diff --git a/src/caoscrawler/cfood-schema.yml b/src/caoscrawler/cfood-schema.yml
index 340e5b9dec0e8f05b1c39ec2511196249ec87d31..aa3f87c01261e1833fa55e0e2015b7b2b7e73b30 100644
--- a/src/caoscrawler/cfood-schema.yml
+++ b/src/caoscrawler/cfood-schema.yml
@@ -4,6 +4,11 @@ cfood:
     $ref:
       "#/$defs/converter"
   $defs:
+    parents:
+      description: Parents for this record are given here as a list of names.
+      type: array
+      items:
+        type: string
     converter:
       properties:
         type:
@@ -38,6 +43,7 @@ cfood:
           - H5Dataset
           - H5Group
           - H5Ndarray
+          - PropertiesFromDictElement
           description: Type of this converter node.
         match:
           description: typically a regexp which is matched to a structure element name
@@ -48,15 +54,42 @@ cfood:
         match_value:
           description: a regexp that is matched to the value of a key-value pair
           type: string
-        records:
-          description: This field is used to define new records or to modify records which have been defined on a higher level.
+        record_from_dict:
+          description: Only relevant for PropertiesFromDictElement.  Specify the root record which is generated from the contained dictionary.
           type: object
+          required:
+            - variable_name
           properties:
-            parents:
-              description: Parents for this record are given here as a list of names.
+            variable_name:
+              description: Name of the record by which it can be accessed in the cfood definiton. Can also be the name of an existing record in which case that record will be treted by the PropertiesFromDictConverter.
+              type: string
+            properties_blacklist:
+              description: List of keys to be ignored in the automatic treatment.  They will be ignored on all levels of the dictionary.
               type: array
               items:
                 type: string
+            references:
+              description: List of keys that will be transformed into named reference properties.
+              type: object
+              additionalProperties:
+                type: object
+                properties:
+                  parents:
+                    $ref:
+                      "#/$defs/parents"
+            name:
+              description: Nmae of this record.  If none is given, variable_name is used.
+              type: string
+            parents:
+              $ref:
+                "#/$defs/parents"
+        records:
+          description: This field is used to define new records or to modify records which have been defined on a higher level.
+          type: object
+          properties:
+            parents:
+              $ref:
+                "#/$defs/parents"
             additionalProperties:
               oneOf:
               - type: object
@@ -78,3 +111,15 @@ cfood:
           additionalProperties:
             $ref:
               "#/$defs/converter"
+      if:
+        properties:
+          type:
+            const:
+              PropertiesFromDictElement
+      then:
+        required:
+          - type
+          - record_from_dict
+      else:
+        required:
+          - type
diff --git a/unittests/broken_cfoods/broken_record_from_dict.yml b/unittests/broken_cfoods/broken_record_from_dict.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..fd8ffdbd29f6ad7b8b38fc17eb43686f4170dbcb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/unittests/broken_cfoods/broken_record_from_dict.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+RecordFromDictElement:
+  type: PropertiesFromDictElement
+  match: "(.*)"
+  subtree:
+    AnotherElement:
+      type: Text
+      match_name: "(.*)"
diff --git a/unittests/broken_cfoods/broken_record_from_dict_2.yml b/unittests/broken_cfoods/broken_record_from_dict_2.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..ca321373c6c4d6bcc8c104c8c4b3c7147bf71375
--- /dev/null
+++ b/unittests/broken_cfoods/broken_record_from_dict_2.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+RecordFromDictElement:
+  type: PropertiesFromDictElement
+  record_from_dict:
+    parents:
+      - MyType1
+      - MyType2
+  match: "(.*)"
+  subtree:
+    AnotherElement:
+      type: Text
+      match_name: "(.*)"
diff --git a/unittests/record_from_dict_cfood.yml b/unittests/record_from_dict_cfood.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..1ea2159df9d63256d9a0b2e293d82a9ad694608f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/unittests/record_from_dict_cfood.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+PropertiesFromDictElement:
+  type: PropertiesFromDictElement
+  match: ".*"
+  record_from_dict:
+    variable_name: MyRec
+    parents:
+      - MyType1
+      - MyType2
+    references:
+      author:
+        parents:
+          - Person
diff --git a/unittests/test_schema.py b/unittests/test_schema.py
index 3b576c9b72e41b799355f927d6e5387f1c187a18..ea8549b0b8dfd1f1af35784082a9e46320cfcff4 100644
--- a/unittests/test_schema.py
+++ b/unittests/test_schema.py
@@ -27,6 +27,13 @@ def rfp(*pathcomponents):
 def test_schema_validation():
     load_definition(rfp("scifolder_cfood.yml"))
     load_definition(rfp("scifolder_extended.yml"))
+    load_definition(rfp("record_from_dict_cfood.yml"))
 
     with raises(ValidationError, match=".*enum.*"):
         load_definition(rfp("broken_cfoods", "broken1.yml"))
+
+    with raises(ValidationError, match=".*required.*"):
+        load_definition(rfp("broken_cfoods", "broken_record_from_dict.yml"))
+
+    with raises(ValidationError, match=".*required.*"):
+        load_definition(rfp("broken_cfoods", "broken_record_from_dict_2.yml"))