diff --git a/src/java/org/apache/poi/util/HexRead.java b/src/java/org/apache/poi/util/HexRead.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c1bda6f61
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/java/org/apache/poi/util/HexRead.java
@@ -0,0 +1,116 @@
+package org.apache.poi.util;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.File;
+import java.io.FileInputStream;
+import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+
+public class HexRead
+{
+    public static byte[] readTestData( String filename )
+            throws IOException
+    {
+        File file = new File( filename );
+        FileInputStream stream = new FileInputStream( file );
+        int characterCount = 0;
+        byte b = (byte) 0;
+        List bytes = new ArrayList();
+        boolean done = false;
+
+        while ( !done )
+        {
+            int count = stream.read();
+
+            switch ( count )
+            {
+
+                case '#':
+                    readToEOL(stream);
+                    break;
+                case '0':
+                case '1':
+                case '2':
+                case '3':
+                case '4':
+                case '5':
+                case '6':
+                case '7':
+                case '8':
+                case '9':
+                    b <<= 4;
+                    b += (byte) ( count - '0' );
+                    characterCount++;
+                    if ( characterCount == 2 )
+                    {
+                        bytes.add( new Byte( b ) );
+                        characterCount = 0;
+                        b = (byte) 0;
+                    }
+                    break;
+
+                case 'A':
+                case 'B':
+                case 'C':
+                case 'D':
+                case 'E':
+                case 'F':
+                    b <<= 4;
+                    b += (byte) ( count + 10 - 'A' );
+                    characterCount++;
+                    if ( characterCount == 2 )
+                    {
+                        bytes.add( new Byte( b ) );
+                        characterCount = 0;
+                        b = (byte) 0;
+                    }
+                    break;
+
+                case 'a':
+                case 'b':
+                case 'c':
+                case 'd':
+                case 'e':
+                case 'f':
+                    b <<= 4;
+                    b += (byte) ( count + 10 - 'a' );
+                    characterCount++;
+                    if ( characterCount == 2 )
+                    {
+                        bytes.add( new Byte( b ) );
+                        characterCount = 0;
+                        b = (byte) 0;
+                    }
+                    break;
+
+                case -1:
+                    done = true;
+                    break;
+
+                default :
+                    break;
+            }
+        }
+        stream.close();
+        Byte[] polished = (Byte[]) bytes.toArray( new Byte[0] );
+        byte[] rval = new byte[polished.length];
+
+        for ( int j = 0; j < polished.length; j++ )
+        {
+            rval[j] = polished[j].byteValue();
+        }
+        return rval;
+    }
+
+    static private void readToEOL( InputStream stream ) throws IOException
+    {
+        int c = stream.read();
+        while ( c != -1 && c != '\n' && c != '\r')
+        {
+            c = stream.read();
+        }
+    }
+
+
+}