diff --git a/cli/cmdlineparser.cpp b/cli/cmdlineparser.cpp
index ac24f3a88..e3c5b3f80 100644
--- a/cli/cmdlineparser.cpp
+++ b/cli/cmdlineparser.cpp
@@ -683,7 +683,7 @@ bool CmdLineParser::ParseFromArgs(int argc, const char* const argv[])
                     _settings->platform(Settings::Unix64);
                 else if (platform == "native")
                     _settings->platform(Settings::Unspecified);
-                else {
+                else if (!_settings->platformFile(platform)) {
                     std::string message("cppcheck: error: unrecognized platform: \"");
                     message += platform;
                     message += "\".";
@@ -898,8 +898,9 @@ void CmdLineParser::PrintHelp()
               "                         before skipping it. Default is '12'. If used together\n"
               "                         with '--force', the last option is the one that is\n"
               "                         effective.\n"
-              "    --platform=<type>    Specifies platform specific types and sizes. The\n"
-              "                         available platforms are:\n"
+              "    --platform=<type>, --platform=<file>\n"
+              "                         Specifies platform specific types and sizes. The\n"
+              "                         available builtin platforms are:\n"
               "                          * unix32\n"
               "                                 32 bit unix variant\n"
               "                          * unix64\n"
diff --git a/lib/settings.cpp b/lib/settings.cpp
index db56c008b..ef358b579 100644
--- a/lib/settings.cpp
+++ b/lib/settings.cpp
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 #include "settings.h"
 #include "preprocessor.h"       // Preprocessor
 #include "utils.h"
+#include "tinyxml2.h"
 
 #include <fstream>
 #include <set>
@@ -272,8 +273,40 @@ bool Settings::platform(PlatformType type)
 
 bool Settings::platformFile(const std::string &filename)
 {
-    (void)filename;
-    /** @todo TBD */
+    // open file..
+    tinyxml2::XMLDocument doc;
+    if (doc.LoadFile(filename.c_str()) != tinyxml2::XML_NO_ERROR)
+        return false;
 
-    return false;
+    const tinyxml2::XMLElement * const rootnode = doc.FirstChildElement();
+
+    if (!rootnode || std::strcmp(rootnode->Name(),"platform") != 0)
+        return false;
+
+    for (const tinyxml2::XMLElement *node = rootnode->FirstChildElement(); node; node = node->NextSiblingElement()) {
+        if (std::strcmp(node->Name(), "defaultSign") == 0)
+            defaultSign = *node->GetText();
+        else if (std::strcmp(node->Name(), "char_bit") == 0)
+            char_bit = std::atoi(node->GetText());
+        else if (std::strcmp(node->Name(), "sizeof") == 0) {
+            for (const tinyxml2::XMLElement *sz = node->FirstChildElement(); sz; sz = sz->NextSiblingElement()) {
+                if (std::strcmp(node->Name(), "short") == 0)
+                    sizeof_short = std::atoi(node->GetText());
+                if (std::strcmp(node->Name(), "int") == 0)
+                    sizeof_int = std::atoi(node->GetText());
+                if (std::strcmp(node->Name(), "long") == 0)
+                    sizeof_long = std::atoi(node->GetText());
+                if (std::strcmp(node->Name(), "long-long") == 0)
+                    sizeof_long_long = std::atoi(node->GetText());
+                if (std::strcmp(node->Name(), "float") == 0)
+                    sizeof_float = std::atoi(node->GetText());
+                if (std::strcmp(node->Name(), "double") == 0)
+                    sizeof_double = std::atoi(node->GetText());
+                if (std::strcmp(node->Name(), "pointer") == 0)
+                    sizeof_pointer = std::atoi(node->GetText());
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    return true;
 }