diff --git a/ddcli/DDGetoptLongParser.h b/ddcli/DDGetoptLongParser.h
index d61e4074..a0c09a6e 100644
--- a/ddcli/DDGetoptLongParser.h
+++ b/ddcli/DDGetoptLongParser.h
@@ -42,6 +42,8 @@ typedef enum DDGetoptArgumentOptions
     DDGetoptOptionalArgument = optional_argument,
     /** Option takes a mandatory argument */
     DDGetoptRequiredArgument = required_argument,
+    /** Option takes a key-value pair argument */
+    DDGetoptKeyValueArgument,
 } DDGetoptArgumentOptions;
 
 /**
diff --git a/ddcli/DDGetoptLongParser.m b/ddcli/DDGetoptLongParser.m
index a383def1..de3962bc 100644
--- a/ddcli/DDGetoptLongParser.m
+++ b/ddcli/DDGetoptLongParser.m
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ - (void) addLongOption: (NSString *) longOption
     
     struct option * option = [self currentOption];
     option->name = utf8String;
-    option->has_arg = argumentOptions;
+    option->has_arg = argumentOptions == DDGetoptKeyValueArgument ? DDGetoptRequiredArgument : argumentOptions;
     option->flag = NULL;
 
     int shortOptionValue;
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ - (void) addLongOption: (NSString *) longOption
     {
         shortOptionValue = shortOption;
         option->val = shortOption;
-        if (argumentOptions == DDGetoptRequiredArgument)
+        if (argumentOptions == DDGetoptRequiredArgument || argumentOptions == DDGetoptKeyValueArgument)
             [mOptionString appendFormat: @"%c:", shortOption];
         else if (argumentOptions == DDGetoptOptionalArgument)
             [mOptionString appendFormat: @"%c::", shortOption];
@@ -220,6 +220,36 @@ - (NSArray *) parseOptionsWithArguments: (NSArray *) arguments
             int argumentOptions = [[optionInfo objectAtIndex: 1] intValue];
             if (argumentOptions == DDGetoptNoArgument)
                 [mTarget setValue: [NSNumber numberWithBool: YES] forKey: key];
+            else if (argumentOptions == DDGetoptKeyValueArgument)
+            {
+                // Split the arguement on the '=' sign
+                NSArray *pair = [nsoptarg componentsSeparatedByString:@"="];
+                // Build a keypath from the argument and the new key
+                NSString *keypath = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@.%@", key, [pair objectAtIndex:0]];
+                
+                // If it is a number or a boolean, we'll parse that out
+                NSString *value = [pair objectAtIndex:1];
+                id parsedValue = value;
+                // Looks like a boolean?
+                if ([value isCaseInsensitiveLike:@"true"] || [value isCaseInsensitiveLike:@"false"])
+                {
+                    parsedValue = [NSNumber numberWithBool:[value boolValue]];
+                }
+                else
+                {
+                    // Looks like a number?
+                    NSNumberFormatter *formatter = [[NSNumberFormatter alloc] init];
+                    [formatter setAllowsFloats:YES];
+                    NSNumber *numberValue = [formatter numberFromString:value];
+                    if (numberValue)
+                    {
+                        parsedValue = numberValue;
+                    }
+                    [formatter release];
+                }
+                
+                [mTarget setValue:parsedValue forKeyPath:keypath];
+            }
             else
                 [mTarget setValue: nsoptarg forKey: key];
         }
diff --git a/mogenerator.h b/mogenerator.h
index 0cf4da60..06046a3a 100644
--- a/mogenerator.h
+++ b/mogenerator.h
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@
 	BOOL					_version;
 	BOOL					_listSourceFiles;
     BOOL					_orphaned;
+    NSMutableDictionary     *templateVar;
 }
 
 - (NSString*)appSupportFileNamed:(NSString*)fileName_;
diff --git a/mogenerator.m b/mogenerator.m
index 2dff83a8..379e41fc 100644
--- a/mogenerator.m
+++ b/mogenerator.m
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 #import "mogenerator.h"
 #import "RegexKitLite.h"
 
+static NSString *kTemplateVar = @"TemplateVar";
 NSString	*gCustomBaseClass;
 
 @interface NSEntityDescription (fetchedPropertiesAdditions)
@@ -284,6 +285,19 @@ - (NSString*)camelCaseString {
 
 @implementation MOGeneratorApp
 
+- (id)init {
+    self = [super init];
+    if (self) {
+        templateVar = [[NSMutableDictionary alloc] init];
+    }
+    return self;
+}
+
+- (void)dealloc {
+    [templateVar release];
+    [super dealloc];
+}
+
 NSString *ApplicationSupportSubdirectoryName = @"mogenerator";
 - (NSString*)appSupportFileNamed:(NSString*)fileName_ {
 	NSFileManager *fileManager = [NSFileManager defaultManager];
@@ -343,6 +357,7 @@ - (void) application: (DDCliApplication *) app
 
     {@"help",				'h',    DDGetoptNoArgument},
     {@"version",			0,      DDGetoptNoArgument},
+	{@"template-var",		0,      DDGetoptKeyValueArgument},
     {nil,					0,      0},
     };
     [optionsParser addOptionsFromTable: optionTable];
@@ -358,6 +373,7 @@ - (void) printUsage;
            "      --includeh FILE           Generate aggregate include file for .h files for human generated source files only\n"
            "      --template-path PATH      Path to templates (absolute or relative to model path)\n"
            "      --template-group NAME     Name of template group\n"
+		   "      --template-var KEY=VALUE  A key-value pair to pass to the template file. There can be many of these.\n"
            "  -O, --output-dir DIR          Output directory\n"
            "  -M, --machine-dir DIR         Output directory for machine files\n"
            "  -H, --human-dir DIR           Output directory for human files\n"
@@ -582,6 +598,12 @@ - (int) application: (DDCliApplication *) app
 		MiscMergeEngine *humanM = engineWithTemplatePath([self appSupportFileNamed:@"human.m.motemplate"]);
 		assert(humanM);
 		
+		// Add the template var dictionary to each of the merge engines
+		[machineH setEngineValue:templateVar forKey:kTemplateVar];
+		[machineM setEngineValue:templateVar forKey:kTemplateVar];
+		[humanH setEngineValue:templateVar forKey:kTemplateVar];
+		[humanM setEngineValue:templateVar forKey:kTemplateVar];
+		
 		NSMutableArray	*humanMFiles = [NSMutableArray array],
 						*humanHFiles = [NSMutableArray array],
 						*machineMFiles = [NSMutableArray array],
diff --git a/templates/machine.h.motemplate b/templates/machine.h.motemplate
index b3d55db2..779ad084 100644
--- a/templates/machine.h.motemplate
+++ b/templates/machine.h.motemplate
@@ -19,7 +19,11 @@
 
 <$foreach Attribute noninheritedAttributes do$>
 <$if Attribute.hasDefinedAttributeType$>
+<$if TemplateVar.arc$>
+@property (nonatomic, strong) <$Attribute.objectAttributeType$> *<$Attribute.name$>;
+<$else$>
 @property (nonatomic, retain) <$Attribute.objectAttributeType$> *<$Attribute.name$>;
+<$endif$>
 <$if Attribute.hasScalarAttributeType$>
 @property <$Attribute.scalarAttributeType$> <$Attribute.name$>Value;
 - (<$Attribute.scalarAttributeType$>)<$Attribute.name$>Value;
@@ -30,10 +34,18 @@
 <$endforeach do$>
 <$foreach Relationship noninheritedRelationships do$>
 <$if Relationship.isToMany$>
+<$if TemplateVar.arc$>
+@property (nonatomic, strong) NSSet* <$Relationship.name$>;
+<$else$>
 @property (nonatomic, retain) NSSet* <$Relationship.name$>;
+<$endif$>
 - (NSMutableSet*)<$Relationship.name$>Set;
 <$else$>
+<$if TemplateVar.arc$>
+@property (nonatomic, strong) <$Relationship.destinationEntity.managedObjectClassName$>* <$Relationship.name$>;
+<$else$>
 @property (nonatomic, retain) <$Relationship.destinationEntity.managedObjectClassName$>* <$Relationship.name$>;
+<$endif$>
 //- (BOOL)validate<$Relationship.name.initialCapitalString$>:(id*)value_ error:(NSError**)error_;
 <$endif$>
 <$endforeach do$>