diff --git a/docs/manual/CoreTasks/macrodef.html b/docs/manual/CoreTasks/macrodef.html
index 480527ce6..8d65373ff 100644
--- a/docs/manual/CoreTasks/macrodef.html
+++ b/docs/manual/CoreTasks/macrodef.html
@@ -84,6 +84,13 @@
         </td>
         <td valign="top" align="center">No</td>
       </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td valign="top">description</td>
+        <td valign="top">
+          This contains a description of the attribute.
+        </td>
+        <td valign="top" align="center">No</td>
+      </tr>
     </table>
     <h4>element</h4>
     <p>
@@ -112,6 +119,14 @@
         </td>
         <td valign="top" align="center">No</td>
       </tr>
+      <tr>
+        <td valign="top">description</td>
+        <td valign="top">
+          This contains a description
+          informing the user what the contents of the element are expected to be.
+        </td>
+        <td valign="top" align="center">No</td>
+      </tr>
     </table>
     
     <h3>Examples</h3>
diff --git a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/MacroDef.java b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/MacroDef.java
index e9dee157b..a6e4e0107 100644
--- a/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/MacroDef.java
+++ b/src/main/org/apache/tools/ant/taskdefs/MacroDef.java
@@ -283,6 +283,7 @@ public class MacroDef extends AntlibDefinition  {
     public static class Attribute {
         private String name;
         private String defaultValue;
+        private String description;
 
         /**
          * The name of the attribute.
@@ -321,6 +322,21 @@ public class MacroDef extends AntlibDefinition  {
             return defaultValue;
         }
 
+        /**
+         * @param desc Description of the element.
+         */
+        public void setDescription(String desc) {
+            description = desc;
+        }
+
+        /**
+         * @return the description of the element, or <code>null</code> if   
+         *         no description is available.
+         */
+        public String getDescription() {
+            return description;
+        }
+
         /**
          * equality method
          *
@@ -367,6 +383,8 @@ public class MacroDef extends AntlibDefinition  {
     public static class TemplateElement {
         private String name;
         private boolean optional = false;
+	private String description;
+
         /**
          * The name of the element.
          *
@@ -404,6 +422,21 @@ public class MacroDef extends AntlibDefinition  {
             return optional;
         }
 
+        /**
+         * @param desc Description of the element.
+         */
+        public void setDescription(String desc) {
+            description = desc;
+        }
+
+        /**
+         * @return the description of the element, or <code>null</code> if   
+         *         no description is available.
+         */
+        public String getDescription() {
+            return description;
+        }
+
         /**
          * equality method
          *