diff --git a/src/main/scala/millfork/env/Environment.scala b/src/main/scala/millfork/env/Environment.scala
index 39b4e674..a90f3c7a 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/millfork/env/Environment.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/millfork/env/Environment.scala
@@ -1749,6 +1749,38 @@ class Environment(val parent: Option[Environment], val prefix: String, val cpuFa
 
   def extractArrayContents(contents1: ArrayContents): List[Expression] = contents1 match {
     case LiteralContents(xs) => xs
+    case FileChunkContents(filePath, startE, lengthE) =>
+      val data = Files.readAllBytes(filePath)
+      val p = contents1.position
+      val slice = (eval(startE).map(_.quickSimplify), lengthE.map(l => eval(l).map(_.quickSimplify))) match {
+        case (Some(NumericConstant(start, _)), Some(Some(NumericConstant(length, _)))) =>
+          if (data.length < start) {
+            log.error(s"File $filePath is shorter (${data.length} B) that the start offset $start", p)
+            Array.fill(length.toInt)(0.toByte)
+          } else if (data.length < start + length) {
+            log.error(s"File $filePath is shorter (${data.length} B) that the start offset plus length ${start + length}", p)
+            Array.fill(length.toInt)(0.toByte)
+          } else {
+            data.slice(start.toInt, start.toInt + length.toInt)
+          }
+        case (Some(NumericConstant(start, _)), None) =>
+          if (data.length < start) {
+            log.error(s"File $filePath is shorter (${data.length} B) that the start offset $start", p)
+            Array[Byte](0)
+          } else {
+            data.drop(start.toInt)
+          }
+        case (None, Some(Some(_))) =>
+          log.error(s"Start offset is not a constant", p)
+          Array[Byte](0)
+        case (_, Some(None)) =>
+          log.error(s"Length is not a constant", p)
+          Array[Byte](0)
+        case (None, Some(None)) =>
+          log.error(s"Start offset and length are not constants", p)
+          Array[Byte](0)
+      }
+      slice.map(c => LiteralExpression(c & 0xff, 1)).toList
     case CombinedContents(xs) => xs.flatMap(extractArrayContents)
     case pc@ProcessedContents("struct", xs: CombinedContents) =>
       checkIfArrayContentsAreSimple(xs)
diff --git a/src/main/scala/millfork/node/Node.scala b/src/main/scala/millfork/node/Node.scala
index a6ca137d..2f05c9be 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/millfork/node/Node.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/millfork/node/Node.scala
@@ -483,6 +483,21 @@ trait ArrayContents extends Node {
   def replaceVariable(variableToReplace: String, expression: Expression): ArrayContents
 }
 
+case class FileChunkContents(filePath: Path, start: Expression, length: Option[Expression]) extends ArrayContents {
+  def getAllExpressions(bigEndian: Boolean): List[Expression] = length match {
+    case Some(l) => List(start, l)
+    case None => List(start)
+  }
+  def renameVariable(variableToRename: String, newVariable: String): ArrayContents =
+    FileChunkContents(filePath,
+      start.renameVariable(variableToRename, newVariable),
+      length.map(_.renameVariable(variableToRename, newVariable)))
+  def replaceVariable(variableToReplace: String, expression: Expression): ArrayContents =
+    FileChunkContents(filePath,
+      start.replaceVariable(variableToReplace, expression),
+      length.map(_.replaceVariable(variableToReplace, expression)))
+}
+
 case class LiteralContents(contents: List[Expression]) extends ArrayContents {
   override def getAllExpressions(bigEndian: Boolean): List[Expression] = contents
 
diff --git a/src/main/scala/millfork/parser/MfParser.scala b/src/main/scala/millfork/parser/MfParser.scala
index d2b9016d..8eaa03d2 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/millfork/parser/MfParser.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/millfork/parser/MfParser.scala
@@ -340,35 +340,13 @@ abstract class MfParser[T](fileId: String, input: String, currentDirectory: Stri
     p <- "file" ~ HWS ~/ "(" ~/ HWS ~/ position("file name")
     filePath <- doubleQuotedString ~/ HWS
     _ <- position("file start")
-    optStart <- ("," ~/ HWS ~/ literalAtom ~/ HWS ~/ Pass).?
+    optStart <- ("," ~/ HWS ~/ mfExpression(nonStatementLevel, false) ~/ HWS ~/ Pass).?
     _ <- position("slice length")
-    optLength <- ("," ~/ HWS ~/ literalAtom ~/ HWS ~/ Pass).?
+    optLength <- ("," ~/ HWS ~/ mfExpression(nonStatementLevel, false) ~/ HWS ~/ Pass).?
     _ <- position("closing parentheses")
     _ <- ")" ~/ Pass
   } yield {
-    val data = Files.readAllBytes(Paths.get(currentDirectory, filePath))
-    val slice: Array[Byte] = (optStart.map(_.value.toInt), optLength.map(_.value.toInt)) match {
-      case (Some(start), Some(length)) =>
-        if (data.length < start) {
-          log.error(s"File $filePath is shorter (${data.length} B) that the start offset $start", Some(p))
-          Array.fill(length)(0.toByte)
-        } else if (data.length < start + length) {
-          log.error(s"File $filePath is shorter (${data.length} B) that the start offset plus length ${start + length}", Some(p))
-          Array.fill(length)(0.toByte)
-        } else {
-          data.slice(start, start + length)
-        }
-      case (Some(start), None) =>
-        if (data.length < start) {
-          log.error(s"File $filePath is shorter (${data.length} B) that the start offset $start", Some(p))
-          Array[Byte](0)
-        } else {
-          data.drop(start)
-        }
-      case (None, None) => data
-      case _ => throw new IllegalStateException("error parsing file()")
-    }
-    LiteralContents(slice.map(c => LiteralExpression(c & 0xff, 1)).toList)
+    FileChunkContents(Paths.get(currentDirectory, filePath), optStart.getOrElse(LiteralExpression(0, 1)), optLength)
   }
 
   def arrayStringContents: P[ArrayContents] = textLiteral.map(LiteralContents)
diff --git a/src/test/resources/binarydata b/src/test/resources/binarydata
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..fab36be5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/resources/binarydata
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+AAAAAAAAA123456789
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/test/scala/millfork/test/ArraySuite.scala b/src/test/scala/millfork/test/ArraySuite.scala
index b5fb7026..bd2447dd 100644
--- a/src/test/scala/millfork/test/ArraySuite.scala
+++ b/src/test/scala/millfork/test/ArraySuite.scala
@@ -698,4 +698,20 @@ class ArraySuite extends FunSuite with Matchers with AppendedClues {
       m.readWord(0xc022) should equal(2)
     }
   }
+
+  test("Arrays from file") {
+    EmuUnoptimizedCrossPlatformRun(Cpu.Mos)(
+      """
+        | const byte nine = 9
+        | array dummy @$4000 = file("src/test/resources/binarydata", nine, 3*3)
+        |
+        | void main () {
+        |
+        | }
+        | noinline byte f(byte x) = x
+      """.stripMargin) { m =>
+      m.readByte(0x4000) should equal('1'.toInt)
+      m.readByte(0x4008) should equal('9'.toInt)
+    }
+  }
 }