--- deliantra/server/common/utils.C	2007/04/21 23:03:54	1.50
+++ deliantra/server/common/utils.C	2007/04/23 18:09:57	1.51
@@ -611,6 +611,42 @@
     memcpy (dst, src, len + 1);
 }
 
+const std::string
+format (const char *format, ...)
+{
+  int len;
+
+  {
+    char buf[128];
+
+    va_list ap;
+    va_start (ap, format);
+    len = vsnprintf (buf, sizeof (buf), format, ap);
+    va_end (ap);
+
+    assert (len >= 0); // shield againstz broken vsnprintf's
+
+    // was our static buffer short enough?
+    if (len < sizeof (buf))
+      return std::string (buf, len);
+  }
+
+  {
+    // longer, try harder
+    char *buf = salloc<char> (len + 1);
+
+    va_list ap;
+    va_start (ap, format);
+    vsnprintf (buf, len + 1, format, ap);
+    va_end (ap);
+
+    const std::string s (buf, len);
+    sfree<char> (buf, len + 1);
+      
+    return buf;
+  }
+}
+
 tstamp now ()
 {
   struct timeval tv;