diff --git a/Doc/tools/rewrite.py b/Doc/tools/rewrite.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e822bf5bd2d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Doc/tools/rewrite.py
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+"""Simple script to replace @DATE@ and friends with real information.
+
+Usage:  rewrite.py boilerplate.tex [VAR=value] ... <template >output
+"""
+
+import string
+import sys
+import time
+
+
+def get_info(fp):
+    s = fp.read()
+
+    d = {}
+    start = string.find(s, r"\date{")
+    if start >= 0:
+        end = string.find(s, "}", start)
+        date = s[start+6:end]
+        if date == r"\today":
+            date = time.strftime("%B %d, %Y", time.localtime(time.time()))
+        d["DATE"] = date
+    return d
+    
+
+def main():
+    s = sys.stdin.read()
+    if "@" in s:
+        # yes, we actully need to load the replacement values
+        d = get_info(open(sys.argv[1]))
+        for arg in sys.argv[2:]:
+            name, value = string.split(arg, "=", 1)
+            d[name] = value
+        start = 0
+        while 1:
+            start = string.find(s, "@", start)
+            if start < 0:
+                break
+            end = string.find(s, "@", start+1)
+            name = s[start+1:end]
+            if name:
+                value = d.get(name)
+                if value is None:
+                    start = end + 1
+                else:
+                    s = s[:start] + value + s[end+1:]
+                    start = start + len(value)
+            else:
+                # "@@" --> "@"
+                s = s[:start] + s[end:]
+                start = end
+    sys.stdout.write(s)
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()