diff --git a/apps/opencs/CMakeLists.txt b/apps/opencs/CMakeLists.txt
index 8a1949e51..031c650df 100644
--- a/apps/opencs/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/apps/opencs/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ opencs_units_noqt (model/settings
     )
 
 opencs_units_noqt (model/filter
-    node unarynode narynode leafnode booleannode
+    node unarynode narynode leafnode booleannode parser
     )
 
 opencs_hdrs_noqt (model/filter
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ opencs_hdrs_noqt (model/filter
     )
 
 opencs_units (view/filter
-    filtercreator filterbox recordfilterbox
+    filtercreator filterbox recordfilterbox editwidget
     )
 
 set (OPENCS_US
diff --git a/apps/opencs/model/filter/parser.cpp b/apps/opencs/model/filter/parser.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..46052cec6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/opencs/model/filter/parser.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+
+#include "parser.hpp"
+
+#include <stdexcept>
+
+#include "booleannode.hpp"
+
+CSMFilter::Parser::Parser() : mState (State_Begin) {}
+
+void CSMFilter::Parser::parse (const std::string& filter)
+{
+    // reset
+    mState = State_Begin;
+    mFilter.reset();
+
+
+    // for now we ignore the filter string
+    mFilter.reset (new BooleanNode (false));
+    mState = State_End;
+}
+
+CSMFilter::Parser::State CSMFilter::Parser::getState() const
+{
+    return mState;
+}
+
+boost::shared_ptr<CSMFilter::Node> CSMFilter::Parser::getFilter() const
+{
+    if (mState!=State_End)
+        throw std::logic_error ("No filter available");
+
+    return mFilter;
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/apps/opencs/model/filter/parser.hpp b/apps/opencs/model/filter/parser.hpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..72dc7d507
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/opencs/model/filter/parser.hpp
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+#ifndef CSM_FILTER_PARSER_H
+#define CSM_FILTER_PARSER_H
+
+#include <boost/shared_ptr.hpp>
+
+#include "node.hpp"
+
+namespace CSMFilter
+{
+    class Parser
+    {
+        public:
+
+            enum State
+            {
+                State_Begin,
+                State_End
+            };
+
+        private:
+
+            State mState;
+            boost::shared_ptr<Node> mFilter;
+
+        public:
+
+            Parser();
+
+            void parse (const std::string& filter);
+            ///< Discards any previous calls to parse
+
+            State getState() const;
+
+            boost::shared_ptr<Node> getFilter() const;
+            ///< Throws an exception if getState()!=State_End
+    };
+}
+
+#endif
diff --git a/apps/opencs/view/filter/editwidget.cpp b/apps/opencs/view/filter/editwidget.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8fc4a88ae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/opencs/view/filter/editwidget.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+
+#include "editwidget.hpp"
+
+CSVFilter::EditWidget::EditWidget (QWidget *parent)
+: QLineEdit (parent)
+{
+    connect (this, SIGNAL (textChanged (const QString&)), this, SLOT (textChanged (const QString&)));
+}
+
+void CSVFilter::EditWidget::textChanged (const QString& text)
+{
+    mParser.parse (text.toUtf8().constData());
+
+    if (mParser.getState()==CSMFilter::Parser::State_End)
+        emit filterChanged();
+    else
+    {
+        /// \todo error handling
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/apps/opencs/view/filter/editwidget.hpp b/apps/opencs/view/filter/editwidget.hpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5959a8b16
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/opencs/view/filter/editwidget.hpp
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+#ifndef CSV_FILTER_EDITWIDGET_H
+#define CSV_FILTER_EDITWIDGET_H
+
+#include <QLineEdit>
+
+#include "../../model/filter/parser.hpp"
+
+namespace CSVFilter
+{
+    class EditWidget : public QLineEdit
+    {
+            Q_OBJECT
+
+            CSMFilter::Parser mParser;
+
+        public:
+
+            EditWidget (QWidget *parent = 0);
+
+        signals:
+
+            void filterChanged();
+
+        private slots:
+
+            void textChanged (const QString& text);
+    };
+}
+
+#endif
diff --git a/apps/opencs/view/filter/recordfilterbox.cpp b/apps/opencs/view/filter/recordfilterbox.cpp
index b0c195664..5e297ec38 100644
--- a/apps/opencs/view/filter/recordfilterbox.cpp
+++ b/apps/opencs/view/filter/recordfilterbox.cpp
@@ -2,9 +2,10 @@
 #include "recordfilterbox.hpp"
 
 #include <QHBoxLayout>
-#include <QLineEdit>
 #include <QLabel>
 
+#include "editwidget.hpp"
+
 CSVFilter::RecordFilterBox::RecordFilterBox (QWidget *parent)
 : QWidget (parent)
 {
@@ -14,7 +15,7 @@ CSVFilter::RecordFilterBox::RecordFilterBox (QWidget *parent)
 
     layout->addWidget (new QLabel ("Record Filter", this));
 
-    layout->addWidget (new QLineEdit (this));
+    layout->addWidget (new EditWidget (this));
 
     setLayout (layout);
 }
\ No newline at end of file