diff --git a/src/dbStatic/dbBase.h b/src/dbStatic/dbBase.h
index ec7ff8425..87ff3b85a 100644
--- a/src/dbStatic/dbBase.h
+++ b/src/dbStatic/dbBase.h
@@ -145,6 +145,7 @@ typedef struct dbBase {
 	ELLLIST		recordTypeList;
 	ELLLIST		drvList;
 	ELLLIST		registrarList;
+        ELLLIST         variableList;
 	ELLLIST		bptList;	/*Break Point Table Head*/
 	void		*pathPvt;
 	void		*ppvd;      /* pointer to process variable directory*/
diff --git a/src/dbStatic/dbExpand.c b/src/dbStatic/dbExpand.c
index 6ae3c6c6b..02cb448cd 100644
--- a/src/dbStatic/dbExpand.c
+++ b/src/dbStatic/dbExpand.c
@@ -91,6 +91,7 @@ int main(int argc,char **argv)
     dbWriteDeviceFP(pdbbase,stdout);
     dbWriteDriverFP(pdbbase,stdout);
     dbWriteRegistrarFP(pdbbase,stdout);
+    dbWriteVariableFP(pdbbase,stdout);
     dbWriteBreaktableFP(pdbbase,stdout);
     dbWriteRecordFP(pdbbase,stdout,0,0);
     free((void *)path);
diff --git a/src/dbStatic/dbLex.l b/src/dbStatic/dbLex.l
index dc6b2caf6..be679a7fe 100644
--- a/src/dbStatic/dbLex.l
+++ b/src/dbStatic/dbLex.l
@@ -31,7 +31,8 @@ static int yyreset(void)
 "record"	return(tokenRECORD);
 "grecord"	return(tokenGRECORD);
 "info"		return(tokenINFO);
-"registrar"		return(tokenREGISTRAR);
+"registrar"	return(tokenREGISTRAR);
+"variable"      return(tokenVARIABLE);
 
 [0-9]+ { /*integer number*/
 	yylval.Str = (char *)dbmfMalloc(strlen(yytext)+1);
diff --git a/src/dbStatic/dbLexRoutines.c b/src/dbStatic/dbLexRoutines.c
index 51ea35c13..a412d59f9 100644
--- a/src/dbStatic/dbLexRoutines.c
+++ b/src/dbStatic/dbLexRoutines.c
@@ -64,6 +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 dbBreakHead(char *name);
 static void dbBreakItem(char *value);
@@ -757,6 +758,25 @@ static void dbRegistrar(char *name)
     ellAdd(&pdbbase->registrarList,&ptext->node);
 }
 
+static void dbVariable(char *name)
+{
+    dbText	*ptext;
+    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);
+    if(!pgphentry) {
+	yyerrorAbort("gphAdd failed");
+    } 
+    pgphentry->userPvt = ptext;
+    ellAdd(&pdbbase->variableList,&ptext->node);
+}
+
 static void dbBreakHead(char *name)
 {
     brkTable	*pbrkTable;
diff --git a/src/dbStatic/dbStaticLib.c b/src/dbStatic/dbStaticLib.c
index fd0b35a54..ea630795f 100644
--- a/src/dbStatic/dbStaticLib.c
+++ b/src/dbStatic/dbStaticLib.c
@@ -546,6 +546,7 @@ dbBase * epicsShareAPI dbAllocBase(void)
     ellInit(&pdbbase->recordTypeList);
     ellInit(&pdbbase->drvList);
     ellInit(&pdbbase->registrarList);
+    ellInit(&pdbbase->variableList);
     ellInit(&pdbbase->bptList);
     gphInitPvt(&pdbbase->pgpHash,256);
     dbPvdInitPvt(pdbbase);
@@ -673,6 +674,14 @@ 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;
+    }
     pbrkTable = (brkTable *)ellFirst(&pdbbase->bptList);
     while(pbrkTable) {
 	pbrkTableNext = (brkTable *)ellNext(&pbrkTable->node);
@@ -1163,6 +1172,21 @@ long epicsShareAPI dbWriteRegistrarFP(DBBASE *pdbbase,FILE *fp)
     }
     return(0);
 }
+
+long epicsShareAPI dbWriteVariableFP(DBBASE *pdbbase,FILE *fp)
+{
+    dbText	*ptext;
+
+    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);
+    }
+    return(0);
+}
 
 long epicsShareAPI dbWriteBreaktable(DBBASE *pdbbase,const char *filename)
 {
@@ -3778,6 +3802,15 @@ void  epicsShareAPI dbDumpRegistrar(DBBASE *pdbbase)
     dbWriteRegistrarFP(pdbbase,stdout);
 }
 
+void  epicsShareAPI dbDumpVariable(DBBASE *pdbbase)
+{
+    if(!pdbbase) {
+	printf("pdbbase not specified\n");
+	return;
+    }
+    dbWriteVariableFP(pdbbase,stdout);
+}
+
 void  epicsShareAPI dbDumpBreaktable(DBBASE *pdbbase,const char *name)
 {
     brkTable	*pbrkTable;
diff --git a/src/dbStatic/dbStaticLib.h b/src/dbStatic/dbStaticLib.h
index 0f1163dbf..1a753774c 100644
--- a/src/dbStatic/dbStaticLib.h
+++ b/src/dbStatic/dbStaticLib.h
@@ -100,6 +100,7 @@ epicsShareFunc long epicsShareAPI dbWriteDriver(
     DBBASE *pdbbase,const char *filename);
 epicsShareFunc long epicsShareAPI dbWriteDriverFP(DBBASE *pdbbase,FILE *fp);
 epicsShareFunc long epicsShareAPI dbWriteRegistrarFP(DBBASE *pdbbase,FILE *fp);
+epicsShareFunc long epicsShareAPI dbWriteVariableFP(DBBASE *pdbbase,FILE *fp);
 epicsShareFunc long epicsShareAPI dbWriteBreaktable(
     DBBASE *pdbbase,const char *filename);
 epicsShareFunc long epicsShareAPI dbWriteBreaktableFP(DBBASE *pdbbase,FILE *fp);
@@ -215,6 +216,7 @@ epicsShareFunc void epicsShareAPI dbDumpDevice(
     DBBASE *pdbbase,const char *recordTypeName);
 epicsShareFunc void epicsShareAPI dbDumpDriver(DBBASE *pdbbase);
 epicsShareFunc void epicsShareAPI dbDumpRegistrar(DBBASE *pdbbase);
+epicsShareFunc void epicsShareAPI dbDumpVariable(DBBASE *pdbbase);
 epicsShareFunc void epicsShareAPI dbDumpBreaktable(
     DBBASE *pdbbase,const char *name);
 epicsShareFunc void epicsShareAPI dbPvdDump(DBBASE *pdbbase,int verbose);
diff --git a/src/dbStatic/dbYacc.y b/src/dbStatic/dbYacc.y
index 783ac66c9..1f8b08db3 100644
--- a/src/dbStatic/dbYacc.y
+++ b/src/dbStatic/dbYacc.y
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ static int yyAbort = 0;
 %token tokenMENU tokenCHOICE tokenRECORDTYPE
 %token tokenFIELD tokenINFO tokenREGISTRAR
 %token tokenDEVICE tokenDRIVER tokenBREAKTABLE
-%token tokenRECORD tokenGRECORD
+%token tokenRECORD tokenGRECORD tokenVARIABLE
 %token <Str> tokenSTRING tokenCDEFS
 
 %union
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ database_item:	include
 	|	device
 	|	driver
 	|	registrar
+        |       variable
 	|	tokenBREAKTABLE	break_head break_body
 	|	tokenRECORD record_head record_body
 	|	tokenGRECORD grecord_head record_body
@@ -146,6 +147,12 @@ registrar: tokenREGISTRAR '(' tokenSTRING ')'
 	dbRegistrar($3); dbmfFree($3);
 };
 
+variable: tokenVARIABLE '(' tokenSTRING ')'
+{
+	if(dbStaticDebug>2) printf("variable %s\n",$3);
+	dbVariable($3); dbmfFree($3);
+};
+
 break_head: '(' tokenSTRING ')'
 {
 	if(dbStaticDebug>2) printf("break_head %s\n",$2);