diff --git a/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/playground/samples/SampleXmlMarshaller.java b/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/playground/samples/SampleXmlMarshaller.java
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..dfd4b0a3c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/java/src/org/broadinstitute/sting/playground/samples/SampleXmlMarshaller.java
@@ -0,0 +1,113 @@
+package org.broadinstitute.sting.playground.samples;
+
+import org.exolab.castor.xml.*;
+import org.apache.log4j.BasicConfigurator;
+
+import java.io.FileWriter;
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.FileReader;
+import java.io.FileNotFoundException;
+
+/**
+ * Created by IntelliJ IDEA.
+ * User: hanna
+ * Date: Apr 7, 2009
+ * Time: 2:16:43 PM
+ * To change this template use File | Settings | File Templates.
+ */
+public class SampleXmlMarshaller {
+    public enum RMDType { HapMap };
+
+    private RMDType type;
+    private String fileVersion;
+    private String fileName;
+
+    public SampleXmlMarshaller() {
+    }
+
+    public SampleXmlMarshaller( RMDType type, String fileName, String fileVersion ) {
+        setType( type );
+        setFileName( fileName );
+        setFileVersion( fileVersion );
+    }
+
+    public RMDType getType() {
+        return type;
+    }
+
+    public void setType( RMDType type ) {
+        this.type = type;
+    }
+
+    public String getFileVersion() {
+        return fileVersion;
+    }
+
+    public void setFileVersion( String fileVersion ) {
+        this.fileVersion = fileVersion;
+    }
+
+    public String getFileName() {
+        return fileName;
+    }
+
+    public void setFileName( String fileName ) {
+        this.fileName = fileName;
+    }
+
+    public String toString() {
+        return String.format("Type = %s, Name = %s, Version = %s%n", type, fileName, fileVersion );
+    }
+
+    public static void main( String argv[] ) {
+        if( argv.length == 0 || (!argv[0].equalsIgnoreCase("marshal") && !argv[0].equalsIgnoreCase("unmarshal")) ) {
+            System.out.println( "USAGE: java org.broadinstitute.sting.playground.samples.SampleXmlMarshaller {marshal | unmarshal}");
+            System.exit(-1);
+        }
+
+        BasicConfigurator.configure();
+
+        if( argv[0].equalsIgnoreCase("marshal") )
+            marshal();
+        else if( argv[0].equalsIgnoreCase("unmarshal") )
+            unmarshal();
+    }
+
+    public static void marshal() {
+        SampleXmlMarshaller descriptor = new SampleXmlMarshaller( RMDType.HapMap, "foo.hapmap", "1.0" );
+        System.out.printf( "Marshalling descriptor = %s%n", descriptor );
+        try {
+            FileWriter writer = new FileWriter( "foo.xml" );
+            Marshaller.marshal( descriptor, writer );
+        }
+        catch( IOException ex ) {
+            System.out.println("Unable to open writer:" + ex);
+        }
+        catch( MarshalException ex ) {
+            System.out.println("Unable to marshal data:" + ex);
+        }
+        catch( ValidationException ex ) {
+            System.out.println("Unable to validate data: " + ex);
+        }
+    }
+
+    public static void unmarshal() {
+        SampleXmlMarshaller descriptor = null;
+        try {
+            FileReader reader = new FileReader( "foo.xml" );
+            descriptor = (SampleXmlMarshaller)Unmarshaller.unmarshal( SampleXmlMarshaller.class, reader );
+        }
+        catch( FileNotFoundException ex ) {
+            System.out.println("Unable to open reader:" + ex);
+        }
+        catch( MarshalException ex ) {
+            System.out.println("Unable to unmarshal data:" + ex);
+        }
+        catch( ValidationException ex ) {
+            System.out.println("Unable to validate data: " + ex);
+        }
+
+        System.out.printf( "Unmarshalled descriptor = %s%n", descriptor );
+
+    }
+}