diff --git a/lib/Slic3r.pm b/lib/Slic3r.pm
index e814be9f5..7a4f46c93 100644
--- a/lib/Slic3r.pm
+++ b/lib/Slic3r.pm
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ use strict;
 use warnings;
 require v5.10;
 
-our $VERSION = "1.2.2-dev";
+our $VERSION = VERSION();
 
 our $debug = 0;
 sub debugf {
diff --git a/lib/Slic3r/GCode/PlaceholderParser.pm b/lib/Slic3r/GCode/PlaceholderParser.pm
index 0c2dafb82..2f76c4ff4 100644
--- a/lib/Slic3r/GCode/PlaceholderParser.pm
+++ b/lib/Slic3r/GCode/PlaceholderParser.pm
@@ -5,9 +5,9 @@ use warnings;
 sub new {
     # TODO: move this code to C++ constructor, remove this method
     my ($class) = @_;
+    
     my $self = $class->_new;
     $self->apply_env_variables;
-    $self->update_timestamp;
     return $self;
 }
 
@@ -16,26 +16,6 @@ sub apply_env_variables {
     $self->_single_set($_, $ENV{$_}) for grep /^SLIC3R_/, keys %ENV;
 }
 
-sub update_timestamp {
-    my ($self) = @_;
-
-    my @lt = localtime; $lt[5] += 1900; $lt[4] += 1;
-    $self->_single_set('timestamp', sprintf '%04d%02d%02d-%02d%02d%02d', @lt[5,4,3,2,1,0]);
-    $self->_single_set('year',      "$lt[5]");
-    $self->_single_set('month',     "$lt[4]");
-    $self->_single_set('day',       "$lt[3]");
-    $self->_single_set('hour',      "$lt[2]");
-    $self->_single_set('minute',    "$lt[1]");
-    $self->_single_set('second',    "$lt[0]");
-    $self->_single_set('version',   $Slic3r::VERSION);
-}
-
-# TODO: or this could be an alias
-sub set {
-    my ($self, $key, $val) = @_;
-    $self->_single_set($key, $val);
-}
-
 sub process {
     my ($self, $string, $extra) = @_;
     
diff --git a/xs/src/libslic3r/PlaceholderParser.cpp b/xs/src/libslic3r/PlaceholderParser.cpp
index c384afa32..31056dd2c 100644
--- a/xs/src/libslic3r/PlaceholderParser.cpp
+++ b/xs/src/libslic3r/PlaceholderParser.cpp
@@ -1,18 +1,50 @@
 #include "PlaceholderParser.hpp"
-
+#include <ctime>
+#include <iomanip>
+#include <sstream>
 
 namespace Slic3r {
 
-
 PlaceholderParser::PlaceholderParser()
 {
+    this->_single["version"] = SLIC3R_VERSION;
     // TODO: port these methods to C++, then call them here
     // this->apply_env_variables();
-    // this->update_timestamp();
+    this->update_timestamp();
 }
 
-PlaceholderParser::~PlaceholderParser()
+void
+PlaceholderParser::update_timestamp()
 {
+    time_t rawtime;
+    time(&rawtime);
+    struct tm* timeinfo = localtime(&rawtime);
+    
+    {
+        std::ostringstream ss;
+        ss << (1900 + timeinfo->tm_year);
+        ss << std::setw(2) << std::setfill('0') << (1 + timeinfo->tm_mon);
+        ss << std::setw(2) << std::setfill('0') << timeinfo->tm_mday;
+        ss << "-";
+        ss << std::setw(2) << std::setfill('0') << timeinfo->tm_hour;
+        ss << std::setw(2) << std::setfill('0') << timeinfo->tm_min;
+        ss << std::setw(2) << std::setfill('0') << timeinfo->tm_sec;
+        this->_single["timestamp"] = ss.str();
+    }
+    this->_single["year"]   = this->_int_to_string(1900 + timeinfo->tm_year);
+    this->_single["month"]  = this->_int_to_string(1 + timeinfo->tm_mon);
+    this->_single["day"]    = this->_int_to_string(timeinfo->tm_mday);
+    this->_single["hour"]   = this->_int_to_string(timeinfo->tm_hour);
+    this->_single["minute"] = this->_int_to_string(timeinfo->tm_min);
+    this->_single["second"] = this->_int_to_string(timeinfo->tm_sec);
+}
+
+std::string
+PlaceholderParser::_int_to_string(int value) const
+{
+    std::ostringstream ss;
+    ss << value;
+    return ss.str();
 }
 
 void PlaceholderParser::apply_config(DynamicPrintConfig &config)
@@ -85,6 +117,12 @@ void PlaceholderParser::apply_config(DynamicPrintConfig &config)
     }
 }
 
+void
+PlaceholderParser::set(const std::string &key, const std::string &value)
+{
+    this->_single[key] = value;
+}
+
 std::ostream& operator<<(std::ostream &stm, const Pointf &pointf)
 {
     return stm << pointf.x << "," << pointf.y;
diff --git a/xs/src/libslic3r/PlaceholderParser.hpp b/xs/src/libslic3r/PlaceholderParser.hpp
index e69d6ed93..eb061fab2 100644
--- a/xs/src/libslic3r/PlaceholderParser.hpp
+++ b/xs/src/libslic3r/PlaceholderParser.hpp
@@ -17,14 +17,15 @@ class PlaceholderParser
     std::map<std::string, std::string> _multiple;
 
     PlaceholderParser();
-    ~PlaceholderParser();
-
+    void update_timestamp();
     void apply_config(DynamicPrintConfig &config);
+    void set(const std::string &key, const std::string &value);
 
     private:
     template<class T>
     void set_multiple_from_vector(
         const std::string &key, ConfigOptionVector<T> &opt);
+    std::string _int_to_string(int value) const;
 };
 
 }
diff --git a/xs/src/libslic3r/libslic3r.h b/xs/src/libslic3r/libslic3r.h
index 072e97ffb..17a437c3d 100644
--- a/xs/src/libslic3r/libslic3r.h
+++ b/xs/src/libslic3r/libslic3r.h
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@
 #include <iostream>
 #include <sstream>
 
+#define SLIC3R_VERSION "1.2.2-dev"
+
 #define EPSILON 1e-4
 #define SCALING_FACTOR 0.000001
 #define PI 3.141592653589793238
diff --git a/xs/xsp/PlaceholderParser.xsp b/xs/xsp/PlaceholderParser.xsp
index 4b508f77a..760f3b71f 100644
--- a/xs/xsp/PlaceholderParser.xsp
+++ b/xs/xsp/PlaceholderParser.xsp
@@ -9,9 +9,11 @@
 %name{Slic3r::GCode::PlaceholderParser} class PlaceholderParser {
     %name{_new} PlaceholderParser();
     ~PlaceholderParser();
-
+    
+    void update_timestamp();
     void apply_config(DynamicPrintConfig *config)
-    %code%{ THIS->apply_config(*config); %};
+        %code%{ THIS->apply_config(*config); %};
+    void set(std::string key, std::string value);
 
     void _single_set(std::string k, std::string v)
         %code%{ THIS->_single[k] = v; %};
diff --git a/xs/xsp/XS.xsp b/xs/xsp/XS.xsp
index f14af9433..3829994e1 100644
--- a/xs/xsp/XS.xsp
+++ b/xs/xsp/XS.xsp
@@ -6,3 +6,14 @@
 %{
 
 %}
+
+%package{Slic3r};
+%{
+
+SV*
+VERSION()
+    CODE:
+        RETVAL = newSVpv(SLIC3R_VERSION, 0);
+    OUTPUT: RETVAL
+
+%}
\ No newline at end of file