diff --git a/include/plasp/sas/Description.h b/include/plasp/sas/Description.h
index a525b56..67e2c37 100644
--- a/include/plasp/sas/Description.h
+++ b/include/plasp/sas/Description.h
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #ifndef __SAS__DESCRIPTION_H
 #define __SAS__DESCRIPTION_H
 
+#include <iosfwd>
 #include <vector>
 
 #include <boost/filesystem/path.hpp>
@@ -24,6 +25,7 @@ namespace sas
 class Description
 {
 	public:
+		static Description fromStream(std::istream &istream);
 		static Description fromFile(const boost::filesystem::path &path);
 
 	public:
diff --git a/src/plasp/sas/Description.cpp b/src/plasp/sas/Description.cpp
index 05ab86a..1961396 100644
--- a/src/plasp/sas/Description.cpp
+++ b/src/plasp/sas/Description.cpp
@@ -24,35 +24,40 @@ Description::Description()
 
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 
-Description Description::fromFile(const boost::filesystem::path &path)
+Description Description::fromStream(std::istream &istream)
 {
 	Description description;
 
 	setlocale(LC_NUMERIC, "C");
 
-	if (!boost::filesystem::is_regular_file(path))
-	{
-		std::cerr << "Error: File does not exist: " << path.string() << std::endl;
-		return description;
-	}
+	istream.exceptions(std::ifstream::failbit | std::ifstream::badbit);
 
-	std::ifstream fileStream(path.string(), std::ios::in);
-	fileStream.exceptions(std::ifstream::failbit | std::ifstream::badbit);
-
-	description.parseVersionSection(fileStream);
-	description.parseMetricSection(fileStream);
-	description.parseVariablesSection(fileStream);
-	description.parseMutexSection(fileStream);
-	description.parseInitialStateSection(fileStream);
-	description.parseGoalSection(fileStream);
-	description.parseOperatorSection(fileStream);
-	description.parseAxiomSection(fileStream);
+	description.parseVersionSection(istream);
+	description.parseMetricSection(istream);
+	description.parseVariablesSection(istream);
+	description.parseMutexSection(istream);
+	description.parseInitialStateSection(istream);
+	description.parseGoalSection(istream);
+	description.parseOperatorSection(istream);
+	description.parseAxiomSection(istream);
 
 	return description;
 }
 
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 
+Description Description::fromFile(const boost::filesystem::path &path)
+{
+	if (!boost::filesystem::is_regular_file(path))
+		throw std::runtime_error("File does not exist: \"" + path.string() + "\"");
+
+	std::ifstream fileStream(path.string(), std::ios::in);
+
+	return Description::fromStream(fileStream);
+}
+
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+
 void Description::print(std::ostream &ostream) const
 {
 	// Metric section