dbText *)ellNext(&ptext->node);
-	ellDelete(&pdbbase->variableList,&ptext->node);
-	free((void *)ptext->text);
-	free((void *)ptext);
-	ptext = ptextNext;
+    pvar = (dbVariableDef *)ellFirst(&pdbbase->variableList);
+    while(pvar) {
+	pvarNext = (dbVariableDef *)ellNext(&pvar->node);
+	ellDelete(&pdbbase->variableList,&pvar->node);
+	free((void *)pvar->name);
+        free((void *)pvar->type);
+	free((void *)pvar);
+	pvar = pvarNext;
     }
     pbrkTable = (brkTable *)ellFirst(&pdbbase->bptList);
     while(pbrkTable) {
@@ -1175,15 +1178,15 @@ long epicsShareAPI dbWriteRegistrarFP(DBBASE *pdbbase,FILE *fp)
 
 long epicsShareAPI dbWriteVariableFP(DBBASE *pdbbase,FILE *fp)
 {
-    dbText	*ptext;
+    dbVariableDef	*pvar;
 
     if(!pdbbase) {
 	fprintf(stderr,"pdbbase not specified\n");
 	return(-1);
     }
-    for(ptext = (dbText *)ellFirst(&pdbbase->variableList);
-    ptext; ptext = (dbText *)ellNext(&ptext->node)) {
-	fprintf(fp,"variable(%s)\n",ptext->text);
+    for(pvar = (dbVariableDef *)ellFirst(&pdbbase->variableList);
+        pvar; pvar = (dbVariableDef *)ellNext(&pvar->node)) {
+	fprintf(fp,"variable(%s,%s)\n",pvar->name,pvar->type);
     }
     return(0);
 }
diff --git a/src/dbStatic/dbYacc.y b/src/dbStatic/dbYacc.y
index 1f8b08db3..97165a228 100644
--- a/src/dbStatic/dbYacc.y
+++ b/src/dbStatic/dbYacc.y
@@ -150,7 +150,12 @@ registrar: tokenREGISTRAR '(' tokenSTRING ')'
 variable: tokenVARIABLE '(' tokenSTRING ')'
 {
 	if(dbStaticDebug>2) printf("variable %s\n",$3);
-	dbVariable($3); dbmfFree($3);
+	dbVariable($3,"int"); dbmfFree($3);
+}
+        | tokenVARIABLE '(' tokenSTRING ',' tokenSTRING ')'
+{
+	if(dbStaticDebug>2) printf("variable %s, %s\n",$3,$5);
+	dbVariable($3,$5); dbmfFree($3); dbmfFree($5);
 };
 
 break_head: '(' tokenSTRING ')'
diff --git a/src/registry/registerRecordDeviceDriver.pl b/src/registry/registerRecordDeviceDriver.pl
index 77c84d2a6..b845b970c 100755
--- a/src/registry/registerRecordDeviceDriver.pl
+++ b/src/registry/registerRecordDeviceDriver.pl
@@ -36,7 +36,8 @@ while(<INP>) {
         /registrar\s*\(\s*(\w+)/;
         $registrar[$numberRegistrar++] = $1;
     }
-    if (/variable\s*\(\s*(\w+)/) {
+    if (/variable\s*\(\s*(\w+)\s*,\s*(\w+)/) {
+        $varType{$1} = $2;
         push @variables, $1;
     }
 }
@@ -145,11 +146,18 @@ if($numberRegistrar>0) {
 
 if (@variables) {
     foreach $var (@variables) {
-        print "epicsShareExtern int *p$var;\n";
+        print "epicsShareExtern $varType{$var} *p$var;\n";
     }
+    %iocshTypes = (
+        'int' => 'iocshArgInt',
+        'double' => 'iocshArgDouble'
+    );
     print "static struct iocshVarDef vardefs[] = {\n";
     foreach $var (@variables) {
-        print "\t{\"$var\", iocshArgInt, (void *)p$var},\n";
+        $argType = $iocshTypes{$varType{$var}};
+        die "Unknown variable type $varType{$var} for variable $var"
+            unless $argType;
+        print "\t{\"$var\", $argType, (void *)p$var},\n";
     }
     print "\t{NULL, iocshArgInt, NULL}\n};\n\n";
 }