diff --git a/include/proto/arg.h b/include/proto/arg.h
new file mode 100644
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--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/proto/arg.h
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+/*
+ * include/proto/arg.h
+ * This file contains functions and macros declarations for generic argument parsing.
+ *
+ * Copyright 2012 Willy Tarreau <w@1wt.eu>
+ *
+ * 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, version 2.1
+ * exclusively.
+ *
+ * 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., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA
+ */
+
+#ifndef _PROTO_ARG_H
+#define _PROTO_ARG_H
+
+#include <types/arg.h>
+
+/* Some macros used to build some arg list. We can declare various argument
+ * combinations from 0 to 7 args using a single 32-bit integer. The first
+ * argument of these macros is always the mandatory number of arguments, and
+ * remaining ones are optional args. Note: ARGM() may also be used to return
+ * the number of mandatory arguments in a mask.
+ */
+#define ARGM(m) \
+	(m & 15)
+
+#define ARG1(m, t1) \
+	(ARGM(m) + (ARGT_##t1 << 4))
+
+#define ARG2(m, t1, t2) \
+	(ARG1(m, t1) + (ARGT_##t2 << 8))
+
+#define ARG3(m, t1, t2, t3) \
+	(ARG2(m, t1, t2) + (ARGT_##t3 << 12))
+
+#define ARG4(m, t1, t2, t3, t4) \
+	(ARG3(m, t1, t2, t3) + (ARGT_##t4 << 16))
+
+#define ARG5(m, t1, t2, t3, t4, t5) \
+	(ARG4(m, t1, t2, t3, t4) + (ARGT_##t5 << 20))
+
+#define ARG6(m, t1, t2, t3, t4, t5, t6) \
+	(ARG5(m, t1, t2, t3, t4, t5) + (ARGT_##t6 << 24))
+
+#define ARG7(m, t1, t2, t3, t4, t5, t6, t7) \
+	(ARG6(m, t1, t2, t3, t4, t5, t6) + (ARGT_##t7 << 28))
+
+int make_arg_list(const char *in, int len, unsigned int mask, struct arg **argp,
+		  char **err_msg, const char **err_ptr, int *err_arg);
+
+#endif /* _PROTO_ARG_H */
+
+/*
+ * Local variables:
+ *  c-indent-level: 8
+ *  c-basic-offset: 8
+ * End:
+ */