diff --git a/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/math3/linear/RealMatrixFormat.java b/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/math3/linear/RealMatrixFormat.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e44ab7f52
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/org/apache/commons/math3/linear/RealMatrixFormat.java
@@ -0,0 +1,351 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+ * contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+ * The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+ * (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+ * the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.apache.commons.math3.linear;
+
+import java.text.FieldPosition;
+import java.text.NumberFormat;
+import java.text.ParsePosition;
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Locale;
+
+import org.apache.commons.math3.exception.MathParseException;
+import org.apache.commons.math3.util.CompositeFormat;
+
+/**
+ * Formats a {@code nxm} matrix in components list format
+ * "[a<sub>0</sub><sub>0</sub>, a<sub>0</sub><sub>1</sub>, ...,
+ * a<sub>0</sub><sub>m-1</sub>; a<sub>1</sub><sub>0</sub>,
+ * a<sub>1</sub><sub>1</sub>, ..., a<sub>1</sub><sub>m-1</sub>; ...;
+ * a<sub>n-1</sub><sub>0</sub>, a<sub>n-1</sub><sub>1</sub>, ...,
+ * a<sub>n-1</sub><sub>m-1</sub>}".
+ * <p>The prefix and suffix "[" and "]", the row separator "; " and the column
+ * separator ", " can be replaced by any user-defined strings. The number format
+ * for components can be configured.</p>
+ *
+ * <p>White space is ignored at parse time, even if it is in the prefix, suffix
+ * or separator specifications. So even if the default separator does include a space
+ * character that is used at format time, both input string "[1,1,1]" and
+ * " [ 1 , 1 , 1 ] " will be parsed without error and the same vector will be
+ * returned. In the second case, however, the parse position after parsing will be
+ * just after the closing curly brace, i.e. just before the trailing space.</p>
+ *
+ * <p><b>Note:</b> the grouping functionality of the used {@link NumberFormat} is
+ * disabled to prevent problems when parsing (e.g. 1,345.34 would be a valid number
+ * but conflicts with the default column separator).</p>
+ *
+ * @since 3.1
+ * @version $Id$
+ */
+public class RealMatrixFormat {
+
+    /** The default prefix: "{". */
+    private static final String DEFAULT_PREFIX = "[";
+    /** The default suffix: "}". */
+    private static final String DEFAULT_SUFFIX = "]";
+    /** The default row separator: ";". */
+    private static final String DEFAULT_ROW_SEPARATOR = "; ";
+    /** The default column separator: ", ". */
+    private static final String DEFAULT_COLUMN_SEPARATOR = ", ";
+    /** Prefix. */
+    private final String prefix;
+    /** Suffix. */
+    private final String suffix;
+    /** Row separator. */
+    private final String rowSeparator;
+    /** Column separator. */
+    private final String columnSeparator;
+    /** Trimmed prefix. */
+    private final String trimmedPrefix;
+    /** Trimmed suffix. */
+    private final String trimmedSuffix;
+    /** Trimmed row separator. */
+    private final String trimmedRowSeparator;
+    /** Trimmed column separator. */
+    private final String trimmedColumnSeparator;
+    /** The format used for components. */
+    private final NumberFormat format;
+
+    /**
+     * Create an instance with default settings.
+     * <p>The instance uses the default prefix, suffix and row/column separator:
+     * "[", "]", ";" and ", " and the default number format for components.</p>
+     */
+    public RealMatrixFormat() {
+        this(DEFAULT_PREFIX, DEFAULT_SUFFIX, DEFAULT_ROW_SEPARATOR, DEFAULT_COLUMN_SEPARATOR,
+             CompositeFormat.getDefaultNumberFormat());
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Create an instance with a custom number format for components.
+     * @param format the custom format for components.
+     */
+    public RealMatrixFormat(final NumberFormat format) {
+        this(DEFAULT_PREFIX, DEFAULT_SUFFIX, DEFAULT_ROW_SEPARATOR, DEFAULT_COLUMN_SEPARATOR, format);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Create an instance with custom prefix, suffix and separator.
+     * @param prefix prefix to use instead of the default "{"
+     * @param suffix suffix to use instead of the default "}"
+     * @param rowSeparator tow separator to use instead of the default ";"
+     * @param columnSeparator column separator to use instead of the default ", "
+     */
+    public RealMatrixFormat(final String prefix, final String suffix,
+                            final String rowSeparator, final String columnSeparator) {
+        this(prefix, suffix, rowSeparator, columnSeparator, CompositeFormat.getDefaultNumberFormat());
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Create an instance with custom prefix, suffix, separator and format
+     * for components.
+     * @param prefix prefix to use instead of the default "{"
+     * @param suffix suffix to use instead of the default "}"
+     * @param rowSeparator tow separator to use instead of the default ";"
+     * @param columnSeparator column separator to use instead of the default ", "
+     * @param format the custom format for components.
+     */
+    public RealMatrixFormat(final String prefix, final String suffix,
+                            final String rowSeparator, final String columnSeparator,
+                            final NumberFormat format) {
+        this.prefix            = prefix;
+        this.suffix            = suffix;
+        this.rowSeparator      = rowSeparator;
+        this.columnSeparator   = columnSeparator;
+        trimmedPrefix          = prefix.trim();
+        trimmedSuffix          = suffix.trim();
+        trimmedRowSeparator    = rowSeparator.trim();
+        trimmedColumnSeparator = columnSeparator.trim();
+        this.format            = format;
+        // disable grouping to prevent parsing problems
+        this.format.setGroupingUsed(false);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Get the set of locales for which real vectors formats are available.
+     * <p>This is the same set as the {@link NumberFormat} set.</p>
+     * @return available real vector format locales.
+     */
+    public static Locale[] getAvailableLocales() {
+        return NumberFormat.getAvailableLocales();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Get the format prefix.
+     * @return format prefix.
+     */
+    public String getPrefix() {
+        return prefix;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Get the format suffix.
+     * @return format suffix.
+     */
+    public String getSuffix() {
+        return suffix;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Get the format separator between rows of the matrix.
+     * @return format separator for rows.
+     */
+    public String getRowSeparator() {
+        return rowSeparator;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Get the format separator between components.
+     * @return format separator between components.
+     */
+    public String getColumnSeparator() {
+        return columnSeparator;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Get the components format.
+     * @return components format.
+     */
+    public NumberFormat getFormat() {
+        return format;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the default real vector format for the current locale.
+     * @return the default real vector format.
+     */
+    public static RealMatrixFormat getInstance() {
+        return getInstance(Locale.getDefault());
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the default real vector format for the given locale.
+     * @param locale the specific locale used by the format.
+     * @return the real vector format specific to the given locale.
+     */
+    public static RealMatrixFormat getInstance(final Locale locale) {
+        return new RealMatrixFormat(CompositeFormat.getDefaultNumberFormat(locale));
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * This method calls {@link #format(RealMatrix,StringBuffer,FieldPosition)}.
+     *
+     * @param m RealMatrix object to format.
+     * @return a formatted matrix.
+     */
+    public String format(RealMatrix m) {
+        return format(m, new StringBuffer(), new FieldPosition(0)).toString();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Formats a {@link RealMatrix} object to produce a string.
+     * @param matrix the object to format.
+     * @param toAppendTo where the text is to be appended
+     * @param pos On input: an alignment field, if desired. On output: the
+     *            offsets of the alignment field
+     * @return the value passed in as toAppendTo.
+     */
+    public StringBuffer format(RealMatrix matrix, StringBuffer toAppendTo,
+                               FieldPosition pos) {
+
+        pos.setBeginIndex(0);
+        pos.setEndIndex(0);
+
+        // format prefix
+        toAppendTo.append(prefix);
+
+        // format rows
+        final int rows = matrix.getRowDimension();
+        for (int i = 0; i < rows; ++i) {
+            for (int j = 0; j < matrix.getColumnDimension(); ++j) {
+                if (j > 0) {
+                    toAppendTo.append(columnSeparator);
+                }
+                CompositeFormat.formatDouble(matrix.getEntry(i, j), format, toAppendTo, pos);
+            }
+            if (i < rows - 1) {
+                toAppendTo.append(rowSeparator);
+            }
+        }
+
+        // format suffix
+        toAppendTo.append(suffix);
+
+        return toAppendTo;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Parse a string to produce a {@link RealMatrix} object.
+     *
+     * @param source String to parse.
+     * @return the parsed {@link RealMatrix} object.
+     * @throws MathParseException if the beginning of the specified string
+     * cannot be parsed.
+     */
+    public RealMatrix parse(String source) {
+        final ParsePosition parsePosition = new ParsePosition(0);
+        final RealMatrix result = parse(source, parsePosition);
+        if (parsePosition.getIndex() == 0) {
+            throw new MathParseException(source,
+                                         parsePosition.getErrorIndex(),
+                                         Array2DRowRealMatrix.class);
+        }
+        return result;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Parse a string to produce a {@link RealMatrix} object.
+     *
+     * @param source String to parse.
+     * @param pos input/ouput parsing parameter.
+     * @return the parsed {@link RealMatrix} object.
+     */
+    public RealMatrix parse(String source, ParsePosition pos) {
+        int initialIndex = pos.getIndex();
+
+        // parse prefix
+        CompositeFormat.parseAndIgnoreWhitespace(source, pos);
+        if (!CompositeFormat.parseFixedstring(source, trimmedPrefix, pos)) {
+            return null;
+        }
+
+        // parse components
+        List<List<Number>> matrix = new ArrayList<List<Number>>();
+        List<Number> rowComponents = new ArrayList<Number>();
+        for (boolean loop = true; loop;){
+
+            if (!rowComponents.isEmpty()) {
+                CompositeFormat.parseAndIgnoreWhitespace(source, pos);
+                if (!CompositeFormat.parseFixedstring(source, trimmedColumnSeparator, pos)) {
+                    if (CompositeFormat.parseFixedstring(source, trimmedRowSeparator, pos)) {
+                        matrix.add(rowComponents);
+                        rowComponents = new ArrayList<Number>();
+                    } else {
+                        loop = false;
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+
+            if (loop) {
+                CompositeFormat.parseAndIgnoreWhitespace(source, pos);
+                Number component = CompositeFormat.parseNumber(source, format, pos);
+                if (component != null) {
+                    rowComponents.add(component);
+                } else {
+                    if (rowComponents.isEmpty()) {
+                        loop = false;
+                    } else {
+                        // invalid component
+                        // set index back to initial, error index should already be set
+                        pos.setIndex(initialIndex);
+                        return null;
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+
+        }
+
+        if (!rowComponents.isEmpty()) {
+            matrix.add(rowComponents);
+        }
+
+        // parse suffix
+        CompositeFormat.parseAndIgnoreWhitespace(source, pos);
+        if (!CompositeFormat.parseFixedstring(source, trimmedSuffix, pos)) {
+            return null;
+        }
+
+        // do not allow an empty matrix
+        if (matrix.isEmpty()) {
+            pos.setIndex(initialIndex);
+            return null;
+        }
+
+        // build vector
+        double[][] data = new double[matrix.size()][];
+        int row = 0;
+        for (List<Number> rowList : matrix) {
+            data[row] = new double[rowList.size()];
+            for (int i = 0; i < rowList.size(); i++) {
+                data[row][i] = rowList.get(i).doubleValue();
+            }
+            row++;
+        }
+        return MatrixUtils.createRealMatrix(data);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/commons/math3/linear/RealMatrixFormatAbstractTest.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/commons/math3/linear/RealMatrixFormatAbstractTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..930ffda9e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/commons/math3/linear/RealMatrixFormatAbstractTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,361 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+ * contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+ * The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+ * (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+ * the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.apache.commons.math3.linear;
+
+import java.text.NumberFormat;
+import java.text.ParsePosition;
+import java.util.Locale;
+
+import org.junit.Test;
+import org.junit.Assert;
+
+import org.apache.commons.math3.exception.MathParseException;
+
+public abstract class RealMatrixFormatAbstractTest {
+
+    RealMatrixFormat realMatrixFormat = null;
+    RealMatrixFormat realMatrixFormatOther = null;
+
+    protected abstract Locale getLocale();
+
+    protected abstract char getDecimalCharacter();
+
+    public RealMatrixFormatAbstractTest() {
+        realMatrixFormat = RealMatrixFormat.getInstance(getLocale());
+        final NumberFormat nf = NumberFormat.getInstance(getLocale());
+        nf.setMaximumFractionDigits(2);
+        realMatrixFormatOther = new RealMatrixFormat("{", "}", ", ", " : ", nf);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testSimpleNoDecimals() {
+        RealMatrix m = MatrixUtils.createRealMatrix(new double[][] {{1, 1, 1}, {1, 1, 1}});
+        String expected = "[1, 1, 1; 1, 1, 1]";
+        String actual = realMatrixFormat.format(m);
+        Assert.assertEquals(expected, actual);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testSimpleWithDecimals() {
+        RealMatrix m = MatrixUtils.createRealMatrix(new double[][] {{1.23, 1.43, 1.63}, {2.46, 2.46, 2.66}});
+        String expected =
+            "[1"    + getDecimalCharacter() +
+            "23, 1" + getDecimalCharacter() +
+            "43, 1" + getDecimalCharacter() +
+            "63; 2" + getDecimalCharacter() +
+            "46, 2" + getDecimalCharacter() +
+            "46, 2" + getDecimalCharacter() +
+            "66]";
+        String actual = realMatrixFormat.format(m);
+        Assert.assertEquals(expected, actual);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testSimpleWithDecimalsTrunc() {
+        RealMatrix m = MatrixUtils.createRealMatrix(new double[][] {{1.2323, 1.4343, 1.6333},
+                                                                    {2.4666, 2.4666, 2.6666}});
+        String expected =
+                "[1"    + getDecimalCharacter() +
+                "23, 1" + getDecimalCharacter() +
+                "43, 1" + getDecimalCharacter() +
+                "63; 2" + getDecimalCharacter() +
+                "47, 2" + getDecimalCharacter() +
+                "47, 2" + getDecimalCharacter() +
+                "67]";
+        String actual = realMatrixFormat.format(m);
+        Assert.assertEquals(expected, actual);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testNegativeX() {
+        RealMatrix m = MatrixUtils.createRealMatrix(new double[][] {{-1.2323, 1.4343, 1.6333},
+                                                                    {2.4666, 2.4666, 2.6666}});
+        String expected =
+                "[-1"    + getDecimalCharacter() +
+                "23, 1" + getDecimalCharacter() +
+                "43, 1" + getDecimalCharacter() +
+                "63; 2" + getDecimalCharacter() +
+                "47, 2" + getDecimalCharacter() +
+                "47, 2" + getDecimalCharacter() +
+                "67]";
+        String actual = realMatrixFormat.format(m);
+        Assert.assertEquals(expected, actual);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testNegativeY() {
+        RealMatrix m = MatrixUtils.createRealMatrix(new double[][] {{1.2323, -1.4343, 1.6333},
+                                                                    {2.4666, 2.4666, 2.6666}});
+        String expected =
+                "[1"    + getDecimalCharacter() +
+                "23, -1" + getDecimalCharacter() +
+                "43, 1" + getDecimalCharacter() +
+                "63; 2" + getDecimalCharacter() +
+                "47, 2" + getDecimalCharacter() +
+                "47, 2" + getDecimalCharacter() +
+                "67]";
+        String actual = realMatrixFormat.format(m);
+        Assert.assertEquals(expected, actual);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testNegativeSecondRow() {
+        RealMatrix m = MatrixUtils.createRealMatrix(new double[][] {{1.2323, 1.4343, 1.6333},
+                                                                    {-2.4666, 2.4666, 2.6666}});
+        String expected =
+                "[1"    + getDecimalCharacter() +
+                "23, 1" + getDecimalCharacter() +
+                "43, 1" + getDecimalCharacter() +
+                "63; -2" + getDecimalCharacter() +
+                "47, 2" + getDecimalCharacter() +
+                "47, 2" + getDecimalCharacter() +
+                "67]";
+        String actual = realMatrixFormat.format(m);
+        Assert.assertEquals(expected, actual);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testNonDefaultSetting() {
+        RealMatrix m = MatrixUtils.createRealMatrix(new double[][] {{1, 1, 1}, {1, 1, 1}});
+        String expected = "{1 : 1 : 1, 1 : 1 : 1}";
+        String actual = realMatrixFormatOther.format(m);
+        Assert.assertEquals(expected, actual);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testDefaultFormatRealVectorImpl() {
+        Locale defaultLocal = Locale.getDefault();
+        Locale.setDefault(getLocale());
+
+        RealMatrix m = MatrixUtils.createRealMatrix(new double[][] {{232.222, -342.33, 432.444}});
+        String expected =
+            "[232"    + getDecimalCharacter() +
+            "22, -342" + getDecimalCharacter() +
+            "33, 432" + getDecimalCharacter() +
+            "44]";
+        String actual = (new RealMatrixFormat()).format(m);
+        Assert.assertEquals(expected, actual);
+
+        Locale.setDefault(defaultLocal);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testNan() {
+        RealMatrix m = MatrixUtils.createRealMatrix(new double[][] {{Double.NaN, Double.NaN, Double.NaN}});
+        String expected = "[(NaN), (NaN), (NaN)]";
+        String actual = realMatrixFormat.format(m);
+        Assert.assertEquals(expected, actual);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testPositiveInfinity() {
+        RealMatrix m = MatrixUtils.createRealMatrix(
+                new double[][] {{Double.POSITIVE_INFINITY, Double.POSITIVE_INFINITY, Double.POSITIVE_INFINITY}});
+        String expected = "[(Infinity), (Infinity), (Infinity)]";
+        String actual = realMatrixFormat.format(m);
+        Assert.assertEquals(expected, actual);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void tesNegativeInfinity() {
+        RealMatrix m = MatrixUtils.createRealMatrix(
+                new double[][] {{Double.NEGATIVE_INFINITY, Double.NEGATIVE_INFINITY, Double.NEGATIVE_INFINITY}});
+        String expected = "[(-Infinity), (-Infinity), (-Infinity)]";
+        String actual = realMatrixFormat.format(m);
+        Assert.assertEquals(expected, actual);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testParseSimpleNoDecimals() {
+        String source = "[1, 1, 1; 1, 1, 1]";
+        RealMatrix expected = MatrixUtils.createRealMatrix(new double[][] {{1, 1, 1}, {1, 1, 1}});
+        RealMatrix actual = realMatrixFormat.parse(source);
+        Assert.assertEquals(expected, actual);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testParseSimpleWithClosingRowSeparator() {
+        String source = "[1, 1, 1; 1, 1, 1 ;]";
+        RealMatrix expected = MatrixUtils.createRealMatrix(new double[][] {{1, 1, 1}, {1, 1, 1}});
+        RealMatrix actual = realMatrixFormat.parse(source);
+        Assert.assertEquals(expected, actual);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testParseIgnoredWhitespace() {
+        RealMatrix expected = MatrixUtils.createRealMatrix(new double[][] {{1, 1, 1}, {1, 1, 1}});
+        ParsePosition pos1 = new ParsePosition(0);
+        String source1 = "[1,1,1;1,1,1]";
+        Assert.assertEquals(expected, realMatrixFormat.parse(source1, pos1));
+        Assert.assertEquals(source1.length(), pos1.getIndex());
+        ParsePosition pos2 = new ParsePosition(0);
+        String source2 = " [ 1 , 1 , 1 ; 1 , 1 , 1 ] ";
+        Assert.assertEquals(expected, realMatrixFormat.parse(source2, pos2));
+        Assert.assertEquals(source2.length() - 1, pos2.getIndex());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testParseSimpleWithDecimals() {
+        String source =
+            "[1" + getDecimalCharacter() +
+            "23, 1" + getDecimalCharacter() +
+            "43, 1" + getDecimalCharacter() +
+            "63]";
+        RealMatrix expected = MatrixUtils.createRealMatrix(new double[][] {{1.23, 1.43, 1.63}});
+        RealMatrix actual = realMatrixFormat.parse(source);
+        Assert.assertEquals(expected, actual);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testParseSimpleWithDecimalsTrunc() {
+        String source =
+            "[1" + getDecimalCharacter() +
+            "2323, 1" + getDecimalCharacter() +
+            "4343, 1" + getDecimalCharacter() +
+            "6333]";
+        RealMatrix expected = MatrixUtils.createRealMatrix(new double[][] {{1.2323, 1.4343, 1.6333}});
+        RealMatrix actual = realMatrixFormat.parse(source);
+        Assert.assertEquals(expected, actual);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testParseNegativeComponent() {
+        String source =
+            "[-1" + getDecimalCharacter() +
+            "2323, 1" + getDecimalCharacter() +
+            "4343, 1" + getDecimalCharacter() +
+            "6333]";
+        RealMatrix expected = MatrixUtils.createRealMatrix(new double[][] {{-1.2323, 1.4343, 1.6333}});
+        RealMatrix actual = realMatrixFormat.parse(source);
+        Assert.assertEquals(expected, actual);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testParseNegativeAll() {
+        String source =
+            "[-1" + getDecimalCharacter() +
+            "2323, -1" + getDecimalCharacter() +
+            "4343, -1" + getDecimalCharacter() +
+            "6333]";
+        RealMatrix expected = MatrixUtils.createRealMatrix(new double[][] {{-1.2323, -1.4343, -1.6333}});
+        RealMatrix actual = realMatrixFormat.parse(source);
+        Assert.assertEquals(expected, actual);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testParseZeroComponent() {
+        String source =
+            "[0" + getDecimalCharacter() +
+            "0, -1" + getDecimalCharacter() +
+            "4343, 1" + getDecimalCharacter() +
+            "6333]";
+        RealMatrix expected = MatrixUtils.createRealMatrix(new double[][] {{0.0, -1.4343, 1.6333}});
+        RealMatrix actual = realMatrixFormat.parse(source);
+        Assert.assertEquals(expected, actual);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testParseNonDefaultSetting() {
+        String source =
+            "{1" + getDecimalCharacter() +
+            "2323 : 1" + getDecimalCharacter() +
+            "4343 : 1" + getDecimalCharacter() +
+            "6333}";
+        RealMatrix expected = MatrixUtils.createRealMatrix(new double[][] {{1.2323, 1.4343, 1.6333}});
+        RealMatrix actual = realMatrixFormatOther.parse(source);
+        Assert.assertEquals(expected, actual);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testParseNan() {
+        String source = "[(NaN), (NaN), (NaN)]";
+        RealMatrix actual = realMatrixFormat.parse(source);
+        RealMatrix expected = MatrixUtils.createRealMatrix(new double[][] {{Double.NaN, Double.NaN, Double.NaN}});
+        for (int i = 0; i < expected.getRowDimension(); i++) {
+            for (int j = 0; j < expected.getColumnDimension(); j++) {
+                Assert.assertTrue(Double.isNaN(actual.getEntry(i, j)));
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testParsePositiveInfinity() {
+        String source = "[(Infinity), (Infinity), (Infinity)]";
+        RealMatrix actual = realMatrixFormat.parse(source);
+        RealMatrix expected = MatrixUtils.createRealMatrix(
+                new double[][] {{Double.POSITIVE_INFINITY, Double.POSITIVE_INFINITY, Double.POSITIVE_INFINITY}});
+        Assert.assertEquals(expected, actual);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testParseNegativeInfinity() {
+        String source = "[(-Infinity), (-Infinity), (-Infinity)]";
+        RealMatrix actual = realMatrixFormat.parse(source);
+        RealMatrix expected = MatrixUtils.createRealMatrix(
+                new double[][] {{Double.NEGATIVE_INFINITY, Double.NEGATIVE_INFINITY, Double.NEGATIVE_INFINITY}});
+        Assert.assertEquals(expected, actual);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testParseNoComponents() {
+        try {
+            realMatrixFormat.parse("[ ]");
+            Assert.fail("Expecting MathParseException");
+        } catch (MathParseException pe) {
+            // expected behavior
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testParseManyComponents() {
+        RealMatrix parsed = realMatrixFormat.parse("[0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0]");
+        Assert.assertEquals(24, parsed.getRowDimension());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testConstructorSingleFormat() {
+        NumberFormat nf = NumberFormat.getInstance();
+        RealMatrixFormat mf = new RealMatrixFormat(nf);
+        Assert.assertNotNull(mf);
+        Assert.assertEquals(nf, mf.getFormat());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testForgottenPrefix() {
+        ParsePosition pos = new ParsePosition(0);
+        final String source = "1; 1; 1]";
+        Assert.assertNull("Should not parse <"+source+">", new RealMatrixFormat().parse(source, pos));
+        Assert.assertEquals(0, pos.getErrorIndex());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testForgottenSeparator() {
+        ParsePosition pos = new ParsePosition(0);
+        final String source = "[1; 1 1]";
+        Assert.assertNull("Should not parse <"+source+">", new RealMatrixFormat().parse(source, pos));
+        Assert.assertEquals(6, pos.getErrorIndex());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testForgottenSuffix() {
+        ParsePosition pos = new ParsePosition(0);
+        final String source = "[1; 1; 1 ";
+        Assert.assertNull("Should not parse <"+source+">", new RealMatrixFormat().parse(source, pos));
+        Assert.assertEquals(8, pos.getErrorIndex());
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/apache/commons/math3/linear/RealMatrixFormatTest.java b/src/test/java/org/apache/commons/math3/linear/RealMatrixFormatTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..86a1e283a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/org/apache/commons/math3/linear/RealMatrixFormatTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+ * contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+ * The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
+ * (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
+ * the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.apache.commons.math3.linear;
+
+import java.util.Locale;
+
+
+public class RealMatrixFormatTest extends RealMatrixFormatAbstractTest {
+
+    @Override
+    protected char getDecimalCharacter() {
+        return '.';
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    protected Locale getLocale() {
+        return Locale.US;
+    }
+}