diff --git a/include/msg.h b/include/msg.h
index afce6df70..efbaae047 100644
--- a/include/msg.h
+++ b/include/msg.h
@@ -55,12 +55,11 @@ int msg_verify(struct msg *m);
  * @param m A pointer to the message.
  * @param flags See msg_flags.
  * @param offset A optional offset in seconds. Only used if flags contains MSG_PRINT_OFFSET.
- * @retval 0 Success. Everything went well.
- * @retval <0 Error. Something went wrong.
+ * @return Number of bytes written to buf.
  */
-int msg_fprint(FILE *f, struct msg *m, int flags, double offset);
+int msg_print(char *buf, size_t len, struct msg *m, int flags, double offset);
 
-/** Read a message from a file stream.
+/** Read a message from a character buffer.
  *
  * @param f The file handle from fopen() or stdin.
  * @param m A pointer to the message.
@@ -69,6 +68,18 @@ int msg_fprint(FILE *f, struct msg *m, int flags, double offset);
  * @retval 0 Success. Everything went well.
  * @retval <0 Error. Something went wrong.
  */
+int msg_scan(const char *line, struct msg *m, int *fl, double *off);
+
+/** Print a raw message in human readable form to a file stream.
+ *
+ * @see msg_print()
+ */
+int msg_fprint(FILE *f, struct msg *m, int flags, double offset);
+
+/** Read a message from a file stream.
+ *
+ * @see msg_scan()
+ */
 int msg_fscan(FILE *f, struct msg *m, int *flags, double *offset);
 
 /** Change the values of an existing message in a random fashion.
diff --git a/lib/msg.c b/lib/msg.c
index 837bd75a6..25b350c61 100644
--- a/lib/msg.c
+++ b/lib/msg.c
@@ -49,34 +49,34 @@ int msg_verify(struct msg *m)
 		return 0;
 }
 
-int msg_fprint(FILE *f, struct msg *m, int flags, double offset)
+int msg_print(char *buf, size_t len, struct msg *m, int flags, double offset)
 {
-	fprintf(f, "%u", m->ts.sec);
+	size_t off = snprintf(buf, len, "%u", m->ts.sec);
 	
 	if (flags & MSG_PRINT_NANOSECONDS)
-		fprintf(f, ".%09u", m->ts.nsec);
+		off += snprintf(buf + off, len - off, ".%09u", m->ts.nsec);
 	
 	if (flags & MSG_PRINT_OFFSET)
-		fprintf(f, "%+g", offset);
+		off += snprintf(buf + off, len - off, "%+g", offset);
 	
 	if (flags & MSG_PRINT_SEQUENCE)
-		fprintf(f, "(%u)", m->sequence);
+		off += snprintf(buf + off, len - off, "(%u)", m->sequence);
 
 	if (flags & MSG_PRINT_VALUES) {
 		for (int i = 0; i < m->length; i++)
-			fprintf(f, "\t%.6f", m->data[i].f);
+			off += snprintf(buf + off, len - off, "\t%.6f", m->data[i].f);
 	}
 
-	fprintf(f, "\n");
+	off += snprintf(buf + off, len - off, "\n");
 
-	return 0;
+	return off + 1; /* trailing '\0' */
 }
 
-/** @todo Currently only floating point values are supported */
-int msg_fscan(FILE *f, struct msg *m, int *fl, double *off)
+int msg_scan(const char *line, struct msg *m, int *fl, double *off)
 {
-	char line[MSG_VALUES * 16];
-	char *end, *ptr = line;
+	char *end;
+	const char *ptr = line;
+
 	int flags = 0;
 	double offset;
 	
@@ -90,14 +90,6 @@ int msg_fscan(FILE *f, struct msg *m, int *fl, double *off)
 	 * Please note that only the seconds and at least one value are mandatory
 	 */
 
-skip:	if (fgets(line, sizeof(line), f) == NULL)
-		return -1; /* An error occured */
-
-	/* Skip whitespaces, empty and comment lines */
-	for (ptr = line; isspace(*ptr); ptr++);
-	if (*ptr == '\0' || *ptr == '#')
-		goto skip;
-
 	/* Mandatory: seconds */
 	m->ts.sec = (uint32_t) strtoul(ptr, &end, 10);
 	if (ptr == end)
@@ -166,6 +158,32 @@ skip:	if (fgets(line, sizeof(line), f) == NULL)
 	return m->length;
 }
 
+int msg_fprint(FILE *f, struct msg *m, int flags, double offset)
+{
+	char line[4096];
+
+	int len = msg_print(line, sizeof(line), m, flags, offset);
+	
+	fputs(line, f);
+	
+	return len;
+}
+
+int msg_fscan(FILE *f, struct msg *m, int *fl, double *off)
+{
+	char *ptr, line[4096];
+	
+skip:	if (fgets(line, sizeof(line), f) == NULL)
+		return -1; /* An error occured */
+
+	/* Skip whitespaces, empty and comment lines */
+	for (ptr = line; isspace(*ptr); ptr++);
+	if (*ptr == '\0' || *ptr == '#')
+		goto skip;
+	
+	return msg_scan(line, m, fl, off);
+}
+
 void msg_random(struct msg *m)
 {
 	for (int i = 0; i < m->length; i++)