diff --git a/src/textstream/textstream.h b/src/textstream/textstream.h
index d43a8c7..9b17b32 100644
--- a/src/textstream/textstream.h
+++ b/src/textstream/textstream.h
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
  */
 
 /* 
- * Copyright (c) 2012-2022, Tomasz Sowa
+ * Copyright (c) 2012-2023, Tomasz Sowa
  * All rights reserved.
  * 
  * Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
@@ -155,6 +155,13 @@ public:
 	std::string  to_str() const;
 	std::wstring to_wstr() const;
 
+	/*
+	 * returns true if the buffer was sufficient large and there were no convertion errors
+	 */
+	bool to_str(char * str, size_t max_buf_len) const;
+	bool to_str(wchar_t * str, size_t max_buf_len) const;
+
+
 	char get_char(size_t index) const;
 	wchar_t get_wchar(size_t index) const;
 
@@ -597,7 +604,6 @@ void TextStreamBase<char_type, stack_size, heap_block_size>::to_str(std::string
 	if( str.capacity() < str.size() + size() )
 		str.reserve(str.size() + size());
 
-
 	if constexpr (sizeof(char_type) == sizeof(char) )
 	{
 		const_iterator i = begin();
@@ -658,6 +664,89 @@ std::wstring TextStreamBase<char_type, stack_size, heap_block_size>::to_wstr() c
 }
 
 
+
+template<typename char_type, size_t stack_size, size_t heap_block_size>
+bool TextStreamBase<char_type, stack_size, heap_block_size>::to_str(char * str, size_t max_buf_len) const
+{
+	bool converted_correctly = false;
+
+	if( max_buf_len > 0 )
+	{
+		if constexpr (sizeof(char_type) == sizeof(char) )
+		{
+			converted_correctly = true;
+			const_iterator i = begin();
+			const_iterator i_end = end();
+			size_t len = 0;
+			max_buf_len -= 1; // for terminating null character
+
+			for( ; i != i_end ; ++i, ++len)
+			{
+				if( len < max_buf_len )
+				{
+					str[len] = *i;
+				}
+				else
+				{
+					converted_correctly = false;
+					break;
+				}
+			}
+
+			str[len] = 0;
+		}
+		else
+		{
+			converted_correctly = wide_stream_to_utf8(*this, str, max_buf_len);
+		}
+	}
+
+	return converted_correctly;
+}
+
+
+
+template<typename char_type, size_t stack_size, size_t heap_block_size>
+bool TextStreamBase<char_type, stack_size, heap_block_size>::to_str(wchar_t * str, size_t max_buf_len) const
+{
+	bool converted_correctly = false;
+
+	if( max_buf_len > 0 )
+	{
+		if constexpr (sizeof(char_type) == sizeof(wchar_t) )
+		{
+			converted_correctly = true;
+			const_iterator i = begin();
+			const_iterator i_end = end();
+			size_t len = 0;
+			max_buf_len -= 1; // for terminating null character
+
+			for( ; i != i_end ; ++i, ++len)
+			{
+				if( len < max_buf_len )
+				{
+					str[len] = *i;
+				}
+				else
+				{
+					converted_correctly = false;
+					break;
+				}
+			}
+
+			str[len] = 0;
+		}
+		else
+		{
+			converted_correctly = utf8_to_wide(*this, str, max_buf_len);
+		}
+	}
+
+	return converted_correctly;
+}
+
+
+
 template<typename char_type, size_t stack_size, size_t heap_block_size>
 char TextStreamBase<char_type, stack_size, heap_block_size>::get_char(size_t index) const
 {