Hello Gerd, thanks for the info and the patch. Anyway i didn't tested it as i forgot how to incorporate patches into source. Actually to much effort for me to re-learn this java stuff.(may be during winter time i will give it a try) My workaround is actually: - filling the field with sign( of type which i do not expect being there normally) up to max. count i need. - reduce to max. possible count - remove the not needed superflous signs for ex.: rcn_from_relation=yes { set rref = '$(rref)#########}'; set rref = '${rref|substring:0:9'; set rref = '${rref|subst:[#]*~>}' ; name '${rref|highway-symbol:oval:9}..... Maybe if you feel it's worth to incoorporate your patch into the code would be nice if you could manage that. best regards Gert