diff --git a/virtualsmartcard/src/vpicc/virtualsmartcard/CardGenerator.py b/virtualsmartcard/src/vpicc/virtualsmartcard/CardGenerator.py
index b810af5..2487b96 100644
--- a/virtualsmartcard/src/vpicc/virtualsmartcard/CardGenerator.py
+++ b/virtualsmartcard/src/vpicc/virtualsmartcard/CardGenerator.py
@@ -424,6 +424,18 @@ class CardGenerator(object):
         finally:
             db.close()
 
+    def readDatagroups(self, datasetfile):
+        """Read Datagroups from file"""
+        with open(datasetfile, 'r') as f:
+               for line in f:
+                       if (not line.startswith("#")) and (not len(line.strip()) == 0):
+                               # spaces after equal sign are allowed to get strings with leading spaces!
+                               line=line.replace(" =", "=")
+                               splitLine = line.split("=")
+                               # we don't want to have the newline char from dataset file as part of the value!!
+                               self.datagroups[splitLine[0]] = splitLine[1].rstrip("\n\r")
+       f.close()
+
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     from optparse import OptionParser
     parser = OptionParser()