diff --git a/src/java/com/samskivert/jdbc/depot/ByteEnum.java b/src/java/com/samskivert/jdbc/depot/ByteEnum.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3e38268
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/java/com/samskivert/jdbc/depot/ByteEnum.java
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+//
+// $Id$
+//
+// samskivert library - useful routines for java programs
+// Copyright (C) 2006 Michael Bayne
+// 
+// This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
+// under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published
+// by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2.1 of the License, or
+// (at your option) any later version.
+//
+// This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+// Lesser General Public License for more details.
+//
+// You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+// License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
+// Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA
+
+package com.samskivert.jdbc.depot;
+
+/**
+ * An enum value can be used as a field in a persistent object if it implements this interface and
+ * also declares a public static method with the following signature:
+ *
+ * <code>
+ * public static YourEnum fromByte (byte value)
+ * </code>
+ *
+ * which must return the appropriate instance of your enum for the supplied byte.
+ */
+public interface ByteEnum
+{
+    /**
+     * Returns the byte value to which to map this enum value.
+     */
+    public byte toByte ();
+}
diff --git a/src/java/com/samskivert/jdbc/depot/FieldMarshaller.java b/src/java/com/samskivert/jdbc/depot/FieldMarshaller.java
index bb3dd7b..59d0452 100644
--- a/src/java/com/samskivert/jdbc/depot/FieldMarshaller.java
+++ b/src/java/com/samskivert/jdbc/depot/FieldMarshaller.java
@@ -21,6 +21,9 @@
 package com.samskivert.jdbc.depot;
 
 import java.lang.reflect.Field;
+import java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException;
+import java.lang.reflect.Method;
+import java.lang.reflect.Modifier;
 
 import java.sql.Blob;
 import java.sql.Clob;
@@ -93,6 +96,10 @@ public abstract class FieldMarshaller
             ftype.equals(Clob.class)) {
             marshaller = new ObjectMarshaller();
 
+        // special Enum types
+        } else if (ByteEnum.class.isAssignableFrom(ftype)) {
+            marshaller = new ByteEnumMarshaller(ftype);
+
         } else {
             throw new IllegalArgumentException(
                 "Cannot marshall field of type '" + ftype.getName() + "'.");
@@ -169,7 +176,7 @@ public abstract class FieldMarshaller
         // read our column metadata from the annotation (if it exists); annoyingly we can't create
         // a Column instance to read the defaults so we have to duplicate them here
         int length = 255;
-        boolean nullable = true;
+        boolean nullable = false;
         boolean unique = false;
         Column column = _field.getAnnotation(Column.class);
         if (column != null) {
@@ -391,6 +398,40 @@ public abstract class FieldMarshaller
         }
     }
 
+    protected static class ByteEnumMarshaller extends FieldMarshaller {
+        public ByteEnumMarshaller (Class clazz) {
+            try {
+                _factmeth = clazz.getMethod("fromByte", new Class[] { Byte.TYPE });
+            } catch (Exception e) {
+                throw new IllegalArgumentException(
+                    "Could not locate fromByte() method on enum field " + _field.getType() + ".");
+            }
+            if (!Modifier.isPublic(_factmeth.getModifiers()) ||
+                !Modifier.isStatic(_factmeth.getModifiers())) {
+                throw new IllegalArgumentException(
+                    _field.getType() + ".fromByte() must be public and static.");
+            }
+        }
+
+        public void setValue (Object po, PreparedStatement ps, int column)
+            throws SQLException, IllegalAccessException {
+            ps.setInt(column, ((ByteEnum)_field.get(po)).toByte());
+        }
+        public void getValue (ResultSet rs, Object po)
+            throws SQLException, IllegalAccessException {
+            try {
+                _field.set(po, _factmeth.invoke(null, rs.getInt(getColumnName())));
+            } catch (InvocationTargetException ite) {
+                throw new RuntimeException(ite);
+            }
+        }
+        public String getColumnType () {
+            return "TINYINT";
+        }
+
+        protected Method _factmeth;
+    }
+
     protected Field _field;
     protected String _columnName, _columnDefinition;
     protected Computed _computed;