diff --git a/girepository/src/compiler.c b/girepository/src/compiler.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c985d05b6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/girepository/src/compiler.c
@@ -0,0 +1,214 @@
+/* GObject introspection: Metadata compiler
+ *
+ * Copyright (C) 2005 Matthias Clasen
+ *
+ * This library 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 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This library 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 this library; if not, write to the
+ * Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330,
+ * Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
+ */
+
+#include <fcntl.h>
+#include <sys/stat.h>
+#include <errno.h>
+
+#include <glib.h>
+#include <glib/gstdio.h>
+
+#include "gidlmodule.h"
+#include "gidlnode.h"
+#include "gidlparser.h"
+
+gboolean raw = FALSE;
+gboolean no_init = FALSE;
+gchar **input = NULL;
+gchar *output = NULL;
+gchar *mname = NULL;
+
+static gchar *
+format_output (guchar *metadata,
+	       gsize   len)
+{
+  GString *result;
+  gint i;
+
+  result = g_string_sized_new (6 * len);
+
+  g_string_append_printf (result, "const unsigned char _G_METADATA[] = \n{");
+
+  for (i = 0; i < len; i++)
+    {
+      if (i > 0)
+	g_string_append (result, ", ");
+
+      if (i % 10 == 0)
+	g_string_append (result, "\n\t");
+      
+      g_string_append_printf (result, "0x%.2x", metadata[i]);      
+    }
+
+  g_string_append_printf (result, "\n};\n\n");
+
+  if (!no_init)
+    {
+      g_string_append_printf (result,
+			      "void\n"
+			      "register_metadata (void) __attribute__((constructor))\n"
+			      "{\n"
+			      "\tg_irepository_register (NULL, _G_METADATA);\n"
+			      "}\n\n");
+
+      g_string_append_printf (result,
+			      "void\n"
+			      "unregister_metadata (void) __attribute__((destructor))\n"
+			      "{\n"
+			      "\tg_irepository_unregister (NULL, _G_METADATA);\n"
+			      "}\n");
+    }
+
+  return g_string_free (result, FALSE);
+}
+
+static void
+write_out_metadata (gchar *prefix,
+		    gchar *metadata,
+		    gsize  len)
+{
+  FILE *file;
+
+  if (output == NULL)
+    file = stdout;
+  else
+    {
+      gchar *filename;
+
+      if (prefix)
+	filename = g_strdup_printf ("%s-%s", prefix, output);  
+      else
+	filename = g_strdup (output);
+      file = g_fopen (filename, "w");
+
+      if (file == NULL)
+	{
+	  g_fprintf (stderr, "failed to open '%s': %s\n",
+		     filename, g_strerror (errno));
+	  g_free (filename);
+
+	  return;
+	}
+
+      g_free (filename);
+    }
+
+  if (raw)
+    fwrite (metadata, 1, len, file);
+  else
+    {
+      gchar *code;
+
+      code = format_output (metadata, len);
+      fputs (code, file);
+      g_free (code);
+    }
+
+  if (output != NULL)
+    fclose (file);    
+}
+
+static GOptionEntry options[] = 
+{
+  { "raw", 0, 0, G_OPTION_ARG_NONE, &raw, "emit raw metadata", NULL },
+  { "code", 0, G_OPTION_FLAG_REVERSE, G_OPTION_ARG_NONE, &raw, "emit C code", NULL },
+  { "no-init", 0, 0, G_OPTION_ARG_NONE, &no_init, "do not create _init() function", NULL },
+  { "output", 'o', 0, G_OPTION_ARG_FILENAME, &output, "output file", "FILE" }, 
+  { "module", 'm', 0, G_OPTION_ARG_STRING, &mname, "module to compile", "NAME" }, 
+  { G_OPTION_REMAINING, 0, 0, G_OPTION_ARG_FILENAME_ARRAY, &input, NULL, NULL },
+  { NULL, }
+};
+
+int
+main (int argc, char ** argv)
+{
+  GOptionContext *context;
+  GError *error = NULL;
+  GList *m, *modules; 
+  gint i;
+
+  g_metadata_check_sanity ();
+
+  context = g_option_context_new ("");
+  g_option_context_add_main_entries (context, options, NULL);
+  g_option_context_parse (context, &argc, &argv, &error);
+
+  if (!input) 
+    { 
+      g_fprintf (stderr, "no input files\n"); 
+
+      return 1;
+    }
+
+  modules = NULL;
+  for (i = 0; input[i]; i++)
+    {
+      GList *mods;
+      mods = g_idl_parse_file (input[i], &error);
+      
+      if (mods == NULL) 
+	{
+	  g_fprintf (stderr, "error parsing file %s: %s\n", 
+		     input[i], error->message);
+      
+	  return 1;
+	}
+
+      modules = g_list_concat (modules, mods);
+    }
+
+  for (m = modules; m; m = m->next)
+    {
+      GIdlModule *module = m->data;
+      gchar *prefix;
+      guchar *metadata;
+      gsize len;
+
+      if (mname && strcmp (mname, module->name) != 0)
+	continue;
+
+      g_idl_module_build_metadata (module, modules, &metadata, &len);
+      if (metadata == NULL)
+	{
+	  g_error ("failed to build metadata for module '%s'\n", module->name);
+
+	  continue;
+	}
+
+      if (!mname && (m->next || m->prev) && output)
+	prefix = module->name;
+      else
+	prefix = NULL;
+
+      write_out_metadata (prefix, metadata, len);
+      g_free (metadata);
+      metadata = NULL;
+
+      /* when writing to stdout, stop after the first module */
+      if (m->next && !output && !mname)
+	{
+	  g_warning ("%d modules omitted\n", g_list_length (modules) - 1);
+
+	  break;
+	}
+    }
+             
+  return 0; 
+}