diff --git a/compiler-init/sc.h b/compiler-init/sc.h
index 612a9911..b4a367a8 100644
--- a/compiler-init/sc.h
+++ b/compiler-init/sc.h
@@ -283,7 +283,7 @@ typedef struct s_stringpair {
  */
 #define tFIRST   256    /* value of first multi-character operator */
 #define tMIDDLE  280    /* value of last multi-character operator */
-#define tLAST    325    /* value of last multi-character match-able token */
+#define tLAST    326    /* value of last multi-character match-able token */
 /* multi-character operators */
 #define taMULT   256    /* *= */
 #define taDIV    257    /* /= */
@@ -329,44 +329,45 @@ typedef struct s_stringpair {
 #define tIF      296
 #define tNATIVE  297
 #define tNEW     298
-#define tOPERATOR 299
-#define tPUBLIC  300
-#define tRETURN  301
-#define tSIZEOF  302
-#define tSLEEP   303
-#define tSTATE   304
-#define tSTATIC  305
-#define tSTOCK   306
-#define tSWITCH  307
-#define tTAGOF   308
-#define tWHILE   309
+#define tDECL    299
+#define tOPERATOR 300
+#define tPUBLIC  301
+#define tRETURN  302
+#define tSIZEOF  303
+#define tSLEEP   304
+#define tSTATE   305
+#define tSTATIC  306
+#define tSTOCK   307
+#define tSWITCH  308
+#define tTAGOF   309
+#define tWHILE   310
 /* compiler directives */
-#define tpASSERT 310    /* #assert */
-#define tpDEFINE 311
-#define tpELSE   312    /* #else */
-#define tpELSEIF 313    /* #elseif */
-#define tpEMIT   314
-#define tpENDIF  315
-#define tpENDINPUT 316
-#define tpENDSCRPT 317
-#define tpERROR  318
-#define tpFILE   319
-#define tpIF     320    /* #if */
-#define tINCLUDE 321
-#define tpLINE   322
-#define tpPRAGMA 323
-#define tpTRYINCLUDE 324
-#define tpUNDEF  325
+#define tpASSERT 311    /* #assert */
+#define tpDEFINE 312
+#define tpELSE   313    /* #else */
+#define tpELSEIF 314    /* #elseif */
+#define tpEMIT   315
+#define tpENDIF  316
+#define tpENDINPUT 317
+#define tpENDSCRPT 318
+#define tpERROR  319
+#define tpFILE   320
+#define tpIF     321    /* #if */
+#define tINCLUDE 322
+#define tpLINE   323
+#define tpPRAGMA 324
+#define tpTRYINCLUDE 325
+#define tpUNDEF  326
 /* semicolon is a special case, because it can be optional */
-#define tTERM    326    /* semicolon or newline */
-#define tENDEXPR 327    /* forced end of expression */
+#define tTERM    327    /* semicolon or newline */
+#define tENDEXPR 328    /* forced end of expression */
 /* other recognized tokens */
-#define tNUMBER  328    /* integer number */
-#define tRATIONAL 329   /* rational number */
-#define tSYMBOL  330
-#define tLABEL   331
-#define tSTRING  332
-#define tEXPR    333    /* for assigment to "lastst" only */
+#define tNUMBER  329    /* integer number */
+#define tRATIONAL 330   /* rational number */
+#define tSYMBOL  331
+#define tLABEL   332
+#define tSTRING  333
+#define tEXPR    334    /* for assigment to "lastst" only */
 
 /* (reversed) evaluation of staging buffer */
 #define sSTARTREORDER 0x01
diff --git a/compiler-init/sc1.c b/compiler-init/sc1.c
index 2f10b39a..8a8f07d0 100644
--- a/compiler-init/sc1.c
+++ b/compiler-init/sc1.c
@@ -135,6 +135,7 @@ static int *readwhile(void);
 static void inst_datetime_defines(void);
 
 static int norun      = 0;      /* the compiler never ran */
+static int autozero   = 0;      /* if 1 will zero out the variable, if 0 omit the zeroing */ 
 static int lastst     = 0;      /* last executed statement type */
 static int nestlevel  = 0;      /* number of active (open) compound statements */
 static int rettype    = 0;      /* the type that a "return" expression should have */
@@ -1977,19 +1978,24 @@ static int declloc(int fstatic)
         int ctag = tag;         /* set to "tag" by default */
         int explicit_init=FALSE;/* is the variable explicitly initialized? */
         if (matchtoken('=')) {
+          if (!autozero)
+            error(10);
           doexpr(FALSE,FALSE,FALSE,FALSE,&ctag,NULL,TRUE);
           explicit_init=TRUE;
         } else {
-          ldconst(0,sPRI);      /* uninitialized variable, set to zero */
+          if (autozero)
+            ldconst(0,sPRI);      /* uninitialized variable, set to zero */
         } /* if */
-        /* now try to save the value (still in PRI) in the variable */
-        lval.sym=sym;
-        lval.ident=iVARIABLE;
-        lval.constval=0;
-        lval.tag=tag;
-        check_userop(NULL,ctag,lval.tag,2,NULL,&ctag);
-        store(&lval);
-        markexpr(sEXPR,NULL,0); /* full expression ends after the store */
+        if (autozero) {
+          /* now try to save the value (still in PRI) in the variable */
+          lval.sym=sym;
+          lval.ident=iVARIABLE;
+          lval.constval=0;
+          lval.tag=tag;
+          check_userop(NULL,ctag,lval.tag,2,NULL,&ctag);
+          store(&lval);
+          markexpr(sEXPR,NULL,0); /* full expression ends after the store */
+        }
         assert(staging);        /* end staging phase (optimize expression) */
         stgout(staging_start);
         stgset(FALSE);
@@ -2004,15 +2010,17 @@ static int declloc(int fstatic)
         assert(cur_lit>=0 && cur_lit<=litidx && litidx<=litmax);
         assert(size>0 && size>=sym->dim.array.length);
         assert(numdim>1 || size==sym->dim.array.length);
-        /* final literal values that are zero make no sense to put in the literal
-         * pool, because values get zero-initialized anyway; we check for this,
-         * because users often explicitly initialize strings to ""
-         */
-        while (litidx>cur_lit && litq[litidx-1]==0)
-          litidx--;
-        /* if the array is not completely filled, set all values to zero first */
-        if (litidx-cur_lit<size && (ucell)size<CELL_MAX)
-          fillarray(sym,size*sizeof(cell),0);
+        if (autozero) {
+          /* final literal values that are zero make no sense to put in the literal
+           * pool, because values get zero-initialized anyway; we check for this,
+           * because users often explicitly initialize strings to ""
+           */
+          while (litidx>cur_lit && litq[litidx-1]==0)
+            litidx--;
+          /* if the array is not completely filled, set all values to zero first */
+          if (litidx-cur_lit<size && (ucell)size<CELL_MAX)
+            fillarray(sym,size*sizeof(cell),0);
+        }
         if (cur_lit<litidx) {
           /* check whether the complete array is set to a single value; if
            * it is, more compact code can be generated */
@@ -2264,12 +2272,12 @@ static cell initvector(int ident,int tag,cell size,int fillzero,
                        constvalue *enumroot,int *errorfound)
 {
   cell prev1=0,prev2=0;
-  int ellips=FALSE;
+  int ellips=FALSE,hadtoken=0;
   int curlit=litidx;
   int rtag,ctag;
 
   assert(ident==iARRAY || ident==iREFARRAY);
-  if (matchtoken('{')) {
+  if ((hadtoken=matchtoken('{')) && autozero) {
     constvalue *enumfield=(enumroot!=NULL) ? enumroot->next : NULL;
     do {
       int fieldlit=litidx;
@@ -2331,6 +2339,8 @@ static cell initvector(int ident,int tag,cell size,int fillzero,
     } while (matchtoken(',')); /* do */
     needtoken('}');
   } else {
+    if (hadtoken && !autozero)
+      error(10);
     init(ident,&ctag,errorfound);
     if (!matchtag(tag,ctag,TRUE))
       error(213);               /* tagname mismatch */
@@ -4612,12 +4622,22 @@ static void statement(int *lastindent,int allow_decl)
     break;
   case tNEW:
     if (allow_decl) {
+      autozero=1;
       declloc(FALSE);
       lastst=tNEW;
     } else {
       error(3);                 /* declaration only valid in a block */
     } /* if */
     break;
+  case tDECL:
+    if (allow_decl) {
+      autozero=0;
+      declloc(FALSE);
+      lastst=tDECL;
+    } else {
+      error(3);                 /* declaration only valid in a block */
+    } /* if */
+    break;
   case tSTATIC:
     if (allow_decl) {
       declloc(TRUE);
@@ -4993,6 +5013,7 @@ static void dofor(void)
        * 'compound statement' level of it own.
        */
       nestlevel++;
+      autozero=1;
       declloc(FALSE); /* declare local variable */
     } else {
       doexpr(TRUE,TRUE,TRUE,TRUE,NULL,NULL,FALSE);  /* expression 1 */
diff --git a/compiler-init/sc2.c b/compiler-init/sc2.c
index 5cc1735f..2cf9c1af 100644
--- a/compiler-init/sc2.c
+++ b/compiler-init/sc2.c
@@ -1818,7 +1818,7 @@ char *sc_tokens[] = {
          "...", "..", "::",
          "assert", "break", "case", "char", "const", "continue", "default",
          "defined", "do", "else", "enum", "exit", "for", "forward", "goto",
-         "if", "native", "new", "operator", "public", "return", "sizeof",
+         "if", "native", "new", "decl", "operator", "public", "return", "sizeof",
          "sleep", "state", "static", "stock", "switch", "tagof", "while",
          "#assert", "#define", "#else", "#elseif", "#emit", "#endif", "#endinput",
          "#endscript", "#error", "#file", "#if", "#include", "#line", "#pragma",