diff --git a/Tests/Dictionaries/DictionaryTest.cs b/Tests/Dictionaries/DictionaryTest.cs
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..5421666
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Tests/Dictionaries/DictionaryTest.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+/* Class1.cs
+ * part of zaaReloaded2
+ * 
+ * Copyright 2015 Daniel Kraus
+ * 
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ * 
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ * 
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+using System;
+using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.Linq;
+using System.Text;
+using NUnit.Framework;
+
+namespace Tests.Dictionaries
+{
+    [TestFixture]
+    class DictionaryTest
+    {
+        [Test]
+        public void DictionaryFromContentStream()
+        {
+            TestDictionary td = new TestDictionary();
+            Assert.IsTrue(td.Records.ContainsKey("Field 1"));
+            Assert.AreEqual("Field 2", td.Records["Field 1"][1]);
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/Tests/Dictionaries/TestDictionary.cs b/Tests/Dictionaries/TestDictionary.cs
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..3bd7735
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Tests/Dictionaries/TestDictionary.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+/* TestDictionary.cs
+ * {{
+ * part of zaaReloaded2
+ * 
+ * Copyright 2015 Daniel Kraus
+ * 
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ * 
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ * 
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+using System;
+using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.Linq;
+using System.Reflection;
+using System.Text;
+
+namespace Tests.Dictionaries
+{
+    class TestDictionary : zaaReloaded2.Dictionaries.DictionaryBase
+    {
+        protected override System.IO.Stream GetDefaultStream()
+        {
+            return Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetManifestResourceStream("Tests.Dictionaries.test_dictionary.txt");
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/Tests/Dictionaries/test_dictionary.txt b/Tests/Dictionaries/test_dictionary.txt
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..4d28483
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Tests/Dictionaries/test_dictionary.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+# This is a test file to test dictionaries
+"Field 1"   "Field 2"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/Tests/Tests.csproj b/Tests/Tests.csproj
index 497a060..4f90ff6 100755
--- a/Tests/Tests.csproj
+++ b/Tests/Tests.csproj
@@ -57,9 +57,11 @@
     </Otherwise>
   </Choose>
   <ItemGroup>
+    <Compile Include="Dictionaries\DictionaryTest.cs" />
     <Compile Include="LabItemTest.cs" />
     <Compile Include="Properties\AssemblyInfo.cs" />
     <Compile Include="LineParserTest.cs" />
+    <Compile Include="Dictionaries\TestDictionary.cs" />
   </ItemGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
     <None Include="packages.config" />
@@ -71,6 +73,9 @@
       <Name>zaaReloaded2</Name>
     </ProjectReference>
   </ItemGroup>
+  <ItemGroup>
+    <EmbeddedResource Include="Dictionaries\test_dictionary.txt" />
+  </ItemGroup>
   <Choose>
     <When Condition="'$(VisualStudioVersion)' == '10.0' And '$(IsCodedUITest)' == 'True'">
       <ItemGroup>
diff --git a/zaaReloaded2/Dictionaries/DictionaryBase.cs b/zaaReloaded2/Dictionaries/DictionaryBase.cs
index 88aeabd..40a3643 100755
--- a/zaaReloaded2/Dictionaries/DictionaryBase.cs
+++ b/zaaReloaded2/Dictionaries/DictionaryBase.cs
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
  */
 using System;
 using System.Collections.Generic;
+using System.IO;
 using System.Linq;
 using System.Text;
 
@@ -27,7 +28,87 @@ namespace zaaReloaded2.Dictionaries
     /// and the <see cref="UnitDictionary"/>; implements methods
     /// to read configuration files.
     /// </summary>
-    abstract class DictionaryBase
+    public abstract class DictionaryBase
     {
+        #region Public properties
+
+        public SortedDictionary<string, string[]> Records { get; protected set; }
+
+        #endregion
+
+        #region Constructor
+
+        public DictionaryBase()
+        {
+            Records = new SortedDictionary<string, string[]>();
+            LoadDefaultValues();
+        }
+
+        #endregion
+
+        #region Abstract methods
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Returns a content stream with a default configuration file.
+        /// </summary>
+        abstract protected Stream GetDefaultStream();
+
+        #endregion
+
+        #region Protected methods
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Reads a text file from a TextReader and fills the dictionary
+        /// with the data.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <param name="s">TextReader that provides a text file.</param>
+        protected void ReadFile(TextReader text)
+        {
+            LineParser lp = new LineParser();
+            string line;
+            string key;
+            while ((line = text.ReadLine()) != null)
+            {
+                lp.Line = line;
+                if (lp.HasFields)
+                {
+                    key = lp.Fields[0];
+                    if (Records.ContainsKey(key))
+                    {
+                        Records[key] = lp.Fields;
+                    }
+                    else
+                    {
+                        Records.Add(key, lp.Fields);
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Reads a text file from a stream and fills the dictionary
+        /// with the data.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <param name="s">TextReader that provides a text file.</param>
+        protected void ReadFile(Stream stream)
+        {
+            StreamReader sr = new StreamReader(stream);
+            ReadFile(sr);
+        }
+
+        #endregion
+
+        #region Private methods
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Loads default dictionary values from a text file that is built
+        /// into the assembly as an embbedded resource.
+        /// </summary>
+        private void LoadDefaultValues()
+        {
+            ReadFile(GetDefaultStream());
+        }
+
+        #endregion
     }
 }
diff --git a/zaaReloaded2/Dictionaries/ParameterDictionary.cs b/zaaReloaded2/Dictionaries/ParameterDictionary.cs
index 4a13252..6c0c3d2 100755
--- a/zaaReloaded2/Dictionaries/ParameterDictionary.cs
+++ b/zaaReloaded2/Dictionaries/ParameterDictionary.cs
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 using System;
 using System.Collections.Generic;
 using System.Linq;
+using System.Reflection;
 using System.Text;
 
 namespace zaaReloaded2.Dictionaries
@@ -29,5 +30,9 @@ namespace zaaReloaded2.Dictionaries
     /// </summary>
     class ParameterDictionary : DictionaryBase
     {
+        protected override System.IO.Stream GetDefaultStream()
+        {
+            return Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetManifestResourceStream("");
+        }
     }
 }
diff --git a/zaaReloaded2/Dictionaries/UnitDictionary.cs b/zaaReloaded2/Dictionaries/UnitDictionary.cs
index 2257eee..e0225e9 100755
--- a/zaaReloaded2/Dictionaries/UnitDictionary.cs
+++ b/zaaReloaded2/Dictionaries/UnitDictionary.cs
@@ -28,5 +28,9 @@ namespace zaaReloaded2.Dictionaries
     /// </summary>
     class UnitDictionary : DictionaryBase
     {
+        protected override System.IO.Stream GetDefaultStream()
+        {
+            throw new NotImplementedException();
+        }
     }
 }