diff --git a/src/core/examples/test-string-value-formatting.cc b/src/core/examples/test-string-value-formatting.cc
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..61838f300
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/core/examples/test-string-value-formatting.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,151 @@
+/* -*- Mode:C++; c-file-style:"gnu"; indent-tabs-mode:nil; -*- */
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2016 Tom Henderson
+ *
+ * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 as
+ * published by the Free Software Foundation;
+ *
+ * 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 General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ * along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
+ * Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307  USA
+ */
+
+#include "ns3/core-module.h"
+
+using namespace ns3;
+
+NS_LOG_COMPONENT_DEFINE ("TestStringValueFormatting");
+
+class FormattingTestObject : public Object
+{
+public:
+  static TypeId GetTypeId (void);
+  FormattingTestObject ();
+  Ptr<RandomVariableStream> GetTestVariable (void) const;
+private:
+  Ptr<RandomVariableStream> m_testVariable;
+};
+
+NS_OBJECT_ENSURE_REGISTERED (FormattingTestObject);
+
+TypeId
+FormattingTestObject::GetTypeId (void)
+{
+  static TypeId tid = TypeId ("ns3::FormattingTestObject")
+    .SetParent<Object> ()
+    .AddConstructor<FormattingTestObject> ()
+    .AddAttribute ("OnTime", "A RandomVariableStream used to pick the duration of the 'On' state.",
+                   StringValue ("ns3::ConstantRandomVariable[Constant=1.0]"),
+                   MakePointerAccessor (&FormattingTestObject::m_testVariable),
+                   MakePointerChecker <RandomVariableStream>())
+  ;
+  return tid;
+}
+
+FormattingTestObject::FormattingTestObject ()
+{
+}
+
+Ptr<RandomVariableStream>
+FormattingTestObject::GetTestVariable (void) const
+{
+  return m_testVariable;
+}
+
+class FormattingTestObjectHelper
+{
+public:
+  FormattingTestObjectHelper ();
+  void SetAttribute (std::string name, const AttributeValue &value);
+  Ptr<Object> CreateFromFactory (void);
+private:
+  ObjectFactory m_factory; 
+};
+
+FormattingTestObjectHelper::FormattingTestObjectHelper ()
+{
+  m_factory.SetTypeId (FormattingTestObject::GetTypeId ());
+}
+
+void
+FormattingTestObjectHelper::SetAttribute (std::string name, const AttributeValue &value)
+{
+  m_factory.Set (name, value);
+}
+
+Ptr<Object>
+FormattingTestObjectHelper::CreateFromFactory (void)
+{
+  return m_factory.Create ();
+}
+
+int 
+main (int argc, char *argv[])
+{
+  // CreateObject parsing
+  Ptr<FormattingTestObject> obj = CreateObject<FormattingTestObject> ();
+  obj->SetAttribute ("OnTime", StringValue ("ns3::UniformRandomVariable"));
+  obj->SetAttribute ("OnTime", StringValue ("ns3::UniformRandomVariable[Min=0.]"));
+  obj->SetAttribute ("OnTime", StringValue ("ns3::UniformRandomVariable[Min=0.|Max=1.]"));
+  obj->SetAttribute ("OnTime", StringValue ("ns3::UniformRandomVariable[Min=50.|Max=100.]"));
+
+  Ptr<RandomVariableStream> rvStream = obj->GetTestVariable ();
+  // Either GetObject () or DynamicCast may be used to get subclass pointer
+  Ptr<UniformRandomVariable> uniformStream = rvStream->GetObject<UniformRandomVariable> ();
+  NS_ASSERT (uniformStream);
+
+  // Check that the last setting of Min to 50 and Max to 100 worked
+  DoubleValue val;
+  uniformStream->GetAttribute ("Min", val);
+  NS_ASSERT_MSG (val.Get () == 50, "Minimum not set to 50");
+  uniformStream->GetAttribute ("Max", val);
+  NS_ASSERT_MSG (val.Get () == 100, "Maximum not set to 100");
+
+
+  // The following malformed values should result in an error exit
+  // if uncommented
+
+  // Attribute doesn't exist
+  //obj->SetAttribute ("OnTime", StringValue ("ns3::UniformRandomVariable[A=0.]"));
+  // Missing right bracket
+  //obj->SetAttribute ("OnTime", StringValue ("ns3::UniformRandomVariable[Min=0."));
+  // Comma delimiter fails
+  //obj->SetAttribute ("OnTime", StringValue ("ns3::UniformRandomVariable[Min=0.,Max=1.]"));
+  // Incomplete specification
+  //obj->SetAttribute ("OnTime", StringValue ("ns3::UniformRandomVariable[Min=0.|Max=]"));
+  // Incomplete specification
+  //obj->SetAttribute ("OnTime", StringValue ("ns3::UniformRandomVariable[Min=0.|Max]"));
+
+  // ObjectFactory parsing
+  FormattingTestObjectHelper formattingHelper;
+  formattingHelper.SetAttribute ("OnTime", StringValue ("ns3::UniformRandomVariable[Min=30.|Max=60.0]"));
+  // Attribute doesn't exist
+  //formattingHelper.SetAttribute ("OnTime", StringValue ("ns3::UniformRandomVariable[A=0.]"));
+  // Missing right bracket
+  //formattingHelper.SetAttribute ("OnTime", StringValue ("ns3::UniformRandomVariable[Min=30."));
+  // Comma delimiter fails
+  //formattingHelper.SetAttribute ("OnTime", StringValue ("ns3::UniformRandomVariable[Min=30.,Max=60.]"));
+  // Incomplete specification
+  //formattingHelper.SetAttribute ("OnTime", StringValue ("ns3::UniformRandomVariable[Min=30.|Max=]"));
+  // Incomplete specification
+  //formattingHelper.SetAttribute ("OnTime", StringValue ("ns3::UniformRandomVariable[Min=30.|Max]"));
+
+  // verify that creation occurs correctly
+  Ptr<Object> outputObj = formattingHelper.CreateFromFactory ();
+  Ptr<FormattingTestObject> fto = DynamicCast<FormattingTestObject> (outputObj);
+  NS_ASSERT_MSG (fto, "object creation failed");
+  rvStream = fto->GetTestVariable ();
+  uniformStream = rvStream->GetObject<UniformRandomVariable> ();
+  NS_ASSERT (uniformStream);
+  // Check that the last setting of Min to 30 and Max to 60 worked
+  uniformStream->GetAttribute ("Min", val);
+  NS_ASSERT_MSG (val.Get () == 30, "Minimum not set to 30");
+  uniformStream->GetAttribute ("Max", val);
+  NS_ASSERT_MSG (val.Get () == 60, "Maximum not set to 60");
+}
diff --git a/src/core/examples/wscript b/src/core/examples/wscript
index d8bbce0d3..639a3378b 100644
--- a/src/core/examples/wscript
+++ b/src/core/examples/wscript
@@ -37,6 +37,9 @@ def build(bld):
                                  ['core'])
     obj.source = 'hash-example.cc'
 
+    obj = bld.create_ns3_program('test-string-value-formatting', ['core'])
+    obj.source = 'test-string-value-formatting.cc'
+
     if bld.env['ENABLE_THREADING'] and bld.env["ENABLE_REAL_TIME"]:
         obj = bld.create_ns3_program('main-test-sync', ['network'])
         obj.source = 'main-test-sync.cc'
diff --git a/src/core/test/examples-to-run.py b/src/core/test/examples-to-run.py
index f21a72f9d..4a3ae6b3d 100644
--- a/src/core/test/examples-to-run.py
+++ b/src/core/test/examples-to-run.py
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ cpp_examples = [
     ("main-ptr", "True", "True"),
     ("main-random-variable", "True", "False"),
     ("sample-random-variable", "True", "True"),
+    ("test-string-value-formatting", "True", "True"),
 ]
 
 # A list of Python examples to run in order to ensure that they remain