diff --git a/bin/tools/test_reports.py b/bin/tools/test_reports.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..b6d0ec6b714
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/tools/test_reports.py
@@ -0,0 +1,91 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+##############################################################################
+#
+#    OpenERP, Open Source Management Solution
+#    Copyright (C) 2010 OpenERP s.a. (<http://openerp.com>).
+#
+#    This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+#    it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as
+#    published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the
+#    License, or (at your option) any later version.
+#
+#    This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+#    but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+#    MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+#    GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+#
+#    You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+#    along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+#
+##############################################################################
+
+""" Helper functions for reports testing.
+
+    Please /do not/ import this file by default, but only explicitly call it
+    through the code of yaml tests.
+"""
+
+import netsvc
+import tools
+import logging
+from subprocess import Popen, PIPE
+import os
+import tempfile
+
+def try_report(cr, uid, rname, ids, data=None, context=None):
+    """ Try to render a report <rname> with contents of ids
+    
+        This function should also check for common pitfalls of reports.
+    """
+    log = logging.getLogger('tools.test_reports')
+    if data is None:
+        data = {}
+    if context is None:
+        context = {}
+    if rname.startswith('report.'):
+        rname_s = rname[7:]
+    else:
+        rname_s = rname
+    log.debug("Trying %s.create(%r)", rname, ids)
+    res = netsvc.LocalService(rname).create(cr, uid, ids, data, context)
+    if not isinstance(res, tuple):
+        raise RuntimeError("Result of %s.create() should be a (data,format) tuple, now it is a %s" % \
+                                (rname, type(res)))
+    (res_data, res_format) = res
+   
+    if not res_data:
+        raise ValueError("Report %s produced an empty result!" % rname)
+    
+    if tools.config['test_report_directory']:
+        file(os.path.join(tools.config['test_report_directory'], rname+ '.'+res_format), 'wb+').write(res_data)
+
+    log.debug("Have a %s report for %s, will examine it", res_format, rname)
+    if res_format == 'pdf':
+        if res_data[:5] != '%PDF-':
+            raise ValueError("Report %s produced a non-pdf header, %r" % (rname, res_data[:10]))
+    
+        res_text = False
+        try:
+            fd, rfname = tempfile.mkstemp(suffix=res_format)
+            os.write(fd, res_data)
+            os.close(fd)
+
+            fp = Popen(['pdftotext', '-enc', 'UTF-8', '-nopgbrk', rfname, '-'], shell=False, stdout=PIPE).stdout
+            res_text = tools.ustr(fp.read())
+            os.unlink(rfname)
+        except Exception:
+            log.warning("Cannot extract report's text:", exc_info=True)
+        
+        if res_text is not False:
+            for line in res_text.split('\n'):
+                if ('[[' in line) or ('[ [' in line):
+                    log.error("Report %s may have bad expression near: \"%s\".", rname, line[80:])
+            # TODO more checks, what else can be a sign of a faulty report?
+    elif res_format == 'foobar':
+        # TODO
+        pass
+    else:
+        log.warning("Report %s produced a \"%s\" chunk, cannot examine it", rname, res_format)
+
+    return True
+#eof