diff --git a/iofmt/text_input.py b/iofmt/text_input.py
index 05929ed..5f3efd4 100644
--- a/iofmt/text_input.py
+++ b/iofmt/text_input.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #!/usr/bin/python
-# $Id: text_input.py,v 1.5 2011-09-05 19:09:21 wirawan Exp $
+# $Id: text_input.py,v 1.6 2011-09-16 21:21:23 wirawan Exp $
 #
 # wpylib.iofmt.text_input module
 # Quick-n-dirty text input utilities
@@ -82,19 +82,21 @@ class text_input(object):
 
   def next_rec(self):
     '''Yields the next record, which is already separated into fields.'''
+    comment_char = getattr(self, "comment_char", "#")
     while True:
       self.lineno += 1
       L = self.file.next()
-      F = self.field_filtering_proc(L.split("#")[0].split())
+      F = self.field_filtering_proc(L.split(comment_char)[0].split())
       if len(F) > 0 or not self.skip_blank_lines:
         return F
 
   def next_line(self):
     '''Yields the next line, which is already separated into fields.'''
+    comment_char = getattr(self, "comment_char", "#")
     while True:
       self.lineno += 1
       L = self.file.next()
-      F = self.field_filtering_proc(L.split("#")[0].rstrip())
+      F = self.field_filtering_proc(L.split(comment_char)[0].rstrip())
       if len(F) > 0 or not self.skip_blank_lines:
         return F