diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 70c1078c..44232f02 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ ifeq ($(HAVE_PCRE2),1)
 endif
 
 # -Wno-deprecated-declarations .. get rid of warning: ‘template<class> class std::auto_ptr’ is deprecated
-CXXFLAGS += -std=c++14 -Wfatal-errors -Wundef -Wno-deprecated-declarations
+CXXFLAGS += -std=c++17 -Wfatal-errors -Wundef -Wno-deprecated-declarations
 
 ### export all vars for sub-makes, using absolute paths
 LIBDIR := $(abspath $(LIBDIR))
diff --git a/README b/README
index e381ec65..8d3c5169 100644
--- a/README
+++ b/README
@@ -36,10 +36,10 @@ Requirements:
 
 VDR >= 2.4.0
 
-gcc >= 4.8.1, must support -std=c++14 
+gcc >= v8, must support -std=c++17
 PCRE2 >= 10.38     	- https://github.com/PhilipHazel/pcre2/releases
-Tntnet >= 1.5.3		- http://www.tntnet.org/download.hms
-Cxxtools >= 1.4.3	- http://www.tntnet.org/download.hms
+Tntnet >= 2.2.1		- http://www.tntnet.org/download.hms  // https://web.archive.org/web/20160314183814/http://www.tntnet.org/download.html
+Cxxtools >= 2.2.1	- http://www.tntnet.org/download.hms  // https://web.archive.org/web/20160314183814/http://www.tntnet.org/download.html
 
 Tntnet provides basic webserver functions for live and needs cxxtools.
 Boost provides some data structures we need. While currently relying on the
diff --git a/StringMatch.cpp b/StringMatch.cpp
index affd45ff..5fb1ad5f 100644
--- a/StringMatch.cpp
+++ b/StringMatch.cpp
@@ -8,14 +8,14 @@
 #include <pcre2.h>
 
 
-StringMatch::StringMatch(std::string Pattern) : re(nullptr), match_data(nullptr) {
+StringMatch::StringMatch(cSv Pattern) : re(nullptr), match_data(nullptr) {
   PCRE2_SIZE erroroffset;
   int errorcode;
 
   if (not Pattern.empty()) {
      re = pcre2_compile(
-            (PCRE2_SPTR) Pattern.c_str(),
-            PCRE2_ZERO_TERMINATED,
+            (PCRE2_SPTR) Pattern.data(),
+            (PCRE2_SIZE) Pattern.length(),
              0
              | PCRE2_CASELESS           // Do caseless matching
              | PCRE2_DUPNAMES           // Allow duplicate names for subpatterns
@@ -39,14 +39,14 @@ StringMatch::~StringMatch() {
   pcre2_code_free((pcre2_code*)re);
 }
 
-bool StringMatch::Matches(std::string s) {
+bool StringMatch::Matches(cSv s) {
   if ((re == nullptr) or (match_data == nullptr))
      return false;
 
   int rc = pcre2_match(
               (pcre2_code*)re,               // the compiled pattern
-              (PCRE2_SPTR) s.c_str(),        // the subject string
-              s.size(),                      // the length of the subject
+              (PCRE2_SPTR) s.data(),         // the subject string
+              (PCRE2_SIZE) s.length(),       // the length of the subject
               0,                             // start at offset 0 in the subject
               0,                             // default options
               (pcre2_match_data*)match_data, // block for storing the result
diff --git a/StringMatch.h b/StringMatch.h
index ad3b4a58..dd775811 100644
--- a/StringMatch.h
+++ b/StringMatch.h
@@ -1,14 +1,16 @@
 #pragma once
 #ifdef HAVE_PCRE2
 #include <string>
+#include <vdr/channels.h>
+#include "stringhelpers.h"
 
 class StringMatch {
 private:
   void* re;
   void* match_data;
 public:
-  StringMatch(std::string Pattern);
+  StringMatch(cSv Pattern);
   ~StringMatch();
-  bool Matches(std::string s);
+  bool Matches(cSv s);
 };
 #endif
diff --git a/epg_events.cpp b/epg_events.cpp
index dae82c74..54c22415 100644
--- a/epg_events.cpp
+++ b/epg_events.cpp
@@ -534,7 +534,7 @@ bool appendEpgItem(cLargeString &epg_item, RecordingsItemPtr &recItem, const cEv
 
   epg_item.append("[\"");
 // [0] : EPG ID  (without event_)
-  epg_item.append(EpgEvents::EncodeDomId(Channel->GetChannelID(), Event->EventID()).c_str() + 6);
+  epg_item.appendS(EpgEvents::EncodeDomId(Channel->GetChannelID(), Event->EventID()).c_str() + 6);
   epg_item.append("\",\"");
 // [1] : Timer ID
   const cTimer* timer = LiveTimerManager().GetTimer(Event->EventID(), Channel->GetChannelID() );
diff --git a/epgsearch.cpp b/epgsearch.cpp
index 19c8f69e..8ae12e23 100644
--- a/epgsearch.cpp
+++ b/epgsearch.cpp
@@ -441,7 +441,7 @@ void SearchTimers::TriggerUpdate()
 bool SearchTimer::BlacklistSelected(int id) const
 {
    for(unsigned int i=0; i<m_blacklistIDs.size(); i++)
-      if (StringToInt(m_blacklistIDs[i]) == id) return true;
+      if (parse_int<int>(m_blacklistIDs[i]) == id) return true;
    return false;
 }
 
@@ -474,7 +474,7 @@ void ExtEPGInfo::ParseValues( std::string const& data )
 bool ExtEPGInfo::Selected(unsigned int index, std::string const& values)
 {
    if (index >= m_values.size()) return false;
-   std::string extepgvalue = StringTrim(m_values[index]);
+   std::string extepgvalue(StringTrim(m_values[index]));
 
    std::vector<std::string> parts;
    parts = StringSplit( values, ',' );
diff --git a/largeString.h b/largeString.h
index 516c719a..e756069e 100644
--- a/largeString.h
+++ b/largeString.h
@@ -3,8 +3,10 @@
 
 #include <string.h>
 #include <string>
+#include <vector>
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
+#include "stringhelpers.h"
 
 class cLargeString {
   private:
@@ -29,8 +31,8 @@ class cLargeString {
   public:
     cLargeString(const cLargeString& o) = delete;
     cLargeString &operator= (const cLargeString &) = delete;
-//   cLargeString(cLargeString&& o) = default;  // default is wrong, explicit definition required
-//   cLargeString &operator= (cLargeString &&) = default;  // default is wrong, explicit definition required
+//    cLargeString(cLargeString&& o) = default; // default is wrong, explicit definition required
+//    cLargeString &operator= (cLargeString &&) = default; // default is wrong, explicit definition required
     template<std::size_t N>
     cLargeString(const char (&name)[N], size_t initialSize = 0, size_t increaseSize = 0, bool debugBufferSize = false) {
       m_nameData = name;
@@ -61,9 +63,10 @@ class cLargeString {
     cLargeString &append(char c);
     cLargeString &append(const char *s, size_t len);
     cLargeString &append(const std::string &s) { return append(s.c_str(), s.length()); }
+    cLargeString &append(std::string_view s) { return append(s.data(), s.length()); }
     cLargeString &append(int i);
     cLargeString &appendS(const char *s);
-    template<typename... Args> cLargeString &appendFormated(char const* format, Args&&... args) {
+    template<typename... Args> cLargeString &appendFormated(const char *format, Args&&... args) {
       size_t avail = m_buffer_end - m_string_end;
       size_t numNeeded = snprintf(m_string_end, avail, format, std::forward<Args>(args)...);
       if (numNeeded >= avail) {
@@ -79,8 +82,10 @@ class cLargeString {
     void clear();
     inline size_t length() const { return m_string_end - m_s; }
     inline bool empty() const { return m_string_end == m_s; }
-    cLargeString &erase(size_t index = 0) { setMaxSize(); m_string_end = std::min(m_string_end, m_s + index); return *this;}
+    std::string substr(size_t pos, size_t count = std::string::npos) const; // as std::string.substr(), but replace 0 with %
+//    cLargeString &erase(size_t index = 0) { setMaxSize(); m_string_end = std::min(m_string_end, m_s + index); return *this;}
     char operator[](size_t i) const { return *(m_s + i); }
+    operator cSv() const { return cSv(m_s, m_string_end - m_s); }
     const char *nameData() const { return m_nameData; }
     int nameLen() const { return m_nameLen; }
 };
diff --git a/live.cpp b/live.cpp
index cd47114b..cba2f124 100644
--- a/live.cpp
+++ b/live.cpp
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ class cLiveImageProviderImp: public cLiveImageProvider {
         m_errorMessages = false;
         return fullPath?imagePath:LiveSetup().GetTvscraperImageDir() + imagePath;
       }
-      return LiveSetup().GetServerUrlImages() + (fullPath?ScraperImagePath2Live(imagePath):imagePath);
+      return concatenate(LiveSetup().GetServerUrlImages(), (fullPath?ScraperImagePath2Live(imagePath):imagePath));
     }
     virtual ~cLiveImageProviderImp() {}
   private:
diff --git a/live/js/live/createHtml.js b/live/js/live/createHtml.js
index 82c851f5..08ab06b6 100644
--- a/live/js/live/createHtml.js
+++ b/live/js/live/createHtml.js
@@ -179,7 +179,7 @@ function clearCheckboxes(form) {
     }
   }
 }
-function execute(url) {
+async function execute(url) {
 /*
  * Input:
  *   Url: url to the page triggering the execution of the function
@@ -191,17 +191,26 @@ function execute(url) {
  *               - bool   success
  *               - string error  (only if success == false). Human readable text
 */
+  const response = await fetch(encodeURI(url + '&async=1'), {
+    method: "GET",
+    headers: {
+     "Content-Type": "application/x-www-form-urlencoded",
+    },
+  });
+  const req_responseXML = new window.DOMParser().parseFromString(await response.text(), "text/xml");
+/*
   var req = new XMLHttpRequest();
   req.open('POST', encodeURI(url + '&async=1'), false);
   req.overrideMimeType("text/xml");
   req.send();
+*/
   var ret_object = new Object();
   ret_object.success = false;
-  if (!req.responseXML) {
+  if (!req_responseXML) {
     ret_object.error = "invalid xml, no responseXML";
     return ret_object;
   }
-  var response_array = req.responseXML.getElementsByTagName("response");
+  var response_array = req_responseXML.getElementsByTagName("response");
   if (response_array.length != 1) {
     ret_object.error = "invalid xml, no response tag or several response tags";
     return ret_object;
@@ -220,7 +229,7 @@ function execute(url) {
     return ret_object;
   }
 
-  var error_array = req.responseXML.getElementsByTagName("error");
+  var error_array = req_responseXML.getElementsByTagName("error");
   if (error_array.length != 1) {
     ret_object.error = "invalid xml, no error tag or several error tags";
     return ret_object;
@@ -233,9 +242,9 @@ function execute(url) {
   ret_object.error = error_child_nodes[0].nodeValue;
   return ret_object;
 }
-function delete_rec_back(recid, history_num_back)
+async function delete_rec_back(recid, history_num_back)
 {
-  var ret_object = execute('delete_recording.html?param=' + recid);
+  var ret_object = await execute('delete_recording.html?param=' + recid);
   if (!ret_object.success) alert (ret_object.error);
   history.go(-history_num_back);
 }
@@ -246,3 +255,71 @@ function back_depending_referrer(back_epginfo, back_others) {
     history.go(-back_others);
   }
 }
+function RecordingsSt(s, level, displayFolder, data) {
+  var recs_param =  '';
+  for (obj_i of data) {
+    if (typeof recs[obj_i] === 'undefined') {
+      if (recs_param.length == 0) {
+        recs_param += 'r=';
+      } else {
+        recs_param += '&r=';
+      }
+      recs_param += obj_i;
+    }
+  }
+  if (recs_param.length == 0) {
+    RecordingsSt_int(s, level, displayFolder, data);
+  } else {
+    const request = new XMLHttpRequest();
+    request.open("POST", "get_recordings.html", false);
+    request.setRequestHeader("Content-Type", "application/x-www-form-urlencoded");
+    request.send(recs_param);
+    eval(request.response);
+    RecordingsSt_int(s, level, displayFolder, data);
+  }
+}
+async function RecordingsSt_a(s, level, displayFolder, data) {
+  var recs_param =  '';
+  for (obj_i of data) {
+    if (typeof recs[obj_i] === 'undefined') {
+      recs_param += '&r=';
+      recs_param += obj_i;
+    }
+  }
+  if (recs_param.length == 0) {
+    RecordingsSt_int(s, level, displayFolder, data);
+  } else {
+    var recs_param_a = 'vdr_start=';
+    recs_param_a += vdr_start;
+    recs_param_a += '&recordings_tree_creation=';
+    recs_param_a += recordings_tree_creation;
+    recs_param_a += recs_param;
+    const response = await fetch("get_recordings.html", {
+      method: "POST",
+      headers: {
+       "Content-Type": "application/x-www-form-urlencoded",
+      },
+      body: recs_param_a,
+    });
+    const new_recs = await response.text();
+    eval(new_recs);
+    if (vdr_restart) {
+      location.reload();    
+    } else {
+      RecordingsSt_int(s, level, displayFolder, data);
+    }
+  }
+}
+async function rec_string_d_a(rec_ids) {
+  const st = Object.create(null)
+  st.a = ""
+  await RecordingsSt_a(st, rec_ids[0], rec_ids[1], rec_ids[2])
+  return st.a
+}
+
+function rec_string_d(rec_ids) {
+  const st = Object.create(null)
+  st.a = ""
+  RecordingsSt_int(st, rec_ids[0], rec_ids[1], rec_ids[2])
+  return st.a
+}
diff --git a/live/js/live/infowin.js b/live/js/live/infowin.js
index ef0ea8e9..288f4321 100644
--- a/live/js/live/infowin.js
+++ b/live/js/live/infowin.js
@@ -174,8 +174,8 @@ var InfoWin = new Class({
         var confirm_del = this.winBody.getElementById('confirm_' + id);
         if (confirm_del && id.startsWith("del_") ) {
           confirm_del.onclick = null;
-          confirm_del.addEvent('click', function(event){
-              var err = execute('delete_recording.html?param=' + id.substring(4) );
+          confirm_del.addEvent('click', async function(event) {
+              var err = await execute('delete_recording.html?param=' + id.substring(4) );
               if (!err.success) alert (err.error);
               if (history_num_back > 0) { history.go(-history_num_back); }
               else { location.reload(); }
diff --git a/live/js/live/treeview.js b/live/js/live/treeview.js
index 00083a36..f24d2f90 100644
--- a/live/js/live/treeview.js
+++ b/live/js/live/treeview.js
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ class Treeview {
     this.folder_closed = folder_closed;
   }
 
-  Toggle(node, node_id) {
+  async Toggle(node, node_id) {
 // Unfold the branch if it isn't visible
     const sibling = findSibling(node, "UL");
     if (sibling == null) return;
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ class Treeview {
     if (sibling.style.display == 'none') {
       setImages(node, this.minus, this.folder_open);
       if (rec_ids[node_id] != null && rec_ids[node_id].length > 0) {
-        sibling.insertAdjacentHTML("beforeend", rec_string_d(rec_ids[node_id]));
+        sibling.insertAdjacentHTML("beforeend", await rec_string_d_a(rec_ids[node_id]));
           rec_ids[node_id] = [];
           if (typeof liveEnhanced !== 'undefined') liveEnhanced.domReadySetup();
         imgLoad();
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ openNodes = openNodes.join(",");
 createCookie( cookieNameRec, openNodes, 14 );
 }
 
-function openNodesOnPageLoad()
+async function openNodesOnPageLoad()
 {
 var openNodes = readCookie( cookieNameRec );
   var domChanges = 0;
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ for (var z=0; z<openNodes.length; z++){
   if (ul){
     ul.style.display = 'block';
                   if (rec_ids[openNodes[z]] != null && rec_ids[openNodes[z]].length > 0) {
-                        ul.insertAdjacentHTML("beforeend", rec_string_d(rec_ids[openNodes[z]]));
+                        ul.insertAdjacentHTML("beforeend", await rec_string_d_a(rec_ids[openNodes[z]]));
                   rec_ids[openNodes[z]] = [];
       domChanges = 1;
       }
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@ function filterRecordings(filter, currentSort, currentFlat)
 {
   window.location.href = "recordings.html?sort=" + currentSort + "&flat=" + currentFlat + "&filter=" + encodeURIComponent(filter.value);
 }
-function ExpandAll()
+async function ExpandAll()
 {
   var openNodes = "";
   var domChanges = 0;
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ function ExpandAll()
       recordingNodes[idx].style.display = 'block';
       openNodes += recordingNodes[idx].id + ","; 
       if (rec_ids[recordingNodes[idx].id] != null && rec_ids[recordingNodes[idx].id].length > 0) {
-        recordingNodes[idx].insertAdjacentHTML("beforeend", rec_string_d(rec_ids[recordingNodes[idx].id]));
+        recordingNodes[idx].insertAdjacentHTML("beforeend", await rec_string_d_a(rec_ids[recordingNodes[idx].id]));
         rec_ids[recordingNodes[idx].id] = [];
         domChanges = 1;
       }
diff --git a/pages/Makefile b/pages/Makefile
index f7e544c6..1f029641 100644
--- a/pages/Makefile
+++ b/pages/Makefile
@@ -10,15 +10,16 @@ DEFINES += -DDISABLE_TEMPLATES_COLLIDING_WITH_STL
 INCLUDES += -I$(VDRDIR)/include -I..
 
 ### The object files (add further files here):
-OBJS := menu.o recordings.o schedule.o multischedule.o screenshot.o   \
+OBJS := get_recordings.o delete_recording.o recordings.o pageelems.o \
+        epginfo.o schedule.o multischedule.o screenshot.o   \
         timers.o whats_on.o switch_channel.o keypress.o remote.o	\
-        channels_widget.o edit_timer.o error.o pageelems.o tooltip.o	\
+        channels_widget.o edit_timer.o error.o tooltip.o	\
         searchtimers.o edit_searchtimer.o searchresults.o	\
         searchepg.o login.o ibox.o xmlresponse.o play_recording.o	\
         pause_recording.o stop_recording.o ffw_recording.o		\
-        rwd_recording.o setup.o content.o epginfo.o timerconflicts.o  \
+        rwd_recording.o setup.o content.o timerconflicts.o  \
         recstream.o users.o edit_user.o edit_recording.o osd.o	\
-        playlist.o stream.o stream_data.o delete_recording.o
+        playlist.o stream.o stream_data.o menu.o
 SRCS := $(patsubst %.o,%.cpp,$(OBJS))
 ESRCS := $(patsubst %.o,%.ecpp,$(OBJS))
 ESRCS_DEPS := $(patsubst %.o,.%.edep,$(OBJS))
diff --git a/pages/edit_recording.ecpp b/pages/edit_recording.ecpp
index 608f826e..5b99ca84 100644
--- a/pages/edit_recording.ecpp
+++ b/pages/edit_recording.ecpp
@@ -195,11 +195,11 @@ if (recording && recording->Info()->Aux()) {
   getAutoTimerReason.recording_in = recording;
   getAutoTimerReason.requestRecording = false;
   if (getAutoTimerReason.call(LiveSetup().GetPluginScraper()) && getAutoTimerReason.createdByTvscraper) {
-    AppendHtmlEscapedAndCorrectNonUTF8(aux_data, getAutoTimerReason.reason.c_str() );
+    AppendHtmlEscapedAndCorrectNonUTF8(aux_data, getAutoTimerReason.reason);
   } else {
-    std::string epgsearchinfo = GetXMLValue(recording->Info()->Aux(), "epgsearch");
+    cSv epgsearchinfo = partInXmlTag(recording->Info()->Aux(), "epgsearch");
     if (!epgsearchinfo.empty()) {
-      AppendHtmlEscapedAndCorrectNonUTF8(aux_data, GetXMLValue(epgsearchinfo, "searchtimer").c_str() );
+      AppendHtmlEscapedAndCorrectNonUTF8(aux_data, partInXmlTag(epgsearchinfo, "searchtimer") );
     }
   }
   if (!aux_data.empty()) {
diff --git a/pages/get_recordings.ecpp b/pages/get_recordings.ecpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7d2c789e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pages/get_recordings.ecpp
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+<%pre>
+
+#include <exception.h>
+#include <tools.h>
+#include <recman.h>
+
+using namespace vdrlive;
+
+</%pre>
+<%args>
+  int r[];
+  time_t vdr_start = 0;
+  time_t recordings_tree_creation = 0;
+</%args>
+<%cpp>
+  reply.setContentType("text/javascript");
+  bool error = false;
+  if (vdr_start != 0 && vdr_start != LiveSetup().GetVdrStart()) {
+    esyslog("live ERROR, get_recordings.ecpp, vdr restarted");
+    error = true;
+  }
+  </%cpp>
+vdr_restart = <$ error?"true":"false"$>;
+  <%cpp>
+  if (!error) {
+    bool recordings_tree_re_created = false;
+    RecordingsTreePtr recordingsTree(LiveRecordingsManager()->GetRecordingsTree());
+    if (recordings_tree_creation != 0 && recordings_tree_creation != recordingsTree->getCreationTimestamp()) {
+      isyslog("live INFO, get_recordings.ecpp, recordings tree re-created");
+      recordings_tree_re_created = true;
+    }
+    </%cpp>
+recordings_tree_re_created = <$ recordings_tree_re_created?"true":"false"$>;
+    <%cpp>
+  /*
+    esyslog("live, get_recordings.ecpp, qparam as url = %s", qparam.getUrl().c_str() );
+    if(qparam.paramcount())
+      esyslog("live, get_recordings.ecpp, qparam[0] = %s", qparam[0].c_str() );
+
+    esyslog("live, get_recordings.ecpp, r size = %d", (int)r.size());
+    if (r.size() > 0)
+      esyslog("live, get_recordings.ecpp, r[0] = %d", r[0]);
+
+    requires later tntnet
+    std::vector<std::string> names;
+    qparam.getNames(std::back_inserter(names));
+
+    for (const std::string &n: names) {
+      std::vector<std::string> values;
+      qparam.getValues(n, std::back_inserter(values));
+      esyslog("live, get_recordings.ecpp, parameter name %s size = %d",  n.c_str(), (int)values.size());
+      if (values.size() > 0)
+        esyslog("live, get_recordings.ecpp, %s[0] = %s",  n.c_str(), values[0].c_str());
+
+    }
+  */
+
+    cLargeString recoring_item("recoring_item_get_recordings.ecpp", 5000);
+    char buffer_i[21];
+    buffer_i[20] = 0;
+    for (const RecordingsItemPtr &rPtr: *recordingsTree->allRecordings()) {
+      for (int recording: r) if (recording == rPtr->IdI() ) {
+        recoring_item.clear();
+        rPtr->AppendAsJSArray(recoring_item, true);
+        </%cpp>
+  recs[<$concat::addCharsIbe(buffer_i+20, rPtr->IdI())$>]=[<$$ recoring_item.c_str() $>]
+        <%cpp>
+      }
+    }
+  }
+</%cpp>
diff --git a/pages/pageelems.ecpp b/pages/pageelems.ecpp
index bf79761b..4a6be48f 100644
--- a/pages/pageelems.ecpp
+++ b/pages/pageelems.ecpp
@@ -347,7 +347,7 @@ function existingRecordingString(col_span, bottomrow, id, archiveDescr, imdb_id,
 // if (LiveSetup().GetShowIMDb())
 {
 if (s_IMDB_ID.empty() ) { </%cpp>
-<a href="http://www.imdb.com/find?s=all&q=<$ (!title.empty() && title[0] == '%')?StringUrlEncode(title.substr(1)):StringUrlEncode(title) $>"
+<a href="http://www.imdb.com/find?s=all&q=<$ (!title.empty() && title[0] == '%')?StringUrlEncode(cSv(title).substr_csv(1)):StringUrlEncode(title) $>"
 <%cpp> } else { </%cpp>
 <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/<$ s_IMDB_ID $>"
 <%cpp> } </%cpp>
@@ -1020,6 +1020,8 @@ if (scraperMovieOrTv.found) {
 <%cpp>
   const int num_cols = 4;
   int num = 1;
+  std::string loc_name = std::locale("").name().substr(0,2);
+  if (loc_name.length() != 2 || loc_name[0] == 'C' || loc_name[0] == '*') loc_name = "en"; //  use en as default
   std::string actor_names = "";
 
   for (const auto &character:scraperCharacters) {
@@ -1035,8 +1037,9 @@ if (scraperMovieOrTv.found) {
       </a>
     </td>
 <%cpp>
-    actor_names.append("<td>"); 
-    actor_names.append(character->getPersonName()); 
+    stringAppend(actor_names, "<td><a href=\"https://", loc_name, ".wikipedia.org/wiki/",
+      StringUrlEncode(StringReplace(character->getPersonName(), " ", "_")), "\" target=\"_blank\">",
+      character->getPersonName(), "</a>");
     actor_names.append(":<br>"); 
     actor_names.append(character->getCharacterName()); 
     actor_names.append("</td>"); 
diff --git a/pages/recordings.ecpp b/pages/recordings.ecpp
index 920bd90f..1c543997 100644
--- a/pages/recordings.ecpp
+++ b/pages/recordings.ecpp
@@ -1,11 +1,15 @@
 <%pre>
 
+#include <string>
+#include <string_view>
 #include <setup.h>
 #include <tasks.h>
 #include <tools.h>
 #include <users.h>
 #include <recman.h>
 #include <tntconfig.h>
+#include <vdr/channels.h>
+#include <stringhelpers.h>
 #include <largeString.h>
 
 #ifdef HAVE_PCRE2
@@ -14,7 +18,6 @@
 #include <vdr/videodir.h>
 
 #define MB_PER_MINUTE 25.75 // this is just an estimate!
-#include <string>
 
 using namespace vdrlive;
 
@@ -98,11 +101,7 @@ for (auto it = deletions.begin(); it != deletions.end(); ++it) {
 deletions.clear();
 
 int FreeMB, UsedMB;
-#if APIVERSNUM > 20101
 int Percent = cVideoDirectory::VideoDiskSpace(&FreeMB, &UsedMB);
-#else
-int Percent = VideoDiskSpace(&FreeMB, &UsedMB);
-#endif
 int Minutes = int(double(FreeMB) / MB_PER_MINUTE);
 int Hours = Minutes / 60;
 Minutes %= 60;
@@ -112,11 +111,21 @@ const char *TNT_ARRAY = "[]";
 #else
 const char *TNT_ARRAY = "";
 #endif
-const char *lf;
-if (LiveSetup().GetUseAjax()) lf = "<br/>";
-else lf = "&#13;";
+const char *lf = "<br/>";
 
 
+RecordingsTreePtr recordingsTree(LiveRecordingsManager()->GetRecordingsTree());
+char buffer_i[21];
+buffer_i[20] = 0;
+
+// get data for all open nodes
+std::vector<int> available_recs;
+std::string openTreeNodes;
+if (request.hasCookie("VDR-Live-Recordings-Tree-Open-Nodes")) {
+  openTreeNodes = request.getCookie("VDR-Live-Recordings-Tree-Open-Nodes");
+  isyslog("live: VDR-Live-Recordings-Tree-Open-Nodes = %s", openTreeNodes.c_str());
+}
+cLargeString recoring_item("recoring_item", 25000);
 </%cpp>
 <& pageelems.doc_type &>
 <html>
@@ -128,18 +137,19 @@ else lf = "&#13;";
     <& pageelems.ajax_js &>
 <script>
 const recs = [];
+const vdr_start = <$ concat::addCharsIbe(buffer_i+20, LiveSetup().GetVdrStart() ) $>;
+const recordings_tree_creation = <$ concat::addCharsIbe(buffer_i+20, recordingsTree->getCreationTimestamp() ) $>;
+
 <%cpp>
-cLargeString recoring_item("recoring_item", 25000);
-char buffer_i[20];
-RecordingsTreePtr recordingsTree(LiveRecordingsManager()->GetRecordingsTree());
+/*
 for (const RecordingsItemPtr &rPtr: *recordingsTree->allRecordings()) {
   recoring_item.clear();
   rPtr->AppendAsJSArray(recoring_item, currentFlat == "true" || currentSort == "duplicates");
-  toCharsI(buffer_i, rPtr->IdI());
 </%cpp>
-  recs[<$buffer_i$>]=[<$$ recoring_item.c_str() $>]
+  recs[<$concat::addCharsIbe(buffer_i+20, rPtr->IdI())$>]=[<$$ recoring_item.c_str() $>]
 <%cpp>
 }
+*/
 </%cpp>
 const rec_ids = Object.create(null)
 rec_ids["T"] = [1, 2]
@@ -181,8 +191,9 @@ function RecordingActionS(s, id, A, Img, Title) {
 // [19] : duration
 // [20] : size
 // [21] : numTsFiles
+// befor calling, make sure that all recs[obj_i] exist!
 #>
-function RecordingsSt(s, level, displayFolder, data) {
+function RecordingsSt_int(s, level, displayFolder, data) {
   s.a += '<li class="recording"><div>'
   s.a += '<table width="100%" class="recordings">'
   for (obj_i of data) {
@@ -265,14 +276,6 @@ function RecordingsSt(s, level, displayFolder, data) {
   s.a += '</table></div></li>'
 }
 
-function rec_string_d(rec_ids) {
-// use img data-src= ...
-  const st = Object.create(null)
-  st.a = ""
-  RecordingsSt(st, rec_ids[0], rec_ids[1], rec_ids[2])
-  return st.a
-}
-
 </script>
 
   <script type="text/javascript" src="js/live/treeview.js"></script>
@@ -301,14 +304,10 @@ if (!deleteResult.empty()) {
     <div class="boxheader"><div><div><$ std::string(tr("List of recordings")) + " (" + diskinfo + ")" $></div></div></div>
 <%cpp>
     int rec_cnt;
-#if VDRVERSNUM >= 20301
     {
       LOCK_RECORDINGS_READ;
       rec_cnt = Recordings->Count();  // Access VDRs global cRecordings Recordings instance.
     }
-#else
-    rec_cnt = Recordings.Count(); // Access VDRs global cRecordings Recordings instance.
-#endif
     if (rec_cnt == 0) {
 </%cpp>
       <$ tr("No recordings found") $>
@@ -317,11 +316,14 @@ if (!deleteResult.empty()) {
       uintptr_t irecoring_item = (uintptr_t)&recoring_item;
       RecordingsItemPtr recItemRoot = recordingsTree->getRoot();
       uintptr_t iRecItemRoot = (uintptr_t)&recItemRoot;
+      uintptr_t iRecordingsTree = (uintptr_t)&recordingsTree;
+      uintptr_t iOpenTreeNodes = (uintptr_t)&openTreeNodes;
+      uintptr_t iAvailable_recs = (uintptr_t)&available_recs;
 </%cpp>
       <form method="post" name="recordings" id="form_recordings" action="recordings.ecpp">
         <div class="recordings">
           <ul class="recordingslist" style="display: block;">
-            <& recordings.recordings_item iRecItem=(iRecItemRoot) irecoring_item=(irecoring_item) &>
+            <& recordings.recordings_item iRecItem=(iRecItemRoot) irecoring_item=(irecoring_item) iRecordingsTree=(iRecordingsTree) iOpenTreeNodes=(iOpenTreeNodes) iAvailable_recs=(iAvailable_recs) &>
           </ul>
         </div>
 				<input type="hidden" name="sort" value="<$ currentSort $>">
@@ -347,6 +349,9 @@ if (!deleteResult.empty()) {
 <%args>
 	uintptr_t iRecItem = 0;
 	uintptr_t irecoring_item = 0;
+	uintptr_t iRecordingsTree = 0;
+  uintptr_t iOpenTreeNodes = 0;
+  uintptr_t iAvailable_recs = 0;
 	std::string parentIdHash;
 </%args>
 <%cpp>
@@ -361,8 +366,12 @@ if (currentSort.compare(0, 10, "duplicates", 10) == 0) sortOrder = eSortOrder::d
 if (currentSort == "datedesc" || currentSort == "namedesc") reverse = true;
 // get rec item of this (current) dir
 RecordingsItemPtr recItemThisDir = *(static_cast<RecordingsItemPtr *>((void *)iRecItem) );
-int level = recItemThisDir->Level();
+RecordingsTreePtr recordingsTree = *(static_cast<RecordingsTreePtr *>((void *)iRecordingsTree) );
 cLargeString *recoring_item = static_cast<cLargeString *>((void *)irecoring_item );
+std::string openTreeNodes= *(static_cast<std::string *>((void *)iOpenTreeNodes) );
+std::vector<int> available_recs = *(static_cast<std::vector<int> *>((void *)iAvailable_recs) );
+int level = recItemThisDir->Level();
+
 
 std::vector<RecordingsItemPtr> recItems;
 const std::vector<RecordingsItemPtr> *recItemsC = NULL;
@@ -426,7 +435,7 @@ if (currentFlat != "true") {
         </td></tr></table>
         </div>
         <ul id="fldr_<$ idHash $>" class="recordingslist" style="display: none;">
-          <& recordings.recordings_item iRecItem=(iRecItem) irecoring_item=(irecoring_item) parentIdHash=(idHash) &>
+          <& recordings.recordings_item iRecItem=(iRecItem) irecoring_item=(irecoring_item) parentIdHash=(idHash) iRecordingsTree=(iRecordingsTree) iOpenTreeNodes=(iOpenTreeNodes) iAvailable_recs=(iAvailable_recs) &>
         </ul>
       </li>
       <%cpp>
@@ -437,7 +446,6 @@ if (currentFlat != "true") {
   } // end if (currentSort != "duplicates")
 } else {
 // here we prepare the items in case of a flat list, no folders
-  RecordingsTreePtr recordingsTree(LiveRecordingsManager()->GetRecordingsTree());
   if (currentSort != "duplicates") { 
     recItemsC = recordingsTree->allRecordings(sortOrder);
   } else {
@@ -447,6 +455,21 @@ if (currentFlat != "true") {
     addDuplicateRecordingsNoSd(recItems, recordingsTree);
     recItemsC = &recItems;
   }
+  char buffer_i[21];
+  buffer_i[20] = 0;
+  </%cpp>
+<script>
+  <%cpp>
+  for (const RecordingsItemPtr &rPtr: *recItemsC) {
+    recoring_item->clear();
+    rPtr->AppendAsJSArray(*recoring_item, true);
+  </%cpp>
+recs[<$concat::addCharsIbe(buffer_i+20, rPtr->IdI())$>]=[<$$ recoring_item->c_str() $>]
+  <%cpp>
+  }
+  </%cpp>
+</script>
+  <%cpp>
 }
 if (currentSort != "duplicates" || currentFlat == "true") {
   if (recItemsC->empty() ) { </%cpp>
@@ -459,19 +482,40 @@ if (currentSort != "duplicates" || currentFlat == "true") {
     const char *displayFolder = "1";
     recoring_item->clear();
     RecordingsItemRec::AppendAsJSArray(*recoring_item, recItemsC->begin(), recItemsC->end(), first, currentFilter, reverse);
-    if (level == 0) { </%cpp>
+    </%cpp>
       <script>
-        document.write(rec_string_d([<$level$>, <$displayFolder$>, [ <$$ recoring_item->c_str() $> ]]))
-      </script>
-    <%cpp> } else { </%cpp>
-      <script>
-        rec_ids["fldr_<$ parentIdHash $>"] = [<$level$>, <$displayFolder$>, [ <$$ recoring_item->c_str() $> ]]
+%   if (level == 0) {
+      document.write(rec_string_d([<$level$>, <$displayFolder$>, [ <$$ recoring_item->c_str() $> ]]))
+%   } else {
+      rec_ids["fldr_<$ parentIdHash $>"] = [<$level$>, <$displayFolder$>, [ <$$ recoring_item->c_str() $> ]]
+      <%cpp>
+// if this folder is open, also add the recs
+// check: is this folder open?
+      auto equal_fldf = [parentIdHash](cSv f) { return f.compare(5, std::string_view::npos, parentIdHash) == 0; };
+      cSplit splitOpenTreeNodes(openTreeNodes, ',');
+      if (std::find_if(splitOpenTreeNodes.begin(), splitOpenTreeNodes.end(), equal_fldf) != splitOpenTreeNodes.end()) {
+// this folder is open -> write the missing recs
+        char buffer_i[21];
+        buffer_i[20] = 0;
+        for (const RecordingsItemPtr &rPtr: *recItemsC) {
+          if (std::find(available_recs.begin(), available_recs.end(), rPtr->IdI() ) == available_recs.end() ) {
+// this rPtr->IdI() was not provided before
+            recoring_item->clear();
+            rPtr->AppendAsJSArray(*recoring_item, true);
+            </%cpp>
+recs[<$concat::addCharsIbe(buffer_i+20, rPtr->IdI())$>]=[<$$ recoring_item->c_str() $>]
+            <%cpp>
+            available_recs.push_back(rPtr->IdI());
+          }
+        }
+      }
+    }
+    </%cpp>
       </script>
-    <%cpp> }
+    <%cpp>
   }
 } else {
 // duplicates
-  RecordingsTreePtr recordingsTree(LiveRecordingsManager()->GetRecordingsTree());
   for (int i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
     recItems.clear();
     std::string nodeName;
@@ -672,8 +716,10 @@ if (recording && recording->Info() ) {
     int duration_deviation = getScraperVideo.m_scraperVideo->getDurationDeviation();
     int video_SD_HD = getScraperVideo.m_scraperVideo->getHD();
     char sdhd = video_SD_HD == 0 ? 's': video_SD_HD == 1 ? 'h': 'u';
-    CONVERT(b_recordingErrors, recordingErrors, toCharsI);
-    CONVERT(b_duration_deviation, duration_deviation, toCharsI);
+    char b_recordingErrors[21];
+    char b_duration_deviation[21];
+    b_recordingErrors[20] = 0;
+    b_duration_deviation[20] = 0;
     std::string duration;
     if (recording->FileName() )
       AppendDuration(duration, tr("%d:%02d"), recording->LengthInSeconds() );
@@ -681,7 +727,7 @@ if (recording && recording->Info() ) {
 <img data-src="img/transparent.png" height="10px" />
 <span id="icons-<$id$>"></span>
 <script class="injectIcons">
-injectErrorHdSdIcon(\"icons-<$id$>\", <$b_recordingErrors$>, <$b_duration_deviation$>, \"<$sdhd$>\", \"<$recording->Info()->ChannelName()?recording->Info()->ChannelName():""$>\", \"<$duration$>\", <$ GetNumberOfTsFiles(recording) $>)
+injectErrorHdSdIcon(\"icons-<$id$>\", <$concat::addCharsIbe(b_recordingErrors+20, recordingErrors)$>, <$concat::addCharsIbe(b_duration_deviation+20, duration_deviation)$>, \"<$sdhd$>\", \"<$recording->Info()->ChannelName()?recording->Info()->ChannelName():""$>\", \"<$duration$>\", <$ GetNumberOfTsFiles(recording) $>)
 </script>
 <%cpp>
   }
diff --git a/pages/searchepg.ecpp b/pages/searchepg.ecpp
index 4685024b..443ea55d 100644
--- a/pages/searchepg.ecpp
+++ b/pages/searchepg.ecpp
@@ -100,8 +100,8 @@ if (!logged_in && LiveSetup().UseAuth()) return reply.redirect("login.html");
 		searchtimer.SetUseTime(usetime);
 		if (usetime)
 		{
-			searchtimer.SetStartTime(StringToInt(start_h) * 100 + StringToInt(start_m));
-			searchtimer.SetStopTime(StringToInt(stop_h) * 100 + StringToInt(stop_m));
+			searchtimer.SetStartTime(parse_int<int>(start_h) * 100 + parse_int<int>(start_m));
+			searchtimer.SetStopTime(parse_int<int>(stop_h) * 100 + parse_int<int>(stop_m));
 		}
 		searchtimer.SetUseDuration(useduration);
 		if (useduration)
diff --git a/pages/setup.ecpp b/pages/setup.ecpp
index 624575eb..31789ffb 100644
--- a/pages/setup.ecpp
+++ b/pages/setup.ecpp
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ using namespace vdrlive;
 	std::string theme;
 	std::string localnetmask;
 	std::string showLogo;
-	std::string useAjax;
 	std::string showInfoBox;
 	std::string useStreamdev;
 	std::string markNewRec;
@@ -69,10 +68,7 @@ if (!cUser::CurrentUserHasRightTo(UR_EDITSETUP))
 			LiveSetup().SetStartScreen(startscreen);
 			LiveSetup().SetTheme(theme);
 			LiveSetup().SetShowLogo(!showLogo.empty());
-			LiveSetup().SetUseAjax(!useAjax.empty());
-			if (LiveSetup().GetUseAjax()) {
-				LiveSetup().SetShowInfoBox(!showInfoBox.empty());
-			}
+			LiveSetup().SetShowInfoBox(!showInfoBox.empty());
 			LiveSetup().SetUseStreamdev(!useStreamdev.empty());
 			LiveSetup().SetStreamdevPort(streamdevport.empty() ? 3000 : lexical_cast<int>(streamdevport));
 			LiveSetup().SetStreamdevType(streamdevtype.empty() ? "PES" : streamdevtype);
@@ -109,7 +105,6 @@ if (!cUser::CurrentUserHasRightTo(UR_EDITSETUP))
 	theme = LiveSetup().GetTheme();
 	localnetmask = LiveSetup().GetLocalNetMask();
 	showLogo = LiveSetup().GetShowLogo() ? "1" : "";
-	useAjax = LiveSetup().GetUseAjax() ? "1" : "";
 	showInfoBox = LiveSetup().GetShowInfoBox() ? "1" : "";
 	useStreamdev = LiveSetup().GetUseStreamdev() ? "1" : "";
 	streamdevport = lexical_cast<std::string, int>(LiveSetup().GetStreamdevPort());
@@ -134,7 +129,6 @@ if (!cUser::CurrentUserHasRightTo(UR_EDITSETUP))
 		function initform()
 		{
 			changeduseauth(document.getElementById("useauth"));
-			changeduseajax(document.getElementById("useAjax"));
 			changedusestreamdev(document.getElementById("useStreamdev"));
 			if (document.getElementById("message").value != "")
 				alert(document.getElementById("message").value);
@@ -147,10 +141,6 @@ if (!cUser::CurrentUserHasRightTo(UR_EDITSETUP))
 		{
 			document.getElementById("authchanged").value = 1;
 		}
-		function changeduseajax(selection)
-		{
-			document.getElementById("ajaxsection").style.display = (selection.checked ? "block" : "none");
-		}
 		function changedusestreamdev(selection)
 		{
 			document.getElementById("streamdevsection").style.display = (selection.checked ? "block" : "none");
@@ -201,17 +191,9 @@ if (!cUser::CurrentUserHasRightTo(UR_EDITSETUP))
 						</td>
 					</tr>
 					<tr>
-						<td class="label leftcol"><div class="withmargin"><$ tr("Use ajax technology") $>:</div></td>
+            <td class="label leftcol"><div class="withmargin"><$ tr("Show dynamic VDR information box") $>:</div></td>
 						<td class="rightcol">
-							<input type="checkbox" name="useAjax" id="useAjax" value="1" <%cpp> CHECKIF(!useAjax.empty()); </%cpp>onclick="changeduseajax(this)"/>
-							<div id="ajaxsection" style="display: none">
-							<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="dependent">
-							<tr>
-								<td class="label"><div class="withmargin"><$ tr("Show dynamic VDR information box") $>:</div></td>
-								<td><input type="checkbox" name="showInfoBox" id="showInfoBox" value="1" <%cpp> CHECKIF(!showInfoBox.empty()); </%cpp>/></td>
-							</tr>
-							</table>
-							</div>
+              <input type="checkbox" name="showInfoBox" id="showInfoBox" value="1" <%cpp> CHECKIF(!showInfoBox.empty()); </%cpp>/>
 						</td>
 					</tr>
 					<tr>
diff --git a/pages/stream.ecpp b/pages/stream.ecpp
index b02acc94..de44b6f8 100644
--- a/pages/stream.ecpp
+++ b/pages/stream.ecpp
@@ -159,8 +159,10 @@ if (Event) {
 		timeSpan = headTime;
 		startDate = headDate;
 	}
-  std::string longDescription = StringEscapeAndBreak(StringWordTruncate(epgEvent->LongDescr(), LiveSetup().GetMaxTooltipChars()))
-	  + "<br/><br/>" + tr("Click to view details.");
+  std::string longDescription = concatenate(
+    StringEscapeAndBreak(StringWordTruncate(epgEvent->LongDescr(), LiveSetup().GetMaxTooltipChars())),
+	  "<br/><br/>",
+    tr("Click to view details."));
 	</%cpp>
 			<table class="listing" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
 				<tr>
diff --git a/pages/timerconflicts.ecpp b/pages/timerconflicts.ecpp
index adabe2ed..adc72d0a 100644
--- a/pages/timerconflicts.ecpp
+++ b/pages/timerconflicts.ecpp
@@ -109,12 +109,15 @@ if (!logged_in && LiveSetup().UseAuth()) return reply.redirect("login.html");
 #endif
 							if (timer->Event()) {
 								epgEvent = EpgEvents::CreateEpgInfo(timer->Channel(), timer->Event());
-								longDescription = StringEscapeAndBreak(SortedTimers::GetTimerInfo(*timer)) + "<hr>"
-													+ StringEscapeAndBreak(StringWordTruncate(epgEvent->LongDescr(), LiveSetup().GetMaxTooltipChars()))
-													+ "<br/><br/>" + tr("Click to view details.");
-                AppendHtmlEscapedAndCorrectNonUTF8(searchTimName, SortedTimers::SearchTimerInfo(*timer, "searchtimer").c_str());
+								longDescription = concatenate(
+                    StringEscapeAndBreak(SortedTimers::GetTimerInfo(*timer)),
+                    "<hr>",
+										StringEscapeAndBreak(StringWordTruncate(epgEvent->LongDescr(), LiveSetup().GetMaxTooltipChars())),
+										"<br/><br/>",
+                    tr("Click to view details."));
+                AppendHtmlEscapedAndCorrectNonUTF8(searchTimName, SortedTimers::SearchTimerInfo(*timer, "searchtimer") );
 								searchTimId = SortedTimers::SearchTimerInfo(*timer, "s-id");
-								if (searchTimName.empty() && searchTimId.empty() ) AppendHtmlEscapedAndCorrectNonUTF8(searchTimName, SortedTimers::TvScraperTimerInfo(*timer, recID, recName).c_str() );
+								if (searchTimName.empty() && searchTimId.empty() ) AppendHtmlEscapedAndCorrectNonUTF8(searchTimName, SortedTimers::TvScraperTimerInfo(*timer, recID, recName) );
 								title = epgEvent->Title();
 							}
               std::string timerFile;
diff --git a/pages/timers.ecpp b/pages/timers.ecpp
index 24c0a7d7..15e22a64 100644
--- a/pages/timers.ecpp
+++ b/pages/timers.ecpp
@@ -111,13 +111,13 @@ using namespace vdrlive;
             longDescription += LiveSetup().GetUseAjax()?"<hr>":lf;
 					  longDescription += StringEscapeAndBreak(StringWordTruncate(epgEvent->LongDescr(), LiveSetup().GetMaxTooltipChars(), truncated), lf);
 					  if (truncated) longDescription += "...";
-            AppendHtmlEscapedAndCorrectNonUTF8(searchTimName, SortedTimers::SearchTimerInfo(*timer, "searchtimer").c_str());
+            AppendHtmlEscapedAndCorrectNonUTF8(searchTimName, SortedTimers::SearchTimerInfo(*timer, "searchtimer"));
             searchTimId = SortedTimers::SearchTimerInfo(*timer, "s-id");
-            if (searchTimName.empty() && searchTimId.empty() ) AppendHtmlEscapedAndCorrectNonUTF8(searchTimName, SortedTimers::TvScraperTimerInfo(*timer, recID, recName).c_str());
+            if (searchTimName.empty() && searchTimId.empty() ) AppendHtmlEscapedAndCorrectNonUTF8(searchTimName, SortedTimers::TvScraperTimerInfo(*timer, recID, recName) );
 					}
 					std::string currentDay = SortedTimers::GetTimerDays(timer);
-                                        const cTimer *nextTimer =  NULL;
-                                        if (i < (sortedTimers.Size() - 1)) nextTimer = sortedTimers[i + 1];
+          const cTimer *nextTimer =  NULL;
+          if (i < (sortedTimers.Size() - 1)) nextTimer = sortedTimers[i + 1];
 					bool bottom = false;
 					if (i == sortedTimers.Size() - 1) bottom = true;
 					else {
diff --git a/pages/whats_on.ecpp b/pages/whats_on.ecpp
index e53855b5..b0077802 100644
--- a/pages/whats_on.ecpp
+++ b/pages/whats_on.ecpp
@@ -192,7 +192,7 @@ if (type == "now") {
 		EpgInfoPtr epgEvent = *i;
 
 		bool truncated = false;
-		std::string truncDescription = StringWordTruncate(epgEvent->LongDescr(), maximumTruncDescriptionLength, truncated);
+		std::string truncDescription(StringWordTruncate(epgEvent->LongDescr(), maximumTruncDescriptionLength, truncated));
 		std::string longDescription = StringEscapeAndBreak(StringWordTruncate(epgEvent->LongDescr(), LiveSetup().GetMaxTooltipChars()))
 			+ "<br/><br/>" + tr("Click to view details.");
 		const cChannel* Channel = epgEvent->Channel();
diff --git a/recman.cpp b/recman.cpp
index 0b23b640..7b101898 100644
--- a/recman.cpp
+++ b/recman.cpp
@@ -30,12 +30,8 @@ namespace vdrlive {
 	 */
 	std::weak_ptr<RecordingsManager> RecordingsManager::m_recMan;
 	std::shared_ptr<RecordingsTree> RecordingsManager::m_recTree;
-#if VDRVERSNUM >= 20301
 	cStateKey RecordingsManager::m_recordingsStateKey;
-#else
-	int RecordingsManager::m_recordingsState = 0;
-#endif
-        time_t scraperLastRecordingsUpdate;
+  time_t scraperLastRecordingsUpdate;
 
 	// The RecordingsManager holds a VDR lock on the
 	// Recordings. Additionally the singleton instance of
@@ -53,12 +49,7 @@ namespace vdrlive {
 	// themselfs. This way the use of LIVE::recordings is straight
 	// forward and does hide the locking needs from the user.
 
-#if VDRVERSNUM >= 20301
 	RecordingsManager::RecordingsManager()
-#else
-	RecordingsManager::RecordingsManager() :
-		m_recordingsLock(&Recordings)
-#endif
 	{
 	}
 
@@ -66,6 +57,7 @@ namespace vdrlive {
 	{
 		RecordingsManagerPtr recMan = EnsureValidData();
 		if (! recMan) {
+      esyslog("live, ERROR, recMan == nullptr after call to EnsureValidData");
 			return RecordingsTreePtr(recMan, std::shared_ptr<RecordingsTree>());
 		}
 		return RecordingsTreePtr(recMan, m_recTree);
@@ -76,15 +68,11 @@ namespace vdrlive {
 		return "recording_" + MD5Hash(recording->FileName());
 	}
 
-	cRecording const * RecordingsManager::GetByMd5Hash(std::string const & hash) const
+	cRecording const * RecordingsManager::GetByMd5Hash(cSv hash) const
 	{
 		if (!hash.empty()) {
-#if VDRVERSNUM >= 20301
 			LOCK_RECORDINGS_READ;
 			for (cRecording* rec = (cRecording *)Recordings->First(); rec; rec = (cRecording *)Recordings->Next(rec)) {
-#else
-			for (cRecording* rec = Recordings.First(); rec; rec = Recordings.Next(rec)) {
-#endif
 				if (hash == Md5Hash(rec))
 					return rec;
 			}
@@ -92,14 +80,14 @@ namespace vdrlive {
 		return 0;
 	}
 
-	bool RecordingsManager::MoveRecording(cRecording const * recording, std::string const & name, bool copy) const
+	bool RecordingsManager::MoveRecording(cRecording const * recording, cSv name, bool copy) const
 	{
 		if (!recording)
 			return false;
 
 // Check for injections that try to escape from the video dir.
 		if (name.compare(0, 3, "../") == 0 || name.find("/..") != std::string::npos) {
-			esyslog("live: renaming failed: new name invalid \"%s\"", name.c_str());
+			esyslog("live: renaming failed: new name invalid \"%.*s\"", (int)name.length(), name.data());
 			return false;
 		}
 
@@ -109,27 +97,17 @@ namespace vdrlive {
 		if (found == std::string::npos)
 			return false;
 
-#if APIVERSNUM > 20101
-		std::string newname = std::string(cVideoDirectory::Name()) + "/" + name + oldname.substr(found);
-#else
-		std::string newname = std::string(VideoDirectory) + "/" + name + oldname.substr(found);
-#endif
+		std::string newname = concatenate(cVideoDirectory::Name(), "/", name, cSv(oldname).substr(found));
 
-		if (!MoveDirectory(oldname.c_str(), newname.c_str(), copy)) {
-			esyslog("live: renaming failed from '%s' to '%s'", oldname.c_str(), newname.c_str());
+		if (!MoveDirectory(oldname, newname, copy)) {
+			esyslog("live: renaming failed from '%.*s' to '%s'", (int)oldname.length(), oldname.data(), newname.c_str());
 			return false;
 		}
 
-#if VDRVERSNUM >= 20301
 		LOCK_RECORDINGS_WRITE;
 		if (!copy)
 			Recordings->DelByName(oldname.c_str());
 		Recordings->AddByName(newname.c_str());
-#else
-		if (!copy)
-			Recordings.DelByName(oldname.c_str());
-		Recordings.AddByName(newname.c_str());
-#endif
 		cRecordingUserCommand::InvokeCommand(*cString::sprintf("rename \"%s\"", *strescape(oldname.c_str(), "\\\"$'")), newname.c_str());
 
 		return true;
@@ -169,12 +147,8 @@ namespace vdrlive {
 
 		std::string name(recording->FileName());
 		const_cast<cRecording *>(recording)->Delete();
-#if VDRVERSNUM >= 20301
 		LOCK_RECORDINGS_WRITE;
 		Recordings->DelByName(name.c_str());
-#else
-		Recordings.DelByName(name.c_str());
-#endif
 	}
 
 	int RecordingsManager::GetArchiveType(cRecording const * recording)
@@ -244,7 +218,6 @@ namespace vdrlive {
 		return archived;
 	}
 
-#if VDRVERSNUM >= 20301
 	bool RecordingsManager::StateChanged ()
 	{
 		bool result = false;
@@ -257,7 +230,6 @@ namespace vdrlive {
 
 		return result;
 	}
-#endif
 
 	RecordingsManagerPtr RecordingsManager::EnsureValidData()
 	{
@@ -274,19 +246,15 @@ namespace vdrlive {
 
 		// StateChanged must be executed every time, so not part of
 		// the short cut evaluation in the if statement below.
-#if VDRVERSNUM >= 20301
 		bool stateChanged = StateChanged();
-#else
-		bool stateChanged = Recordings.StateChanged(m_recordingsState);
-#endif
 // check: changes on scraper data?
-                cGetScraperUpdateTimes scraperUpdateTimes;
-                if (scraperUpdateTimes.call(LiveSetup().GetPluginScraper()) ) {
-                  if (scraperUpdateTimes.m_recordingsUpdateTime > scraperLastRecordingsUpdate) {
-                    scraperLastRecordingsUpdate = scraperUpdateTimes.m_recordingsUpdateTime;
-                    stateChanged = true;
-                  }
-                }
+    cGetScraperUpdateTimes scraperUpdateTimes;
+    if (scraperUpdateTimes.call(LiveSetup().GetPluginScraper()) ) {
+      if (scraperUpdateTimes.m_recordingsUpdateTime > scraperLastRecordingsUpdate) {
+        scraperLastRecordingsUpdate = scraperUpdateTimes.m_recordingsUpdateTime;
+        stateChanged = true;
+      }
+    }
 		if (stateChanged || (!m_recTree) ) {
 			if (stateChanged) {
 				m_recTree.reset();
@@ -303,19 +271,18 @@ namespace vdrlive {
 		return recMan;
 	}
 
-
-        ShortTextDescription::ShortTextDescription(const char * ShortText, const char * Description) :
-            m_short_text(ShortText),
-            m_description(Description)
-           {  }
-        wint_t ShortTextDescription::getNextNonPunctChar() {
-           wint_t result;
-           do {
-             if( m_short_text && *m_short_text ) result = getNextUtfCodepoint(m_short_text);
-				            else result = getNextUtfCodepoint(m_description);
-           } while (result && iswpunct(result));
-           return towlower(result);
-        }
+  ShortTextDescription::ShortTextDescription(const char * ShortText, const char * Description):
+    m_short_text(ShortText),
+    m_description(Description)
+  {  }
+  wint_t ShortTextDescription::getNextNonPunctChar() {
+    wint_t result;
+    do {
+      if( m_short_text && *m_short_text ) result = getNextUtfCodepoint(m_short_text);
+      else result = getNextUtfCodepoint(m_description);
+    } while (result && iswpunct(result));
+    return towlower(result);
+  }
 
 	/**
 	 * Implemetation of class RecordingsItemPtrCompare
@@ -493,7 +460,7 @@ bool searchNameDesc(RecordingsItemPtr &RecItem, const std::vector<RecordingsItem
 	/**
 	 *  Implementation of class RecordingsItem:
 	 */
-	RecordingsItem::RecordingsItem(std::string const & name) :
+	RecordingsItem::RecordingsItem(cSv name) :
 		m_name(name),
 		m_name_for_search(RecordingsItem::GetNameForSearch(name))
 	{
@@ -503,14 +470,15 @@ bool searchNameDesc(RecordingsItemPtr &RecItem, const std::vector<RecordingsItem
 	{
 	}
 
-  std::string RecordingsItem::GetNameForSearch(std::string const & name)
+  std::string RecordingsItem::GetNameForSearch(cSv name)
 	{
     std::string result;
     result.reserve(name.length());
-    const char *name_c = name.c_str();
-    while(*name_c) {
+    const char *name_c = name.data();
+    const char *name_c_end = name_c + name.length();
+    while(name_c < name_c_end) {
       wint_t codepoint = getNextUtfCodepoint(name_c);
-      if(!iswpunct(codepoint) ) AppendUtfCodepoint(result, towlower(codepoint));
+      if(!iswpunct(codepoint) ) stringAppendUtfCodepoint(result, towlower(codepoint));
     }
     return result;
 	}
@@ -530,7 +498,7 @@ bool searchNameDesc(RecordingsItemPtr &RecItem, const std::vector<RecordingsItem
 	  m_subdirs.shrink_to_fit();
   }
 
-  RecordingsItemPtr RecordingsItem::addDirIfNotExists(const std::string &dirName) {
+  RecordingsItemPtr RecordingsItem::addDirIfNotExists(cSv dirName) {
     std::vector<RecordingsItemPtr>::iterator iter = std::lower_bound(m_subdirs.begin(), m_subdirs.end(), dirName);
     if (iter != m_subdirs.end() && !(dirName < *iter) ) return *iter;
 	  RecordingsItemPtr recPtr (new RecordingsItemDir(dirName, Level() + 1));
@@ -571,7 +539,7 @@ bool searchNameDesc(RecordingsItemPtr &RecItem, const std::vector<RecordingsItem
 	  return &m_entries_other_sort;
 	}
 
-  bool RecordingsItem::matchesFilter(const std::string &filter) {
+  bool RecordingsItem::matchesFilter(cSv filter) {
     if (filter.empty() ) return true;
 #ifdef HAVE_PCRE2
     StringMatch sm(filter);
@@ -589,23 +557,25 @@ bool searchNameDesc(RecordingsItemPtr &RecItem, const std::vector<RecordingsItem
 	  for (const auto &subdir:m_subdirs) if (subdir->checkNew() ) return true;
 	  return false;
 	}
-  void RecordingsItem::addDirList(std::vector<std::string> &dirs, const std::string &basePath)
+  void RecordingsItem::addDirList(std::vector<std::string> &dirs, cSv basePath)
 	{
 	  if (!IsDir() ) return;
-          std::string basePath0 = basePath;
-          if (basePath.empty() ) dirs.push_back("");
-          else basePath0.append("/");
+    std::string basePath0(basePath);
+    if (basePath.empty() ) dirs.push_back("");
+    else basePath0.append("/");
+    size_t basePath0_len = basePath0.length();
 	  for (const auto &subdir:m_subdirs) {
-            std::string thisPath = basePath0 + subdir->m_name;
-            dirs.push_back(thisPath);
-            subdir->addDirList(dirs, thisPath);
-          }
+      basePath0.erase(basePath0_len);
+      basePath0.append(subdir->m_name);
+      dirs.push_back(basePath0);
+      subdir->addDirList(dirs, basePath0);
+    }
 	}
 
 	void RecordingsItem::setTvShow(const cRecording* recording) {
-          if (m_cmp_dir) return;
-          m_cmp_dir = RecordingsItemPtrCompare::BySeason;
-          getScraperData(recording, cImageLevels(eImageLevel::tvShowCollection, eImageLevel::anySeasonCollection) );
+    if (m_cmp_dir) return;
+    m_cmp_dir = RecordingsItemPtrCompare::BySeason;
+    getScraperData(recording, cImageLevels(eImageLevel::tvShowCollection, eImageLevel::anySeasonCollection) );
 	}
 
 	void RecordingsItem::getScraperData(const cRecording* recording, const cImageLevels &imageLevels, std::string *collectionName) {
@@ -693,7 +663,7 @@ bool searchNameDesc(RecordingsItemPtr &RecItem, const std::vector<RecordingsItem
 	/**
 	 *  Implementation of class RecordingsItemDir:
 	 */
-	RecordingsItemDir::RecordingsItemDir(const std::string& name, int level):
+	RecordingsItemDir::RecordingsItemDir(cSv name, int level):
 		RecordingsItem(name),
                 m_level(level)
 	{
@@ -749,7 +719,7 @@ bool searchNameDesc(RecordingsItemPtr &RecItem, const std::vector<RecordingsItem
 	/**
 	 *  Implementation of class RecordingsItemRec:
 	 */
-	RecordingsItemRec::RecordingsItemRec(int idI, const std::string& id, const std::string& name, const cRecording* recording):
+	RecordingsItemRec::RecordingsItemRec(int idI, cSv id, cSv name, const cRecording* recording):
 		RecordingsItem(name),
 		m_recording(recording),
 		m_id(id),
@@ -855,7 +825,7 @@ template void RecordingsItem::AppendShortTextOrDesc<cLargeString>(cLargeString &
            return m_video_SD_HD;
         }
 
-void AppendScraperData(cLargeString &target, const std::string &s_IMDB_ID, const cTvMedia &s_image, tvType s_videoType, const std::string &s_title, int s_season_number, int s_episode_number, const std::string &s_episode_name, int s_runtime, const std::string &s_release_date) {
+void AppendScraperData(cLargeString &target, cSv s_IMDB_ID, const cTvMedia &s_image, tvType s_videoType, cSv s_title, int s_season_number, int s_episode_number, cSv s_episode_name, int s_runtime, cSv s_release_date) {
           bool scraperDataAvailable = s_videoType == tMovie || s_videoType == tSeries;
           target.append("\"");
 // [2]  IMDB ID
@@ -868,7 +838,7 @@ void AppendScraperData(cLargeString &target, const std::string &s_IMDB_ID, const
           if (s_image.width <= s_image.height) target.append("pt");
           target.append("\",\"");
 // [5] : title (scraper)
-          if (scraperDataAvailable) AppendHtmlEscapedAndCorrectNonUTF8(target, s_title.c_str() );
+          if (scraperDataAvailable) AppendHtmlEscapedAndCorrectNonUTF8(target, s_title.data(), s_title.data() + s_title.length() );
           target.append("\",\"");
           if (s_videoType == tSeries && (s_episode_number != 0 || s_season_number != 0)) {
 // [6] : season/episode/episode name (scraper)
@@ -876,7 +846,7 @@ void AppendScraperData(cLargeString &target, const std::string &s_IMDB_ID, const
             target.append('E');
             target.append(s_episode_number);
             target.append(' ');
-            AppendHtmlEscapedAndCorrectNonUTF8(target, s_episode_name.c_str() );
+            AppendHtmlEscapedAndCorrectNonUTF8(target, s_episode_name.data(), s_episode_name.data() + s_episode_name.length() );
           }
           target.append("\",\"");
 // [7] : runtime (scraper)
@@ -920,7 +890,7 @@ void AppendScraperData(cLargeString &target, const std::string &s_IMDB_ID, const
           AppendHtmlEscapedAndCorrectNonUTF8(target, RecInfo()->ChannelName() );
           target.append("\", \"");
 // [13] NewR()
-          target.append(NewR() );
+          target.appendS(NewR() );
           target.append("\", \"");
 // [14] Name
           AppendHtmlEscapedAndCorrectNonUTF8(target, Name().c_str() );
@@ -938,7 +908,7 @@ void AppendScraperData(cLargeString &target, const std::string &s_IMDB_ID, const
           target.append(",");
 //          if(displayFolder) {
             target.append("\"");
-            if( *(const char *)Recording()->Folder() ) AppendHtmlEscapedAndCorrectNonUTF8(target, (const char *)Recording()->Folder() );
+            AppendHtmlEscapedAndCorrectNonUTF8(target, (const char *)Recording()->Folder() );
             target.append("\"");
 //          }
 // [19] duration
@@ -952,9 +922,9 @@ void AppendScraperData(cLargeString &target, const std::string &s_IMDB_ID, const
           int fileSizeMB = FileSizeMB();
           if(fileSizeMB >= 0)
             if (fileSizeMB >= 1000)
-              AppendFormated(target, tr("%.1f GB"), (double)fileSizeMB / 1000.);
+              stringAppendFormated(target, tr("%.1f GB"), (double)fileSizeMB / 1000.);
             else
-              AppendFormated(target, tr("%'d MB"), fileSizeMB);
+              stringAppendFormated(target, tr("%'d MB"), fileSizeMB);
           else
             target.append("&nbsp;");
           target.append("\",");
@@ -962,7 +932,7 @@ void AppendScraperData(cLargeString &target, const std::string &s_IMDB_ID, const
           target.append(NumberTsFiles() );
         }
 
-void RecordingsItemRec::AppendAsJSArray(cLargeString &target, std::vector<RecordingsItemPtr>::const_iterator recIterFirst, std::vector<RecordingsItemPtr>::const_iterator recIterLast, bool &first, const std::string &filter, bool reverse) {
+void RecordingsItemRec::AppendAsJSArray(cLargeString &target, std::vector<RecordingsItemPtr>::const_iterator recIterFirst, std::vector<RecordingsItemPtr>::const_iterator recIterLast, bool &first, cSv filter, bool reverse) {
   if (reverse) {
     for (; recIterFirst != recIterLast;) {
       --recIterLast;
@@ -987,7 +957,7 @@ void RecordingsItemRec::AppendAsJSArray(cLargeString &target, std::vector<Record
 	 * Implemetation of class RecordingsItemDummy
 	 */
   RecordingsItemDummy::RecordingsItemDummy(const cEvent *event, cScraperVideo *scraperVideo):
-    RecordingsItem(charToString(event->Title() )),
+    RecordingsItem(event->Title() ),
     m_event(event)
     {
       if (scraperVideo) {
@@ -1003,8 +973,8 @@ void RecordingsItemRec::AppendAsJSArray(cLargeString &target, std::vector<Record
     }
 
   bool operator< (const RecordingsItemPtr &a, const RecordingsItemPtr &b) { return *a < b; }
-  bool operator< (const std::string &a, const RecordingsItemPtr &b) { return a < b->Name(); }
-  bool operator< (const RecordingsItemPtr &a, const std::string &b) { return a->Name() < b; }
+  bool operator< (cSv a, const RecordingsItemPtr &b) { return a < b->Name(); }
+  bool operator< (const RecordingsItemPtr &a, cSv b) { return a->Name() < b; }
   bool operator< (int a, const RecordingsItemPtr &b) { return *b > a; }
   bool operator< (const RecordingsItemPtr &a, int b) { return *a < b; }
 
@@ -1015,8 +985,10 @@ void RecordingsItemRec::AppendAsJSArray(cLargeString &target, std::vector<Record
 		m_maxLevel(0),
 		m_root(new RecordingsItemDir("", 0))
 	{
-// esyslog("live: DH: ****** RecordingsTree::RecordingsTree() ********");
+//   esyslog("live: DH: ****** RecordingsTree::RecordingsTree() ********");
+   std::chrono::time_point<std::chrono::high_resolution_clock> begin = std::chrono::high_resolution_clock::now();
 // check availability of scraper data
+    m_creation_timestamp = time(0);
     cGetScraperVideo getScraperVideo;
 		bool scraperDataAvailable = getScraperVideo.call(LiveSetup().GetPluginScraper());
     RecordingsItemPtr recPtrTvShows (new RecordingsItemDir(tr("TV shows"), 1));
@@ -1036,72 +1008,66 @@ void RecordingsItemRec::AppendAsJSArray(cLargeString &target, std::vector<Record
     } else {
       m_rootFileSystem = m_root;
 		}
-		int idI = -1; // integer id
 // add all recordings
-#if VDRVERSNUM >= 20301
 		LOCK_RECORDINGS_READ;
 		for (cRecording* recording = (cRecording *)Recordings->First(); recording; recording = (cRecording *)Recordings->Next(recording)) {
-		  idI = recording->Id();
-#else
-		for (cRecording* recording = Recordings.First(); recording; recording = Recordings.Next(recording)) {
-		  idI++;
-#endif
-                  if (scraperDataAvailable) m_maxLevel = std::max(m_maxLevel, recording->HierarchyLevels() + 1);
-                  else m_maxLevel = std::max(m_maxLevel, recording->HierarchyLevels() );
+      if (scraperDataAvailable) m_maxLevel = std::max(m_maxLevel, recording->HierarchyLevels() + 1);
+      else m_maxLevel = std::max(m_maxLevel, recording->HierarchyLevels() );
 
-                  RecordingsItemPtr dir = m_rootFileSystem;
-                  std::string name(recording->Name());
+      RecordingsItemPtr dir = m_rootFileSystem;
+      std::string_view name(recording->Name());
 
-                  size_t index = 0;
-                  size_t pos = 0;
-                  do {
-                    pos = name.find('~', index);
-                    if (pos != std::string::npos) {
+      size_t index = 0;
+      size_t pos = 0;
+      do {
+        pos = name.find('~', index);
+        if (pos != std::string::npos) {
 // note: the dir returned is the added (or existing) subdir named name.substr(index, pos - index)
-                      dir = dir->addDirIfNotExists(name.substr(index, pos - index) );
-                      index = pos + 1;
-                      // esyslog("live: DH: current dir: '%s'", dir->Name().c_str());
-                    }
-                    else {
-                      std::string recName(name.substr(index, name.length() - index));
-                      RecordingsItemPtr recPtr (new RecordingsItemRec(idI, recMan->Md5Hash(recording), recName, recording));
-                      dir->m_entries.push_back(recPtr);
-		      m_allRecordings.push_back(recPtr);
-                      // esyslog("live: DH: added rec: '%s'", recName.c_str());
-                      if (scraperDataAvailable) {
-                        switch (recPtr->scraperVideoType() ) {
-                          case tMovie:
-                            if (recPtr->m_s_collection_id == 0) break;
-                            dir = recPtrMovieCollections->addDirCollectionIfNotExists(recPtr->m_s_collection_id, recording);
-                            dir->m_entries.push_back(recPtr);
-                            break;
-                          case tSeries:
-                            dir = recPtrTvShows->addDirIfNotExists(recPtr->scraperName() );
-                            dir->setTvShow(recording);
-                            if (recPtr->scraperSeasonNumber() != 0 || recPtr->scraperEpisodeNumber() != 0) {
-                              dir = dir->addDirSeasonIfNotExists(recPtr->scraperSeasonNumber(), recording);
-                            }
-                            dir->m_entries.push_back(recPtr);
-                            break;
-                          default:  // do nothing
-                            break;
-                        }
-                      }
-                    }
-                  } while (pos != std::string::npos);
+          dir = dir->addDirIfNotExists(name.substr(index, pos - index) );
+          index = pos + 1;
+          // esyslog("live: DH: current dir: '%s'", dir->Name().c_str());
+        }
+        else {
+          std::string_view recName(name.substr(index, name.length() - index));
+          RecordingsItemPtr recPtr (new RecordingsItemRec(recording->Id(), recMan->Md5Hash(recording), recName, recording));
+          dir->m_entries.push_back(recPtr);
+m_allRecordings.push_back(recPtr);
+          // esyslog("live: DH: added rec: '%.*s'", (int)recName.length(), recName.data());
+          if (scraperDataAvailable) {
+            switch (recPtr->scraperVideoType() ) {
+              case tMovie:
+                if (recPtr->m_s_collection_id == 0) break;
+                dir = recPtrMovieCollections->addDirCollectionIfNotExists(recPtr->m_s_collection_id, recording);
+                dir->m_entries.push_back(recPtr);
+                break;
+              case tSeries:
+                dir = recPtrTvShows->addDirIfNotExists(recPtr->scraperName() );
+                dir->setTvShow(recording);
+                if (recPtr->scraperSeasonNumber() != 0 || recPtr->scraperEpisodeNumber() != 0) {
+                  dir = dir->addDirSeasonIfNotExists(recPtr->scraperSeasonNumber(), recording);
+                }
+                dir->m_entries.push_back(recPtr);
+                break;
+              default:  // do nothing
+                break;
+            }
+          }
+        }
+      } while (pos != std::string::npos);
 		}
-                if (scraperDataAvailable) {
-                  for (auto it = recPtrTvShows->m_subdirs.begin(); it != recPtrTvShows->m_subdirs.end(); ) {
-                    if ((*it)->numberOfRecordings() < 2) it = recPtrTvShows->m_subdirs.erase(it);
-                    else ++it;
-                  }
-                  for (auto it = recPtrMovieCollections->m_subdirs.begin(); it != recPtrMovieCollections->m_subdirs.end(); ) {
-                    if ((*it)->numberOfRecordings() < 2) it = recPtrMovieCollections->m_subdirs.erase(it);
-                    else ++it;
-                  }
+    if (scraperDataAvailable) {
+      for (auto it = recPtrTvShows->m_subdirs.begin(); it != recPtrTvShows->m_subdirs.end(); ) {
+        if ((*it)->numberOfRecordings() < 2) it = recPtrTvShows->m_subdirs.erase(it);
+        else ++it;
+      }
+      for (auto it = recPtrMovieCollections->m_subdirs.begin(); it != recPtrMovieCollections->m_subdirs.end(); ) {
+        if ((*it)->numberOfRecordings() < 2) it = recPtrMovieCollections->m_subdirs.erase(it);
+        else ++it;
+      }
 		}
 		m_root->finishRecordingsTree();
-		// esyslog("live: DH: ------ RecordingsTree::RecordingsTree() --------");
+    std::chrono::duration<double> timeNeeded = std::chrono::high_resolution_clock::now() - begin;
+    esyslog("live: DH: ------ RecordingsTree::RecordingsTree() --------, required time: %9.5f", timeNeeded.count() );
 	}
 
 	RecordingsTree::~RecordingsTree()
diff --git a/recman.h b/recman.h
index e164a5d9..803a0b51 100644
--- a/recman.h
+++ b/recman.h
@@ -1,24 +1,27 @@
 #ifndef VDR_LIVE_RECORDINGS_H
 #define VDR_LIVE_RECORDINGS_H
 
-#include <iostream>
-#include "stdext.h"
-#include "setup.h"
-#include "largeString.h"
-#include "tools.h"
-
 // STL headers need to be before VDR tools.h (included by <vdr/recording.h>)
 #include <map>
 #include <set>
 #include <string>
+#include <string_view>
 #include <vector>
 #include <list>
 
 #if TNTVERSION >= 30000
-        #include <cxxtools/log.h>  // must be loaded before any vdr include because of duplicate macros (LOG_ERROR, LOG_DEBUG, LOG_INFO)
+  #include <cxxtools/log.h>  // must be loaded before any vdr include because of duplicate macros (LOG_ERROR, LOG_DEBUG, LOG_INFO)
 #endif
 
+#include <iostream>
+#include "stdext.h"
+#include "setup.h"
+
 #include <vdr/recording.h>
+#include <vdr/channels.h>
+#include "stringhelpers.h"
+#include "largeString.h"
+#include "tools.h"
 #include "services.h"
 
 namespace vdrlive {
@@ -40,8 +43,8 @@ namespace vdrlive {
   typedef std::weak_ptr<RecordingsItem> RecordingsItemWeakPtr;
 
   bool operator< (const RecordingsItemPtr &a, const RecordingsItemPtr &b);
-  bool operator< (const std::string &a, const RecordingsItemPtr &b);
-  bool operator< (const RecordingsItemPtr &a, const std::string &b);
+  bool operator< (cSv a, const RecordingsItemPtr &b);
+  bool operator< (const RecordingsItemPtr &a, cSv b);
   bool operator< (int a, const RecordingsItemPtr &b);
   bool operator< (const RecordingsItemPtr &a, int b);
 
@@ -75,13 +78,13 @@ namespace vdrlive {
                    *  fetches a cRecording from VDR's Recordings collection. Returns
                    *  NULL if recording was not found
                    */
-                  cRecording const* GetByMd5Hash(std::string const & hash) const;
+                  cRecording const* GetByMd5Hash(cSv hash) const;
 
                   /**
                    *  Move a recording with the given hash according to
                    *  VDRs recording mechanisms.
                    */
-                  bool MoveRecording(cRecording const * recording, std::string const & name, bool copy = false) const;
+                  bool MoveRecording(cRecording const * recording, cSv name, bool copy = false) const;
 
                   /**
                    *  Delete recording resume with the given hash according to
@@ -119,18 +122,12 @@ namespace vdrlive {
           private:
                   RecordingsManager();
 
-#if VDRVERSNUM >= 20301
                   static bool StateChanged();
-#endif
                   static RecordingsManagerPtr EnsureValidData();
 
                   static std::weak_ptr<RecordingsManager> m_recMan;
                   static std::shared_ptr<RecordingsTree> m_recTree;
-#if VDRVERSNUM >= 20301
                   static cStateKey m_recordingsStateKey;
-#else
-                  static int m_recordingsState;
-#endif
 
                   cThreadLock m_recordingsLock;
   };
@@ -182,7 +179,7 @@ namespace vdrlive {
     friend class RecordingsTree;
 
     protected:
-      RecordingsItem(const std::string& name);
+      RecordingsItem(cSv name);
 
     public:
       virtual ~RecordingsItem();
@@ -207,19 +204,19 @@ template<class T>
 		  void finishRecordingsTree(); // sort recursively, Order: m_cmp_rec (if defined. Otherwise: no sort)
      // dirs: Order: m_cmp_dir (if defined. Otherwise: m_name_for_sort)
       virtual bool operator< (const RecordingsItemPtr &sec) const { return m_name < sec->m_name; }
-      virtual bool operator< (const std::string &sec) const { return m_name < sec; }
-      virtual bool operator> (const std::string &sec) const { return m_name > sec; }
+      virtual bool operator< (cSv sec) const { return m_name < sec; }
+      virtual bool operator> (cSv sec) const { return m_name > sec; }
       virtual bool operator< (int sec) const { return false; }
       virtual bool operator> (int sec) const { return false; }
       virtual int Level() { return 0; }
       int numberOfRecordings();
-      RecordingsItemPtr addDirIfNotExists(const std::string &dirName);
+      RecordingsItemPtr addDirIfNotExists(cSv dirName);
 		  RecordingsItemPtr addDirCollectionIfNotExists(int collectionId, const cRecording* recording);
 		  RecordingsItemPtr addDirSeasonIfNotExists(int collectionId, const cRecording* recording);
 		  const std::vector<RecordingsItemPtr> *getRecordings(eSortOrder sortOrder);
 		  const std::vector<RecordingsItemPtr> *getDirs() { return &m_subdirs; }
 		  bool checkNew();
-		  void addDirList(std::vector<std::string> &dirs, const std::string &basePath);
+		  void addDirList(std::vector<std::string> &dirs, cSv basePath);
 
       void setTvShow(const cRecording* recording);
 		  void getScraperData(const cRecording* recording, const cImageLevels &imageLevels, std::string *collectionName = NULL);
@@ -236,7 +233,7 @@ template<class T>
       int CompareStD(const RecordingsItemPtr &second, int *numEqualChars=NULL) const;
       bool orderDuplicates(const RecordingsItemPtr &second, bool alwaysShortText, bool lang = false) const;
 // To display the recording on the UI
-      bool matchesFilter(const std::string &filter);
+      bool matchesFilter(cSv filter);
       virtual const int IsArchived() const { return 0 ; }
       virtual const std::string ArchiveDescr() const { return "" ; }
       virtual const char *NewR() const { return "" ; }
@@ -247,7 +244,7 @@ template<class T>
  		  bool dirEntriesSorted() { return m_cmp_dir != NULL; }
 
     private:
-      std::string GetNameForSearch(std::string const & name);
+      std::string GetNameForSearch(cSv name);
     protected:
 		  int m_idI = -1;
       std::string m_name;
@@ -285,7 +282,7 @@ template<class T>
   class RecordingsItemDir : public RecordingsItem
   {
           public:
-                  RecordingsItemDir(const std::string& name, int level);
+                  RecordingsItemDir(cSv name, int level);
 
                   virtual ~RecordingsItemDir();
 
@@ -306,8 +303,8 @@ template<class T>
                   virtual ~RecordingsItemDirSeason();
 
                   virtual bool operator< (const RecordingsItemPtr &sec) const { return m_s_season_number < sec->scraperSeasonNumber(); }
-                  virtual bool operator< (const std::string &sec) const { return false; }
-                  virtual bool operator> (const std::string &sec) const { return false; }
+                  virtual bool operator< (cSv sec) const { return false; }
+                  virtual bool operator> (cSv sec) const { return false; }
                   virtual bool operator< (int sec) const { return m_s_season_number < sec; }
                   virtual bool operator> (int sec) const { return m_s_season_number > sec; }
 
@@ -320,8 +317,8 @@ template<class T>
                   virtual ~RecordingsItemDirCollection();
 
                   virtual bool operator< (const RecordingsItemPtr &sec) const { return m_s_collection_id < sec->scraperCollectionId(); }
-                  virtual bool operator< (const std::string &sec) const { return false; }
-                  virtual bool operator> (const std::string &sec) const { return false; }
+                  virtual bool operator< (cSv sec) const { return false; }
+                  virtual bool operator> (cSv sec) const { return false; }
                   virtual bool operator< (int sec) const { return m_s_collection_id < sec; }
                   virtual bool operator> (int sec) const { return m_s_collection_id > sec; }
 
@@ -336,7 +333,7 @@ template<class T>
   class RecordingsItemRec : public RecordingsItem
   {
     public:
-      RecordingsItemRec(int idI, const std::string& id, const std::string& name, const cRecording* recording);
+      RecordingsItemRec(int idI, cSv id, cSv name, const cRecording* recording);
 
       virtual ~RecordingsItemRec();
 
@@ -364,7 +361,7 @@ template<class T>
 
       virtual int SD_HD();
       virtual void AppendAsJSArray(cLargeString &target, bool displayFolder);
-      static void AppendAsJSArray(cLargeString &target, std::vector<RecordingsItemPtr>::const_iterator recIterFirst, std::vector<RecordingsItemPtr>::const_iterator recIterLast, bool &first, const std::string &filter, bool reverse);
+      static void AppendAsJSArray(cLargeString &target, std::vector<RecordingsItemPtr>::const_iterator recIterFirst, std::vector<RecordingsItemPtr>::const_iterator recIterLast, bool &first, cSv filter, bool reverse);
 
     private:
       const cRecording *m_recording;
@@ -412,6 +409,7 @@ template<class T>
       const std::vector<RecordingsItemPtr> *allRecordings(eSortOrder sortOrder);
 
       int MaxLevel() const { return m_maxLevel; }
+      time_t getCreationTimestamp() { return m_creation_timestamp; }
 
     private:
       int m_maxLevel;
@@ -421,6 +419,7 @@ template<class T>
       bool m_allRecordingsSorted = false;
       std::vector<RecordingsItemPtr> m_allRecordings_other_sort;
       eSortOrder m_sortOrder = (eSortOrder)-1;
+      time_t m_creation_timestamp = 0;
   };
 
 
@@ -459,7 +458,7 @@ template<class T>
     a.swap(b);
   }
 
-void AppendScraperData(cLargeString &target, const std::string &s_IMDB_ID, const cTvMedia &s_image, tvType s_videoType, const std::string &s_title, int s_season_number, int s_episode_number, const std::string &s_episode_name, int s_runtime, const std::string &s_release_date);
+void AppendScraperData(cLargeString &target, cSv s_IMDB_ID, const cTvMedia &s_image, tvType s_videoType, cSv s_title, int s_season_number, int s_episode_number, cSv s_episode_name, int s_runtime, cSv s_release_date);
 
 std::string recordingErrorsHtml(int recordingErrors);
 
diff --git a/setup.cpp b/setup.cpp
index acb20bee..660899b5 100644
--- a/setup.cpp
+++ b/setup.cpp
@@ -39,7 +39,6 @@ Setup::Setup():
 		m_lastsortingmode("nameasc"),
 		m_tntnetloglevel("WARN"),
 		m_showLogo(1),
-		m_useAjax(1),
 		m_showInfoBox(1),
 		m_useStreamdev(1),
 		m_streamdevPort(3000),
@@ -60,6 +59,7 @@ Setup::Setup():
 {
 	m_adminPasswordMD5 = "4:" + MD5Hash("live");
 	liveplugin = cPluginManager::GetPlugin("live");
+  m_vdr_start = time(0);
 }
 
 bool Setup::ParseCommandLine( int argc, char* argv[] )
@@ -155,7 +155,6 @@ bool Setup::ParseSetupEntry( char const* name, char const* value )
 	else if ( strcmp( name, "LastWhatsOnListMode" ) == 0 ) { m_lastwhatsonlistmode = value; }
 	else if ( strcmp( name, "LastSortingMode" ) == 0 ) { m_lastsortingmode = value; }
 	else if ( strcmp( name, "ShowLogo" ) == 0 ) { m_showLogo = atoi(value); }
-	else if ( strcmp( name, "UseAjax" ) == 0 ) { m_useAjax = atoi(value); }
 	else if ( strcmp( name, "ShowInfoBox" ) == 0 ) { m_showInfoBox = atoi(value); }
 	else if ( strcmp( name, "UseStreamdev" ) == 0 ) { m_useStreamdev = atoi(value); }
 	else if ( strcmp( name, "StreamdevPort" ) == 0 ) { m_streamdevPort = atoi(value); }
@@ -357,7 +356,6 @@ bool Setup::SaveSetup()
 	liveplugin->SetupStore("LastWhatsOnListMode", m_lastwhatsonlistmode.c_str());
 	liveplugin->SetupStore("LastSortingMode", m_lastsortingmode.c_str());
 	liveplugin->SetupStore("ShowLogo", m_showLogo);
-	liveplugin->SetupStore("UseAjax", m_useAjax);
 	liveplugin->SetupStore("ShowInfoBox", m_showInfoBox);
 	liveplugin->SetupStore("UseStreamdev", m_useStreamdev);
 	liveplugin->SetupStore("StreamdevPort", m_streamdevPort);
diff --git a/setup.h b/setup.h
index 5edc8864..9743ecf0 100644
--- a/setup.h
+++ b/setup.h
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ class Setup
 		std::string const GetLastSortingMode() const { return m_lastsortingmode; }
 		std::string const GetTntnetLogLevel() const { return m_tntnetloglevel; }
 		bool GetShowLogo() const { return m_showLogo != 0; }
-		bool GetUseAjax() const { return m_useAjax != 0; }
+		bool GetUseAjax() const { return true; }
 		bool GetShowInfoBox() const { return m_showInfoBox != 0; }
 		bool GetUseStreamdev() const { return m_useStreamdev != 0; }
 		int GetStreamdevPort() const { return m_streamdevPort; }
@@ -95,7 +95,6 @@ class Setup
 		void SetLastWhatsOnListMode(std::string const & mode) { m_lastwhatsonlistmode = mode; SaveSetup(); }
 		void SetLastSortingMode(std::string const & mode) { m_lastsortingmode = mode; SaveSetup(); }
 		void SetShowLogo(bool show) { m_showLogo = show ? 1 : 0; }
-		void SetUseAjax(bool use) { m_useAjax = use ? 1 : 0; }
 		void SetShowInfoBox(bool show) { m_showInfoBox = show ? 1 : 0; }
 		void SetUseStreamdev(bool use) { m_useStreamdev = use ? 1 : 0; }
 		void SetStreamdevPort(int port) { m_streamdevPort = port; }
@@ -118,6 +117,7 @@ class Setup
 		bool ParseSetupEntry( char const* name, char const* value );
 
 		bool CheckLocalNet(std::string const & ip);
+    time_t GetVdrStart() { return m_vdr_start; }
 
 
 	private:
@@ -154,15 +154,14 @@ class Setup
 		std::string m_scheduleDuration;
 		std::string m_startscreen;
 		std::string m_theme;
-                std::string m_themedLinkPrefix;
-                std::string m_themedLinkPrefixImg;
+    std::string m_themedLinkPrefix;
+    std::string m_themedLinkPrefixImg;
 		std::string m_localnetmask;
 		bool m_islocalnet;
 		std::string m_lastwhatsonlistmode;
 		std::string m_lastsortingmode;
 		std::string m_tntnetloglevel;
 		int m_showLogo;
-		int m_useAjax;
 		int m_showInfoBox;
 		int m_useStreamdev;
 		int m_streamdevPort;
@@ -180,6 +179,7 @@ class Setup
 		bool CheckServerPort();
 		bool CheckServerIps();
 		bool CheckServerSslPort();
+    time_t m_vdr_start = 0;
 };
 
 Setup& LiveSetup();
diff --git a/stringhelpers.h b/stringhelpers.h
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b39fc709
--- /dev/null
+++ b/stringhelpers.h
@@ -0,0 +1,1015 @@
+/*
+ * version 0.9.2
+ * general stringhelper functions
+ *
+ * only depends on g++ -std=c++17 std:: standard headers and on esyslog (from VDR)
+ * no other dependencies, so it can be easily included in any other header
+ *
+ *
+*/
+#ifndef __STRINGHELPERS_H
+#define __STRINGHELPERS_H
+
+#include <cstdarg>
+#include <string>
+#include <string_view>
+#include <string.h>
+#include <vector>
+#include <algorithm>
+#include <set>
+#include <iostream>
+#include <chrono>
+
+#define CONVERT(result, from, fn) \
+char result[fn(NULL, from) + 1]; \
+fn(result, from);
+
+#define CV_VA_NUM_ARGS_HELPER(_1, _2, _3, _4, _5, _6, _7, _8, _9, _10, N, ...)    N
+#define CV_VA_NUM_ARGS(...)      CV_VA_NUM_ARGS_HELPER(__VA_ARGS__, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0)
+#define CAT2( A, B ) A ## B
+#define SELECT( NAME, NUM ) CAT2( NAME ## _, NUM )
+#define VA_SELECT( NAME, ... ) SELECT( NAME, CV_VA_NUM_ARGS(__VA_ARGS__) )(__VA_ARGS__)
+
+// concatenate macro based, and fastest ===============
+#define CONCATENATE_START_2(result, s1, s2) \
+int result##concatenate_lvls = 0; \
+int result##concatenate_lvl1 = concat::numChars(s1); \
+result##concatenate_lvls += result##concatenate_lvl1; \
+int result##concatenate_lvl2 = concat::numChars(s2); \
+result##concatenate_lvls += result##concatenate_lvl2;
+
+#define CONCATENATE_START_3(result, s1, s2, s3) \
+CONCATENATE_START_2(result, s1, s2) \
+int result##concatenate_lvl3 = concat::numChars(s3); \
+result##concatenate_lvls += result##concatenate_lvl3;
+
+#define CONCATENATE_START_4(result, s1, s2, s3, s4) \
+CONCATENATE_START_3(result, s1, s2, s3) \
+int result##concatenate_lvl4 = concat::numChars(s4); \
+result##concatenate_lvls += result##concatenate_lvl4;
+
+#define CONCATENATE_START_5(result, s1, s2, s3, s4, s5) \
+CONCATENATE_START_4(result, s1, s2, s3, s4) \
+int result##concatenate_lvl5 = concat::numChars(s5); \
+result##concatenate_lvls += result##concatenate_lvl5;
+
+#define CONCATENATE_START_6(result, s1, s2, s3, s4, s5, s6) \
+CONCATENATE_START_5(result, s1, s2, s3, s4, s5) \
+int result##concatenate_lvl6 = concat::numChars(s6); \
+result##concatenate_lvls += result##concatenate_lvl6;
+
+#define CONCATENATE_START_7(result, s1, s2, s3, s4, s5, s6, s7) \
+CONCATENATE_START_6(result, s1, s2, s3, s4, s5, s6) \
+int result##concatenate_lvl7 = concat::numChars(s7); \
+result##concatenate_lvls += result##concatenate_lvl7;
+
+#define CONCATENATE_START_8(result, s1, s2, s3, s4, s5, s6, s7, s8) \
+CONCATENATE_START_7(result, s1, s2, s3, s4, s5, s6, s7) \
+int result##concatenate_lvl8 = concat::numChars(s8); \
+result##concatenate_lvls += result##concatenate_lvl8;
+
+#define CONCATENATE_START_9(result, s1, s2, s3, s4, s5, s6, s7, s8, s9) \
+CONCATENATE_START_8(result, s1, s2, s3, s4, s5, s6, s7, s8) \
+int result##concatenate_lvl9 = concat::numChars(s9); \
+result##concatenate_lvls += result##concatenate_lvl9;
+
+#define CONCATENATE_END_ADDCHARS_B(result_concatenate_buf, lvl, s) \
+concat::addChars(result_concatenate_buf, lvl, s); \
+result_concatenate_buf += lvl;
+
+#define CONCATENATE_END_2(result, s1, s2) \
+char *result##concatenate_buf = result; \
+CONCATENATE_END_ADDCHARS_B(result##concatenate_buf, result##concatenate_lvl1, s1); \
+CONCATENATE_END_ADDCHARS_B(result##concatenate_buf, result##concatenate_lvl2, s2);
+
+#define CONCATENATE_END_3(result, s1, s2, s3) \
+CONCATENATE_END_2(result, s1, s2) \
+CONCATENATE_END_ADDCHARS_B(result##concatenate_buf, result##concatenate_lvl3, s3);
+
+#define CONCATENATE_END_4(result, s1, s2, s3, s4) \
+CONCATENATE_END_3(result, s1, s2, s3) \
+CONCATENATE_END_ADDCHARS_B(result##concatenate_buf, result##concatenate_lvl4, s4);
+
+#define CONCATENATE_END_5(result, s1, s2, s3, s4, s5) \
+CONCATENATE_END_4(result, s1, s2, s3, s4) \
+CONCATENATE_END_ADDCHARS_B(result##concatenate_buf, result##concatenate_lvl5, s5);
+
+#define CONCATENATE_END_6(result, s1, s2, s3, s4, s5, s6) \
+CONCATENATE_END_5(result, s1, s2, s3, s4, s5) \
+CONCATENATE_END_ADDCHARS_B(result##concatenate_buf, result##concatenate_lvl6, s6);
+
+#define CONCATENATE_END_7(result, s1, s2, s3, s4, s5, s6, s7) \
+CONCATENATE_END_6(result, s1, s2, s3, s4, s5, s6) \
+CONCATENATE_END_ADDCHARS_B(result##concatenate_buf, result##concatenate_lvl7, s7);
+
+#define CONCATENATE_END_8(result, s1, s2, s3, s4, s5, s6, s7, s8) \
+CONCATENATE_END_7(result, s1, s2, s3, s4, s5, s6, s7) \
+CONCATENATE_END_ADDCHARS_B(result##concatenate_buf, result##concatenate_lvl8, s8);
+
+#define CONCATENATE_END_9(result, s1, s2, s3, s4, s5, s6, s7, s8, s9) \
+CONCATENATE_END_8(result, s1, s2, s3, s4, s5, s6, s7, s8) \
+CONCATENATE_END_ADDCHARS_B(result##concatenate_buf, result##concatenate_lvl9, s9);
+
+#define CONCATENATE(result, ...) \
+SELECT( CONCATENATE_START, CV_VA_NUM_ARGS(__VA_ARGS__) )(result, __VA_ARGS__) \
+char result[result##concatenate_lvls + 1]; \
+result[result##concatenate_lvls] = 0; \
+SELECT( CONCATENATE_END, CV_VA_NUM_ARGS(__VA_ARGS__) )(result, __VA_ARGS__) \
+*result##concatenate_buf = 0;
+
+// =========================================================
+// methods for char *s, make sure that s==NULL is just an empty string
+// =========================================================
+inline std::string charPointerToString(const unsigned char *s) {
+  return s?reinterpret_cast<const char *>(s):"";
+}
+inline std::string_view charPointerToStringView(const unsigned char *s) {
+  return s?reinterpret_cast<const char *>(s):std::string_view();
+}
+inline std::string_view charPointerToStringView(const char *s) {
+  return s?s:std::string_view();
+}
+inline std::string charPointerToString(const char *s) {
+  return s?s:"";
+}
+// challange:
+//   method with importing parameter cSv called with const char * = nullptr
+//   undifined behavior, as cSv(nullptr) is undefined.
+// solution:
+//   a) be very carefull, check const char * for nullptr before calling a method with cSv as import parameter
+//   b) replace all cSv with cSv
+//      very small performance impact if such a method if called with cSv
+//      convert nullptr to empty cSv if called with const char *
+
+class cSv: public std::string_view {
+  public:
+    cSv(): std::string_view() {}
+    cSv(const char *s): std::string_view(charPointerToStringView(s)) {}
+    cSv(const char *s, size_t l): std::string_view(s, l) {}
+    cSv(std::string_view sv): std::string_view(sv) {}
+    cSv(const std::string &s): std::string_view(s) {}
+    cSv substr_csv(size_t pos = 0) { return (length() > pos)?cSv(data() + pos, length() - pos):cSv(); }
+    cSv substr_csv(size_t pos, size_t count) { return (length() > pos)?cSv(data() + pos, std::min(length() - pos, count) ):cSv(); }
+};
+inline bool stringEqual(const char *s1, const char *s2) {
+// return true if texts are identical (or both texts are NULL)
+  if (s1 && s2) return strcmp(s1, s2) == 0;
+  if (!s1 && !s2 ) return true;
+  if (!s1 && !*s2 ) return true;
+  if (!*s1 && !s2 ) return true;
+  return false;
+}
+
+// =========================================================
+// =========================================================
+// Chapter 0: UTF8 string utilities ****************
+// =========================================================
+// =========================================================
+
+inline int AppendUtfCodepoint(char *&target, wint_t codepoint){
+  if (codepoint <= 0x7F) {
+    if (target) {
+      *(target++) = (char) (codepoint);
+      *target = 0;
+    }
+    return 1;
+  }
+  if (codepoint <= 0x07FF) {
+    if (target) {
+      *(target++) =( (char) (0xC0 | (codepoint >> 6 ) ) );
+      *(target++) =( (char) (0x80 | (codepoint & 0x3F)) );
+      *target = 0;
+    }
+    return 2;
+  }
+  if (codepoint <= 0xFFFF) {
+    if (target) {
+      *(target++) =( (char) (0xE0 | ( codepoint >> 12)) );
+      *(target++) =( (char) (0x80 | ((codepoint >>  6) & 0x3F)) );
+      *(target++) =( (char) (0x80 | ( codepoint & 0x3F)) );
+      *target = 0;
+    }
+    return 3;
+  }
+    if (target) {
+      *(target++) =( (char) (0xF0 | ((codepoint >> 18) & 0x07)) );
+      *(target++) =( (char) (0x80 | ((codepoint >> 12) & 0x3F)) );
+      *(target++) =( (char) (0x80 | ((codepoint >>  6) & 0x3F)) );
+      *(target++) =( (char) (0x80 | ( codepoint & 0x3F)) );
+      *target = 0;
+    }
+  return 4;
+}
+
+inline void stringAppendUtfCodepoint(std::string &target, wint_t codepoint){
+  if (codepoint <= 0x7F){
+     target.push_back( (char) (codepoint) );
+     return;
+  }
+  if (codepoint <= 0x07FF) {
+     target.push_back( (char) (0xC0 | (codepoint >> 6 ) ) );
+     target.push_back( (char) (0x80 | (codepoint & 0x3F)) );
+     return;
+  }
+  if (codepoint <= 0xFFFF) {
+     target.push_back( (char) (0xE0 | ( codepoint >> 12)) );
+     target.push_back( (char) (0x80 | ((codepoint >>  6) & 0x3F)) );
+     target.push_back( (char) (0x80 | ( codepoint & 0x3F)) );
+     return;
+  }
+     target.push_back( (char) (0xF0 | ((codepoint >> 18) & 0x07)) );
+     target.push_back( (char) (0x80 | ((codepoint >> 12) & 0x3F)) );
+     target.push_back( (char) (0x80 | ((codepoint >>  6) & 0x3F)) );
+     target.push_back( (char) (0x80 | ( codepoint & 0x3F)) );
+     return;
+}
+
+inline int utf8CodepointIsValid(const char *p){
+// In case of invalid UTF8, return 0
+// otherwise, return number of characters for this UTF codepoint
+  static const uint8_t LEN[] = {2,2,2,2,3,3,4,0};
+
+  int len = ((*p & 0xC0) == 0xC0) * LEN[(*p >> 3) & 7] + ((*p | 0x7F) == 0x7F);
+  for (int k=1; k < len; k++) if ((p[k] & 0xC0) != 0x80) len = 0;
+  return len;
+}
+
+inline wint_t Utf8ToUtf32(const char *&p, int len) {
+// assumes, that uft8 validity checks have already been done. len must be provided. call utf8CodepointIsValid first
+// change p to position of next codepoint (p = p + len)
+  static const uint8_t FF_MSK[] = {0xFF >>0, 0xFF >>0, 0xFF >>3, 0xFF >>4, 0xFF >>5, 0xFF >>0, 0xFF >>0, 0xFF >>0};
+  wint_t val = *p & FF_MSK[len];
+  const char *q = p + len;
+  for (p++; p < q; p++) val = (val << 6) | (*p & 0x3F);
+  return val;
+}
+
+inline wint_t getUtfCodepoint(const char *p) {
+// get next codepoint
+// 0 is returned at end of string
+  if(!p || !*p) return 0;
+  int l = utf8CodepointIsValid(p);
+  if( l == 0 ) return '?';
+  const char *s = p;
+  return Utf8ToUtf32(s, l);
+}
+
+inline wint_t getNextUtfCodepoint(const char *&p){
+// get next codepoint, and increment p
+// 0 is returned at end of string, and p will point to the end of the string (0)
+  if(!p || !*p) return 0;
+  int l = utf8CodepointIsValid(p);
+  if( l == 0 ) { p++; return '?'; }
+  return Utf8ToUtf32(p, l);
+}
+
+// =========================================================
+// =========================================================
+// Chapter 1: Parse char* / string_view / string
+// =========================================================
+// =========================================================
+
+// =========================================================
+// whitespace ==============================================
+// =========================================================
+inline bool my_isspace(char c) {
+// 0.0627, fastest
+  return (c == ' ') || (c >=  0x09 && c <=  0x0d);
+// (0x09, '\t'), (0x0a, '\n'), (0x0b, '\v'),  (0x0c, '\f'), (0x0d, '\r')
+}
+inline void StringRemoveTrailingWhitespace(std::string &str) {
+  const char*  whitespaces = " \t\f\v\n\r";
+
+  std::size_t found = str.find_last_not_of(whitespaces);
+  if (found!=std::string::npos)
+    str.erase(found+1);
+  else
+    str.clear();            // str is all whitespace
+}
+
+inline int StringRemoveTrailingWhitespace(const char *str, int len) {
+// return "new" len of string, without whitespaces at the end
+  if (!str) return 0;
+  for (; len; len--) if (!my_isspace(str[len - 1])) return len;
+  return 0;
+}
+
+inline cSv remove_leading_whitespace(cSv sv) {
+// return a string_view with leading whitespace from sv removed
+// for performance:
+//   avoid changing sv: cSv &sv is much slower than cSv sv
+//   don't use std::isspace or isspace: this is really slow ... 0.055 <-> 0.037
+//   also avoid find_first_not_of(" \t\f\v\n\r";): way too slow ...
+// definition of whitespace:
+// (0x20, ' '), (0x09, '\t'), (0x0a, '\n'), (0x0b, '\v'),  (0x0c, '\f'), (0x0d, '\r')
+// or:  (c == ' ') || (c >=  0x09 && c <=  0x0d);
+// best performance: use find_first_not_of for ' ':
+  for (size_t i = 0; i < sv.length(); ++i) {
+    i = sv.find_first_not_of(' ', i);
+    if (i == std::string_view::npos) return cSv(); // only ' '
+    if (sv[i] > 0x0d || sv[i] < 0x09) return sv.substr(i);  // non whitespace found at i
+  }
+  return cSv();
+
+/*
+  for (size_t i = 0; i < sv.length(); ++i) if (!my_isspace(sv[i])) return sv.substr(i);
+  return cSv();
+*/
+/*
+// same performance as for with if in for loop.
+// prefer if in for loop for shorter code and better readability
+  size_t i = 0;
+  for (; i < sv.length() && my_isspace(sv[i]); ++i);
+  return sv.substr(i);
+*/
+}
+// =========================================================
+// parse string_view for int
+// =========================================================
+
+template<class T> inline T parse_unsigned_internal(cSv sv) {
+  T val = 0;
+  for (size_t start = 0; start < sv.length() && std::isdigit(sv[start]); ++start) val = val*10 + (sv[start]-'0');
+  return val;
+}
+template<class T> inline T parse_int(cSv sv) {
+  if (sv.empty() ) return 0;
+  if (!std::isdigit(sv[0]) && sv[0] != '-') {
+    sv = remove_leading_whitespace(sv);
+    if (sv.empty() ) return 0;
+  }
+  if (sv[0] != '-') return parse_unsigned_internal<T>(sv);
+  return -parse_unsigned_internal<T>(sv.substr(1));
+}
+
+template<class T> inline T parse_unsigned(cSv sv) {
+  if (sv.empty() ) return 0;
+  if (!std::isdigit(sv[0])) sv = remove_leading_whitespace(sv);
+  return parse_unsigned_internal<T>(sv);
+}
+
+// =========================================================
+// parse string_view for xml
+// =========================================================
+
+template<std::size_t N> cSv partInXmlTag(cSv sv, const char (&tag)[N], bool *exists = nullptr) {
+// very simple XML parser
+// if sv contains <tag>...</tag>, ... is returned (part between the outermost XML tags is returned).
+// otherwise, cSv() is returned. This is also returned if the tags are there, but there is nothing between the tags ...
+// there is no error checking, like <tag> is more often in sv than </tag>, ...
+  if (exists) *exists = false;
+// N == strlen(tag) + 1. It includes the 0 terminator ...
+// strlen(startTag) = N+1; strlen(endTag) = N+2. Sums to 2N+3
+  if (N < 1 || sv.length() < 2*N+3) return cSv();
+// create <tag>
+  char tagD[N + 2];
+  memcpy(tagD + 2, tag, N - 1);
+  tagD[N + 1] = '>';
+// find <tag>
+  tagD[1] = '<';
+  size_t pos_start = sv.find(tagD + 1, 0, N + 1);
+  if (pos_start == std::string_view::npos) return cSv();
+  pos_start += N + 1; // start of ... between tags
+// rfind </tag>
+  tagD[0] = '<';
+  tagD[1] = '/';
+//  std::cout << "tagD[0] " << cSv(tagD, N + 2) << "\n";
+  size_t len = sv.substr(pos_start).rfind(tagD, std::string_view::npos, N + 2);
+  if (len == std::string_view::npos) return cSv();
+  if (exists) *exists = true;
+  return sv.substr(pos_start, len);
+}
+
+// =========================================================
+// =========== search in char*
+// =========================================================
+
+inline const char* removePrefix(const char *s, const char *prefix) {
+// if s starts with prefix, return s + strlen(prefix)  (string with prefix removed)
+// otherwise, return NULL
+  if (!s || !prefix) return NULL;
+  size_t len = strlen(prefix);
+  if (strncmp(s, prefix, len) != 0) return NULL;
+  return s+len;
+}
+
+inline const char *strnstr(const char *haystack, const char *needle, size_t len) {
+// if len >  0: use only len characters of needle
+// if len == 0: use all (strlen(needle)) characters of needle
+
+  if (len == 0) return strstr(haystack, needle);
+  for (;(haystack = strchr(haystack, needle[0])); haystack++)
+    if (!strncmp(haystack, needle, len)) return haystack;
+  return 0;
+}
+
+inline const char *strstr_word (const char *haystack, const char *needle, size_t len = 0) {
+// as strstr, but needle must be a word (surrounded by non-alphanumerical characters)
+// if len >  0: use only len characters of needle
+// if len == 0: use strlen(needle) characters of needle
+  if (!haystack || !needle || !(*needle) ) return NULL;
+  size_t len2 = (len == 0) ? strlen(needle) : len;
+  if (len2 == 0) return NULL;
+  for (const char *f = strnstr(haystack, needle, len); f && *(f+1); f = strnstr (f + 1, needle, len) ) {
+    if (f != haystack   && isalpha(*(f-1) )) continue;
+    if (f[len2] != 0 && isalpha(f[len2]) ) continue;
+    return f;
+  }
+  return NULL;
+}
+
+inline cSv textAttributeValue(const char *text, const char *attributeName) {
+  if (!text || !attributeName) return cSv();
+  const char *found = strstr(text, attributeName);
+  if (!found) return cSv();
+  const char *avs = found + strlen(attributeName);
+  const char *ave = strchr(avs, '\n');
+  if (!ave) return cSv();
+  return cSv(avs, ave-avs);
+}
+
+inline bool splitString(cSv str, cSv delim, size_t minLengh, cSv &first, cSv &second) {
+// true if delim is part of str, and length of first & second >= minLengh
+  std::size_t found = str.find(delim);
+  size_t first_len = 0;
+  while (found != std::string::npos) {
+    first_len = StringRemoveTrailingWhitespace(str.data(), found);
+    if (first_len >= minLengh) break;
+    found = str.find(delim, found + 1);
+  }
+//  std::cout << "first_len " << first_len << " found " << found << "\n";
+  if(first_len < minLengh) return false; // nothing found
+
+  std::size_t ssnd;
+  for(ssnd = found + delim.length(); ssnd < str.length() && str[ssnd] == ' '; ssnd++);
+  if(str.length() - ssnd < minLengh) return false; // nothing found, second part to short
+
+  second = str.substr(ssnd);
+  first = str.substr(0, first_len);
+  return true;
+}
+
+inline bool splitString(cSv str, char delimiter, size_t minLengh, cSv &first, cSv &second) {
+  using namespace std::literals::string_view_literals;
+  if (delimiter == '-') return splitString(str, " - "sv, minLengh, first, second);
+  if (delimiter == ':') return splitString(str, ": "sv, minLengh, first, second);
+  std::string delim(1, delimiter);
+  return splitString(str, delim, minLengh, first, second);
+}
+
+inline cSv SecondPart(cSv str, cSv delim, size_t minLengh) {
+// return second part of split string if delim is part of str, and length of first & second >= minLengh
+// otherwise, return ""
+  cSv first, second;
+  if (splitString(str, delim, minLengh, first, second)) return second;
+  else return "";
+}
+
+inline cSv SecondPart(cSv str, cSv delim) {
+// Return part of str after first occurence of delim
+// if delim is not in str, return ""
+  size_t found = str.find(delim);
+  if (found == std::string::npos) return cSv();
+  std::size_t ssnd;
+  for(ssnd = found + delim.length(); ssnd < str.length() && str[ssnd] == ' '; ssnd++);
+  return str.substr(ssnd);
+}
+
+inline int StringRemoveLastPartWithP(const char *str, int len) {
+// remove part with (...)
+// return -1 if nothing can be removed
+// otherwise length of string without ()
+  len = StringRemoveTrailingWhitespace(str, len);
+  if (len < 3) return -1;
+  if (str[len -1] != ')') return -1;
+  for (int i = len -2; i; i--) {
+    if (!isdigit(str[i]) && str[i] != '/') {
+      if (str[i] != '(') return -1;
+      int len2 = StringRemoveLastPartWithP(str, i);
+      if (len2 == -1 ) return StringRemoveTrailingWhitespace(str, i);
+      return len2;
+    }
+  }
+  return -1;
+}
+
+inline bool StringRemoveLastPartWithP(std::string &str) {
+// remove part with (...)
+  int len = StringRemoveLastPartWithP(str.c_str(), str.length() );
+  if (len < 0) return false;
+  str.erase(len);
+  return true;
+}
+inline cSv removeLastPartWithP(cSv str) {
+  int l = StringRemoveLastPartWithP(str.data(), str.length() );
+  if (l < 0) return str;
+  return cSv(str.data(), l);
+}
+
+inline int NumberInLastPartWithPS(cSv str) {
+// return number in last part with (./.), 0 if not found / invalid
+  if (str.length() < 3 ) return 0;
+  if (str[str.length() - 1] != ')') return 0;
+  std::size_t found = str.find_last_of("(");
+  if (found == std::string::npos) return 0;
+  for (std::size_t i = found + 1; i < str.length() - 1; i ++) {
+    if (!isdigit(str[i]) && str[i] != '/') return 0; // we ignore (asw), and return only number with digits only
+  }
+  return parse_unsigned_internal<int>(str.substr_csv(found + 1));
+}
+inline int NumberInLastPartWithP(cSv str) {
+// return number in last part with (...), 0 if not found / invalid
+  if (str.length() < 3 ) return 0;
+  if (str[str.length() - 1] != ')') return 0;
+  std::size_t found = str.find_last_of("(");
+  if (found == std::string::npos) return 0;
+  for (std::size_t i = found + 1; i < str.length() - 1; i ++) {
+    if (!isdigit(str[i])) return 0; // we ignore (asw), and return only number with digits only
+  }
+  return parse_unsigned_internal<int>(str.substr_csv(found + 1));
+}
+
+inline int seasonS(cSv description_part, const char *S) {
+// return season, if found at the beginning of description_part
+// otherwise, return -1
+//  std::cout << "seasonS " << description_part << "\n";
+  size_t s_len = strlen(S);
+  if (description_part.length() <= s_len ||
+     !isdigit(description_part[s_len])   ||
+     description_part.compare(0, s_len, S)  != 0) return -1;
+  return parse_unsigned<int>(description_part.substr(s_len));
+}
+inline bool episodeSEp(int &season, int &episode, cSv description, const char *S, const char *Ep) {
+// search pattern S<digit> Ep<digits>
+// return true if episode was found.
+// set season = -1 if season was not found
+// set episode = 0 if episode was not found
+// find Ep[digit]
+  season = -1;
+  episode = 0;
+  size_t Ep_len = strlen(Ep);
+  size_t ep_pos = 0;
+  do {
+    ep_pos = description.find(Ep, ep_pos);
+    if (ep_pos == std::string_view::npos || ep_pos + Ep_len >= description.length() ) return false;  // no Ep[digit]
+    ep_pos += Ep_len;
+//  std::cout << "ep_pos = " << ep_pos << "\n";
+  } while (!isdigit(description[ep_pos]));
+// Ep[digit] found
+//  std::cout << "ep found at " << description.substr(ep_pos) << "\n";
+  episode = parse_unsigned<int>(description.substr(ep_pos));
+  if (ep_pos - Ep_len >= 3) season = seasonS(description.substr(ep_pos - Ep_len - 3), S);
+  if (season < 0 && ep_pos - Ep_len >= 4) season = seasonS(description.substr(ep_pos - Ep_len - 4), S);
+  return true;
+}
+
+// =========================================================
+// =========================================================
+// Chapter 2: change string: mainly: append to string
+// =========================================================
+// =========================================================
+
+// =========================================================
+// some performance improvemnt, to get string presentation for channel
+// you can also use channelID.ToString()
+// =========================================================
+
+inline int stringAppendAllASCIICharacters(std::string &target, const char *str) {
+// append all characters > 31 (signed !!!!). Unsigned: 31 < character < 128
+// return number of appended characters
+  int i = 0;
+//  for (const signed char *strs = reinterpret_cast<const signed char *>(str); strs[i] > 31; i++);
+  for (; reinterpret_cast<const signed char*>(str)[i] > 31; i++);
+  target.append(str, i);
+  return i;
+}
+inline void stringAppendRemoveControlCharacters(std::string &target, const char *str) {
+  for(;;) {
+    str += stringAppendAllASCIICharacters(target, str);
+    wint_t cp = getNextUtfCodepoint(str);
+    if (cp == 0) { StringRemoveTrailingWhitespace(target); return; }
+    if (cp > 31) stringAppendUtfCodepoint(target, cp);
+    else target.append(" ");
+  }
+}
+inline void stringAppendRemoveControlCharactersKeepNl(std::string &target, const char *str) {
+  for(;;) {
+    str += stringAppendAllASCIICharacters(target, str);
+    wint_t cp = getNextUtfCodepoint(str);
+    if (cp == 0) { StringRemoveTrailingWhitespace(target); return; }
+    if (cp == ' ' && str[1] == '\n') target.append("\n");
+    else if (cp > 31 || cp == '\n') stringAppendUtfCodepoint(target, cp);
+    else target.append(" ");
+  }
+}
+
+// =========================================================
+// =========== concatenate =================================
+// =========================================================
+
+inline std::string concatenate(cSv s1, cSv s2) {
+  std::string result;
+  result.reserve(s1.length() + s2.length());
+  result.append(s1);
+  result.append(s2);
+  return result;
+}
+
+inline std::string concatenate(cSv s1, cSv s2, cSv s3) {
+  std::string result;
+  result.reserve(s1.length() + s2.length() + s3.length() );
+  result.append(s1);
+  result.append(s2);
+  result.append(s3);
+  return result;
+}
+
+inline std::string concatenate(const char *s1, const char *s2) {
+  if (!s1 && !s2) return std::string();
+  if (!s1) return s2;
+  if (!s2) return s1;
+  std::string result;
+  result.reserve(strlen(s1) + strlen(s2));
+  result.append(s1);
+  result.append(s2);
+  return result;
+}
+
+inline std::string concatenate(const char *s1, const char *s2, const char *s3) {
+  if (!s1) return concatenate(s2, s3);
+  if (!s2) return concatenate(s1, s3);
+  if (!s3) return concatenate(s1, s2);
+  std::string result;
+  result.reserve(strlen(s1) + strlen(s2) + strlen(s3) );
+  result.append(s1);
+  result.append(s2);
+  result.append(s3);
+  return result;
+}
+
+namespace concat {
+  template<class T> inline int numCharsUg0(T i) {
+// note: i must be > 0!!!!
+    int numChars;
+    for (numChars = 0; i; i /= 10) numChars++;
+    return numChars;
+  }
+  template<class T> inline int numCharsU(T i) {
+// note: i must be >= 0!!!!
+    if (i < 10) return 1;
+    return numCharsUg0(i);
+  }
+  inline int numChars(cSv s) { return s.length(); }
+  inline int numChars(std::string_view s) { return s.length(); }
+  inline int numChars(const std::string &s) { return s.length(); }
+  inline int numChars(const char *s) { return s?strlen(s):0; }
+  inline int numChars(int i) {
+    if (i == 0) return 1;
+    if (i > 0 ) return numCharsUg0(i);
+    return numCharsUg0(-i) + 1;
+  }
+  template<class T> inline char *addCharsUg0be(char *be, T i) {
+// i > 0 must be ensured before calling!
+// make sure to have a large enough buffer size (20 + zero terminator if required)
+// be is buffer end. Last character is written to be-1
+// no zero terminator is written! You can make buffer large enough and set *be=0 before calling
+// position of first char is returned
+// length is be - returned value
+    for (; i; i /= 10) *(--be) = '0' + (i%10);
+    return be;
+  }
+  template<class T> inline char *addCharsIbe(char *be, T i) {
+// i can be any integer like type (signed, unsigned, ...)
+// make sure to have a large enough buffer size (20 + zero terminator if required)
+// be is buffer end. Last character is written to be-1
+// no zero terminator is written! You can make buffer large enough and set *be=0 before calling
+// position of first char is returned
+// length is be - returned value
+// Example:
+//  char buffer_i[21];
+//  buffer_i[20] = 0;
+//  std::cout << "\"" << concat::addCharsIbe(buffer_i+20, 5) << "\"\n";
+// Example 2:
+//  char buffer2_i[20];
+//  char *result = concat::addCharsIbe(buffer2_i+20, 6);
+//  std::cout << "\"" << cSv(result, buffer2_i + 20  - result)  << "\"\n";
+
+    if (i > 0) return addCharsUg0be(be, i);
+    if (i == 0) {
+      *(--be) = '0';
+      return be;
+    }
+    be = addCharsUg0be(be, -i);
+    *(--be) = '-';
+    return be;
+  }
+  template<class T> inline cSv addCharsIbeSc(char *be, T i) {
+    char *result = concat::addCharsIbe(be, i);
+    return cSv(result, be - result);
+  }
+  inline void addChars(char *b, int l, int i) { addCharsIbe(b+l, i); }
+  inline void addChars(char *b, int l, const std::string_view &s) { memcpy(b, s.data(), l); }
+  inline void addChars(char *b, int l, const cSv &s) { memcpy(b, s.data(), l); }
+  inline void addChars(char *b, int l, const std::string &s) { memcpy(b, s.data(), l); }
+  inline void addChars(char *b, int l, const char *s) { memcpy(b, s, l); }
+
+// methods to append to std::strings ========================
+  template<typename T>
+  inline void stringAppendU(std::string &str, T i) {
+// for integer types i >= 0 !!!! This is not checked !!!!!
+    if (i == 0) { str.append(1, '0'); return; }
+    char buf[20]; // unsigned int 64: max. 20. (18446744073709551615) signed int64: max. 19 (+ sign)
+    char *bufe = buf+20;
+    char *bufs = addCharsUg0be(bufe, i);
+    str.append(bufs, bufe-bufs);
+  }
+  template<typename T>
+  inline void stringAppendI(std::string &str, T i) {
+// for integer types i
+    char buf[20];
+    char *bufe = buf+20;
+    char *bufs = addCharsIbe(bufe, i);
+    str.append(bufs, bufe-bufs);
+  }
+}
+inline void stringAppend(std::string &str, unsigned int i) { concat::stringAppendU(str, i); }
+inline void stringAppend(std::string &str, unsigned long int i) { concat::stringAppendU(str, i); }
+inline void stringAppend(std::string &str, unsigned long long  int i) { concat::stringAppendU(str, i); }
+
+inline void stringAppend(std::string &str, int i) { concat::stringAppendI(str, i); }
+inline void stringAppend(std::string &str, long int i) { concat::stringAppendI(str, i); }
+inline void stringAppend(std::string &str, long long int i) { concat::stringAppendI(str, i); }
+
+// strings
+inline void stringAppend(std::string &str, const char *s) { if(s) str.append(s); }
+inline void stringAppend(std::string &str, const std::string &s) { str.append(s); }
+inline void stringAppend(std::string &str, std::string_view s) { str.append(s); }
+inline void stringAppend(std::string &str, cSv s) { str.append(s); }
+
+template<typename T, typename... Args>
+void stringAppend(std::string &str, const T &n, const Args&... args) {
+  stringAppend(str, n);
+  stringAppend(str, args...);
+}
+template<typename... Args>
+std::string concatenate(const Args&... args) {
+  std::string result;
+  result.reserve(200);
+//stringAppend(result, std::forward<Args>(args)...);
+  stringAppend(result, args...);
+  return result;
+}
+
+// __attribute__ ((format (printf, 2, 3))) can not be used, but should work starting with gcc 13.1
+template<typename... Args>
+void stringAppendFormated(std::string &str, const char *fmt, Args&&... args) {
+  size_t size = 1024;
+  char buf[size];
+  int needed = snprintf (buf, size, fmt, std::forward<Args>(args)...);
+  if (needed < 0) return; // error in snprintf
+  if ((size_t)needed < size) {
+    str.append(buf);
+  } else {
+    char buf2[needed + 1];
+    sprintf (buf2, fmt, args...);
+    str.append(buf2);
+  }
+}
+class cConcatenate
+{
+  public:
+    cConcatenate(size_t buf_size = 0) { m_data.reserve(buf_size>0?buf_size:200); }
+    cConcatenate(const cConcatenate&) = delete;
+    cConcatenate &operator= (const cConcatenate &) = delete;
+  template<typename T>
+    cConcatenate & operator<<(const T &i) { stringAppend(m_data, i); return *this; }
+    std::string moveStr() { return std::move(m_data); }
+    const std::string &getStrRef() { return m_data; }
+    const char *getCharS() { return m_data.c_str(); }
+  private:
+    std::string m_data;
+};
+
+// =========================================================
+// =========================================================
+// Chapter 3: containers
+// convert containers to strings, and strings to containers
+// =========================================================
+// =========================================================
+
+template<class T>
+void push_back_new(std::vector<T> &vec, const T &str) {
+// add str to vec, but only if str is not yet in vec and if str is not empty
+  if (str.empty() ) return;
+  if (find (vec.begin(), vec.end(), str) != vec.end() ) return;
+  vec.push_back(str);
+}
+
+template<class T>
+void stringToVector(std::vector<T> &vec, const char *str) {
+// if str does not start with '|', don't split, just add str to vec
+// otherwise, split str at '|', and add each part to vec
+  if (!str || !*str) return;
+  if (str[0] != '|') { vec.push_back(str); return; }
+  const char *lDelimPos = str;
+  for (const char *rDelimPos = strchr(lDelimPos + 1, '|'); rDelimPos != NULL; rDelimPos = strchr(lDelimPos + 1, '|') ) {
+    push_back_new(vec, T(lDelimPos + 1, rDelimPos - lDelimPos - 1));
+    lDelimPos = rDelimPos;
+  }
+}
+
+inline std::string vectorToString(const std::vector<std::string> &vec) {
+  if (vec.size() == 0) return "";
+  if (vec.size() == 1) return vec[0];
+  std::string result("|");
+  for (const std::string &str: vec) { result.append(str); result.append("|"); }
+  return result;
+}
+
+inline std::string objToString(const int &i) { return std::to_string(i); }
+inline std::string objToString(const std::string &i) { return i; }
+
+template<class T, class C=std::set<T>>
+std::string getStringFromSet(const C &in, char delim = ';') {
+  if (in.size() == 0) return "";
+  std::string result;
+  if (delim == '|') result.append(1, delim);
+  for (const T &i: in) {
+    result.append(objToString(i));
+    result.append(1, delim);
+  }
+  return result;
+}
+
+template<class T> T stringToObj(const char *s, size_t len) {
+  esyslog("tvscraper: ERROR: template<class T> T stringToObj called");
+  return 5; }
+template<> inline int stringToObj<int>(const char *s, size_t len) { return atoi(s); }
+template<> inline std::string stringToObj<std::string>(const char *s, size_t len) { return std::string(s, len); }
+template<> inline cSv stringToObj<cSv>(const char *s, size_t len) { return cSv(s, len); }
+
+template<class T> void insertObject(std::vector<T> &cont, const T &obj) { cont.push_back(obj); }
+template<class T> void insertObject(std::set<T> &cont, const T &obj) { cont.insert(obj); }
+
+template<class T, class C=std::set<T>>
+C getSetFromString(const char *str, char delim = ';') {
+// split str at delim';', and add each part to result
+  C result;
+  if (!str || !*str) return result;
+  const char *lStartPos = str;
+  if (delim == '|' && lStartPos[0] == delim) lStartPos++;
+  for (const char *rDelimPos = strchr(lStartPos, delim); rDelimPos != NULL; rDelimPos = strchr(lStartPos, delim) ) {
+    insertObject<T>(result, stringToObj<T>(lStartPos, rDelimPos - lStartPos));
+    lStartPos = rDelimPos + 1;
+  }
+  const char *rDelimPos = strchr(lStartPos, 0);
+  if (rDelimPos != lStartPos) insertObject<T>(result, stringToObj<T>(lStartPos, rDelimPos - lStartPos));
+  return result;
+}
+
+inline const char *strchr_se(const char *ss, const char *se, char ch) {
+  for (const char *sc = ss; sc < se; sc++) if (*sc == ch) return sc;
+  return NULL;
+}
+
+template<class T, class C=std::set<T>>
+C getSetFromString(cSv str, char delim, const std::set<cSv> &ignoreWords, int max_len = 0) {
+// split str at delim, and add each part to result
+  C result;
+  if (str.empty() ) return result;
+  const char *lCurrentPos = str.data();
+  const char *lEndPos = str.data() + str.length();
+  const char *lSoftEndPos = max_len == 0?lEndPos:str.data() + max_len;
+  for (const char *rDelimPos = strchr_se(lCurrentPos, lEndPos, delim); rDelimPos != NULL; rDelimPos = strchr_se(lCurrentPos, lEndPos, delim) ) {
+    if (ignoreWords.find(cSv(lCurrentPos, rDelimPos - lCurrentPos)) == ignoreWords.end()  )
+      insertObject<T>(result, stringToObj<T>(lCurrentPos, rDelimPos - lCurrentPos));
+    lCurrentPos = rDelimPos + 1;
+    if (lCurrentPos >= lSoftEndPos) break;
+  }
+  if (lCurrentPos < lEndPos && lCurrentPos < lSoftEndPos) insertObject<T>(result, stringToObj<T>(lCurrentPos, lEndPos - lCurrentPos));
+  return result;
+}
+
+class cSplit {
+  public:
+    cSplit(cSv sv, char delim): m_sv(sv), m_delim(delim), m_end(cSv(), m_delim) {}
+    cSplit(const char *s, char delim): m_sv(charPointerToStringView(s)), m_delim(delim), m_end(cSv(), m_delim) {}
+    cSplit(const cSplit&) = delete;
+    cSplit &operator= (const cSplit &) = delete;
+    class iterator {
+        cSv m_remainingParts;
+        char m_delim;
+        size_t m_next_delim;
+      public:
+        using iterator_category = std::forward_iterator_tag;
+        using value_type = cSv;
+        using difference_type = int;
+        using pointer = const cSv*;
+        using reference = cSv;
+
+        explicit iterator(cSv r, char delim): m_delim(delim) {
+          if (!r.empty() && r[0] == delim) m_remainingParts = r.substr(1);
+          else m_remainingParts = r;
+          m_next_delim = m_remainingParts.find(m_delim);
+        }
+        iterator& operator++() {
+          if (m_next_delim == std::string_view::npos) {
+            m_remainingParts = cSv();
+          } else {
+            m_remainingParts = m_remainingParts.substr(m_next_delim + 1);
+            m_next_delim = m_remainingParts.find(m_delim);
+          }
+          return *this;
+        }
+        bool operator!=(iterator other) const { return m_remainingParts != other.m_remainingParts; }
+        bool operator==(iterator other) const { return m_remainingParts == other.m_remainingParts; }
+        cSv operator*() const {
+          if (m_next_delim == std::string_view::npos) return m_remainingParts;
+          else return m_remainingParts.substr(0, m_next_delim);
+        }
+      };
+      iterator begin() { return iterator(m_sv, m_delim); }
+      const iterator &end() { return m_end; }
+      iterator find(cSv sv) {
+        if (m_sv.find(sv) == std::string_view::npos) return m_end;
+        return std::find(begin(), end(), sv);
+      }
+    private:
+      const cSv m_sv;
+      const char m_delim;
+      const iterator m_end;
+};
+
+class cContainer {
+  public:
+    cContainer(char delim = '|'): m_delim(delim) { }
+    cContainer(const cContainer&) = delete;
+    cContainer &operator= (const cContainer &) = delete;
+    bool find(cSv sv) {
+      if (!sv.empty() ) {
+        size_t f = m_buffer.find(sv);
+        if (f == std::string_view::npos || f== 0 || f + sv.length() == m_buffer.length() ) return false;
+        if (m_buffer[f-1] == m_delim && m_buffer[f+sv.length()] == m_delim) return true;
+      }
+      CONCATENATE(ns, "|", sv, "|");
+      size_t f = m_buffer.find(ns);
+      return f != std::string_view::npos;
+    }
+    bool insert(cSv sv) {
+// true, if already in buffer (will not insert again ...)
+// else: false
+      if (m_buffer.empty() ) {
+        m_buffer.reserve(300);
+        m_buffer.append(1, m_delim);
+      } else if (find(sv)) return true;
+      m_buffer.append(sv);
+      m_buffer.append(1, m_delim);
+      return false;
+    }
+    bool insert(const char *s) {
+      if (!s) return true;
+      return insert(cSv(s));
+    }
+    std::string moveBuffer() { return std::move(m_buffer); }
+    const std::string &getBufferRef() { return m_buffer; }
+  private:
+    char m_delim;
+    std::string m_buffer;
+};
+
+// =========================================================
+// Utility to measure times (performance) ****************
+// =========================================================
+class cMeasureTime {
+  public:
+    void start() { begin = std::chrono::high_resolution_clock::now(); }
+    void stop()  {
+      std::chrono::duration<double> timeNeeded = std::chrono::high_resolution_clock::now() - begin;
+      maxT = std::max(maxT, timeNeeded);
+      sumT += timeNeeded;
+      ++numCalls;
+    }
+    void reset() {
+      sumT = std::chrono::duration<double>(0);
+      maxT = std::chrono::duration<double>(0);
+      numCalls = 0;
+    }
+    void add(const cMeasureTime &other) {
+      maxT = std::max(maxT, other.maxT);
+      sumT += other.sumT;
+      numCalls += other.numCalls;
+    }
+    void print(const char *context) const {
+      if (numCalls == 0) return;
+      if (!context) context = "cMeasureTime";
+      esyslog("tvscraper: %s num = %5i, time = %9.5f, average %f, max = %f", context, numCalls, sumT.count(), sumT.count()/numCalls, maxT.count());
+    }
+
+  private:
+    int numCalls = 0;
+    std::chrono::duration<double> sumT = std::chrono::duration<double>(0.);
+    std::chrono::duration<double> maxT = std::chrono::duration<double>(0.);
+    std::chrono::time_point<std::chrono::high_resolution_clock> begin;
+};
+
+#endif // __STRINGHELPERS_H
diff --git a/timers.cpp b/timers.cpp
index f86e329c..bce23bec 100644
--- a/timers.cpp
+++ b/timers.cpp
@@ -18,12 +18,7 @@ namespace vdrlive {
 	static char const* const TIMER_DELETE = "DELETE";
 	static char const* const TIMER_TOGGLE = "TOGGLE";
 
-	SortedTimers::SortedTimers()
-#if VDRVERSNUM < 20301
-	: m_state( 0 )
-#endif
-	{
-	}
+	SortedTimers::SortedTimers() { }
 
 	std::string SortedTimers::GetTimerId( cTimer const& timer )
 	{
@@ -41,17 +36,13 @@ namespace vdrlive {
 			return 0;
 		}
 
-#if VDRVERSNUM >= 20301
-	#ifdef DEBUG_LOCK
+#ifdef DEBUG_LOCK
 		dsyslog("live: timers.cpp SortedTimers::GetByTimerId() LOCK_TIMERS_READ");
 		dsyslog("live: timers.cpp SortedTimers::GetByTimerId() LOCK_CHANNELS_READ");
-	#endif
+#endif
 		LOCK_TIMERS_READ
 		LOCK_CHANNELS_READ;
 		cChannel* channel = (cChannel *)Channels->GetByChannelID( tChannelID::FromString( parts[0].c_str() ) );
-#else
-		cChannel* channel = Channels.GetByChannelID( tChannelID::FromString( parts[0].c_str() ) );
-#endif
 		if ( channel == 0 ) {
 			esyslog("live: GetByTimerId: no channel %s", parts[0].c_str() );
 			return 0;
@@ -77,7 +68,6 @@ namespace vdrlive {
 		return 0;
 	}
 
-
 	std::string SortedTimers::EncodeDomId(std::string const& timerid)
 	{
 		std::string tId("timer_");
@@ -113,21 +103,19 @@ namespace vdrlive {
 
 		if (timer.Aux())
 		{
-			std::string epgsearchinfo = GetXMLValue(timer.Aux(), "epgsearch");
+			cSv epgsearchinfo = partInXmlTag(timer.Aux(), "epgsearch");
 			if (!epgsearchinfo.empty())
 			{
-				std::string searchtimer = GetXMLValue(epgsearchinfo, "searchtimer");
+				cSv searchtimer = partInXmlTag(epgsearchinfo, "searchtimer");
 				if (!searchtimer.empty())
 					info << tr("Searchtimer") << ": " << searchtimer << std::endl;
 			}
 		}
-#if VDRVERSNUM >= 20400
-                if (timer.Local()) {
-                  info << trVDR("Record on") << ": " << trVDR(" ") << std::endl;
-                } else {
-                  info << trVDR("Record on") << ": " << timer.Remote() << std::endl;
-                }
-#endif
+    if (timer.Local()) {
+      info << trVDR("Record on") << ": " << trVDR(" ") << std::endl;
+    } else {
+      info << trVDR("Record on") << ": " << timer.Remote() << std::endl;
+    }
 		return info.str();
 	}
 
@@ -140,38 +128,19 @@ namespace vdrlive {
       if (!getAutoTimerReason.createdByTvscraper) return "";
       if (getAutoTimerReason.recording) {
         recID = "recording_" + MD5Hash(getAutoTimerReason.recording->FileName() );
-        recName = getAutoTimerReason.recordingName;
-        return getAutoTimerReason.reason;
+        recName = std::move(getAutoTimerReason.recordingName);
+        return std::move(getAutoTimerReason.reason);
       }
-      return getAutoTimerReason.reason + " " + getAutoTimerReason.recordingName;
+      return concatenate(getAutoTimerReason.reason, " ", getAutoTimerReason.recordingName);
     }
 // fallback information, if this tvscraper method is not available
-    std::string tvScraperInfo = GetXMLValue(timer.Aux(), "tvscraper");
+    cSv tvScraperInfo = partInXmlTag(timer.Aux(), "tvscraper");
     if (tvScraperInfo.empty()) return "";
-    std::string data = GetXMLValue(tvScraperInfo, "reason");
+    cSv data = partInXmlTag(tvScraperInfo, "reason");
     if (data.empty() ) return "";
-    data.append(": ");
-    data.append(GetXMLValue(tvScraperInfo, "causedBy"));
-		return data;
+    return concatenate(data, " ", partInXmlTag(tvScraperInfo, "causedBy"));
 	}
 
-	std::string SortedTimers::SearchTimerInfo(cTimer const& timer, std::string const& value)
-	{
-		std::stringstream info;
-		if (timer.Aux())
-		{
-			std::string epgsearchinfo = GetXMLValue(timer.Aux(), "epgsearch");
-			if (!epgsearchinfo.empty())
-			{
-				std::string data = GetXMLValue(epgsearchinfo, value);
-				if (!data.empty())
-					info << data;
-			}
-		}
-		return info.str();
-	}
-
-#if VDRVERSNUM >= 20301
 	bool SortedTimers::Modified()
 	{
 		bool modified = false;
@@ -184,7 +153,6 @@ namespace vdrlive {
 
 		return modified;
 	}
-#endif
 
 	TimerManager::TimerManager()
 	:	m_reloadTimers(true)
diff --git a/timers.h b/timers.h
index 3af0cd07..d388e958 100644
--- a/timers.h
+++ b/timers.h
@@ -6,10 +6,11 @@
 #include <string>
 
 #if TNTVERSION >= 30000
-        #include <cxxtools/log.h>  // must be loaded before any vdr include because of duplicate macros (LOG_ERROR, LOG_DEBUG, LOG_INFO)
+  #include <cxxtools/log.h>  // must be loaded before any vdr include because of duplicate macros (LOG_ERROR, LOG_DEBUG, LOG_INFO)
 #endif
 
 #include <vdr/timers.h>
+#include "stringhelpers.h"
 
 namespace vdrlive {
 
@@ -25,15 +26,14 @@ namespace vdrlive {
 			static std::string EncodeDomId(std::string const& timerid);
 			static std::string DecodeDomId(std::string const &timerDomId);
 
-#if VDRVERSNUM >= 20301
 			bool Modified();
-#else
-			bool Modified() { return Timers.Modified(m_state); }
-#endif
 
 			static std::string GetTimerDays(cTimer const *timer);
 			static std::string GetTimerInfo(cTimer const& timer);
-			static std::string SearchTimerInfo(cTimer const& timer, std::string const& value);
+template<std::size_t N>
+			static cSv SearchTimerInfo(cTimer const& timer, const char (&value)[N] ) {
+        return partInXmlTag(partInXmlTag(timer.Aux(), "epgsearch"), value);
+      }
 			static std::string TvScraperTimerInfo(cTimer const& timer, std::string &recID, std::string &recName);
 
 		private:
@@ -41,13 +41,7 @@ namespace vdrlive {
 			SortedTimers( SortedTimers const& );
 
 			cMutex m_mutex;
-
-#if VDRVERSNUM >= 20301
 			cStateKey m_TimersStateKey;
-#else
-			int m_state;
-#endif
-
 	};
 
 	class TimerManager: public cMutex
diff --git a/tools.cpp b/tools.cpp
index 3c368cbd..65054fd0 100644
--- a/tools.cpp
+++ b/tools.cpp
@@ -109,84 +109,13 @@ template<class T>
 template void AppendHtmlEscapedAndCorrectNonUTF8<std::string>(std::string &target, const char* s, const char *end, bool tooltip);
 template void AppendHtmlEscapedAndCorrectNonUTF8<cLargeString>(cLargeString &target, const char* s, const char *end, bool tooltip);
 
-  void AppendCorrectNonUTF8(std::string &target, const char* s){
-// append c-string s to target
-// replace invalid UTF8 characters with ?
-    if(!s) return;
-    int l = 0;                    // length of current utf8 codepoint
-    size_t i = 0;                 // number of not yet appended chars
-    const char* notAppended = s;  // position of the first character which is not yet appended
-    for (const char* current = s; *current; current+=l) {
-      l = utf8CodepointIsValid(current);
-      if( l > 0) { i += l; continue; }
-// invalid UTF8
-      target.append(notAppended, i);
-      target.append("?");
-      notAppended = notAppended + i + 1;
-      i = 0;
-      l = 1;
-      }
-    target.append(notAppended, i);
-  }
-
-  wint_t getNextUtfCodepoint(const char *&p) {
-// get next codepoint, and increment p
-// 0 is returned at end of string, and p will point to the end of the string (0)
-    if(!p || !*p) return 0;
-    int l = utf8CodepointIsValid(p);
-    if( l == 0 ) { p++; return '?'; }
-    return Utf8ToUtf32(p, l);
-  }
-
-	int utf8CodepointIsValid(const char *p){
-// In case of invalid UTF8, return 0
-// otherwise, return number of characters for this UTF codepoint
-	  static const uint8_t LEN[] = {2,2,2,2,3,3,4,0};
-
-	  int len = ((*p & 0xC0) == 0xC0) * LEN[(*p >> 3) & 7] + ((*p | 0x7F) == 0x7F);
-	  for (int k=1; k < len; k++) if ((p[k] & 0xC0) != 0x80) len = 0;
-	  return len;
-	}
-
-  wint_t Utf8ToUtf32(const char *&p, int len) {
-  // assumes, that uft8 validity checks have already been done. len must be provided. call utf8CodepointIsValid first
-  // change p to position of next codepoint (p = p + len)
-    static const uint8_t FF_MSK[] = {0xFF >>0, 0xFF >>0, 0xFF >>3, 0xFF >>4, 0xFF >>5, 0xFF >>0, 0xFF >>0, 0xFF >>0};
-    wint_t val = *p & FF_MSK[len];
-    const char *q = p + len;
-    for (p++; p < q; p++) val = (val << 6) | (*p & 0x3F);
-    return val;
-  }
-	void AppendUtfCodepoint(std::string &target, wint_t codepoint){
-	  if (codepoint <= 0x7F){
-	    target.push_back( (char) (codepoint) );
-	    return;
-	  }
-	  if (codepoint <= 0x07FF) {
-	    target.push_back( (char) (0xC0 | (codepoint >> 6 ) ) );
-	    target.push_back( (char) (0x80 | (codepoint & 0x3F)) );
-	    return;
-	  }
-	  if (codepoint <= 0xFFFF) {
-	    target.push_back( (char) (0xE0 | ( codepoint >> 12)) );
-	    target.push_back( (char) (0x80 | ((codepoint >>  6) & 0x3F)) );
-	    target.push_back( (char) (0x80 | ( codepoint & 0x3F)) );
-	    return;
-	  }
-	    target.push_back( (char) (0xF0 | ((codepoint >> 18) & 0x07)) );
-	    target.push_back( (char) (0x80 | ((codepoint >> 12) & 0x3F)) );
-	    target.push_back( (char) (0x80 | ((codepoint >>  6) & 0x3F)) );
-	    target.push_back( (char) (0x80 | ( codepoint & 0x3F)) );
-	    return;
-	}
-
 template<typename T>
 	void AppendDuration(T &target, char const* format, int duration)
 	{
 		int minutes = (duration + 30) / 60;
 		int hours = minutes / 60;
 		minutes %= 60;
-    AppendFormated(target, format, hours, minutes);
+    stringAppendFormated(target, format, hours, minutes);
 	}
 template void AppendDuration<std::string>(std::string &target, char const* format, int duration);
 template void AppendDuration<cLargeString>(cLargeString &target, char const* format, int duration);
@@ -234,9 +163,9 @@ template void AppendDuration<cLargeString>(cLargeString &target, char const* for
     return result;
 	}
 
-	std::string StringReplace( std::string const& text, std::string const& substring, std::string const& replacement )
+	std::string StringReplace(cSv text, cSv substring, cSv replacement)
 	{
-		std::string result = text;
+		std::string result(text);
 		size_t pos = 0;
 		while ( ( pos = result.find( substring, pos ) ) != std::string::npos ) {
 			result.replace( pos, substring.length(), replacement );
@@ -245,29 +174,20 @@ template void AppendDuration<cLargeString>(cLargeString &target, char const* for
 		return result;
 	}
 
-	std::vector<std::string> StringSplit( std::string const& text, char delimiter )
+	std::vector<std::string> StringSplit(cSv text, char delimiter )
 	{
 		std::vector<std::string> result;
 		size_t last = 0, pos;
 		while ( ( pos = text.find( delimiter, last ) ) != std::string::npos ) {
-			result.push_back( text.substr( last, pos - last ) );
+			result.emplace_back( text.substr( last, pos - last ) );
 			last = pos + 1;
 		}
 		if ( last < text.length() )
-			result.push_back( text.substr( last ) );
+			result.emplace_back( text.substr( last ) );
 		return result;
 	}
 
-	int StringToInt( std::string const& string, int base )
-	{
-		char* end;
-		int result = strtol( string.c_str(), &end, base );
-		if ( *end == '\0' )
-			return result;
-		return 0;
-	}
-
-	std::string StringWordTruncate(const std::string& input, size_t maxLen, bool& truncated)
+	cSv StringWordTruncate(cSv input, size_t maxLen, bool& truncated)
 	{
 		if (input.length() <= maxLen)
 		{
@@ -275,42 +195,34 @@ template void AppendDuration<cLargeString>(cLargeString &target, char const* for
 			return input;
 		}
 		truncated = true;
-		std::string result = input.substr(0, maxLen);
+		cSv result = input.substr_csv(0, maxLen);
 		size_t pos = result.find_last_of(" \t,;:.\n?!'\"/\\()[]{}*+-");
-		return result.substr(0, pos);
+		return result.substr_csv(0, pos);
 	}
 
-	std::string StringFormatBreak(std::string const& input)
+	std::string StringFormatBreak(cSv input)
 	{
-		return StringReplace( input, "\n", "<br/>" );
+		return StringReplace(input, "\n", "<br/>" );
 	}
 
-	std::string StringEscapeAndBreak(std::string const& input, const char* nl)
+	std::string StringEscapeAndBreak(cSv input, const char* nl)
 	{
 		std::stringstream plainBuilder;
-		HtmlEscOstream builder(plainBuilder);
+		HtmlEscOstream builder(plainBuilder);  // see https://web.archive.org/web/20151208133551/http://www.tntnet.org/apidoc_master/html/classtnt_1_1HtmlEscOstream.html
 		builder << input;
 		return StringReplace(plainBuilder.str(), "\n", nl);
 	}
 
-	std::string StringTrim(std::string const& str)
+	cSv StringTrim(cSv str)
 	{
-		std::string res = str;
-		size_t pos = res.find_last_not_of(' ');
-		if(pos != std::string::npos) {
-			res.erase(pos + 1);
-			pos = res.find_first_not_of(' ');
-			if(pos != std::string::npos) res.erase(0, pos);
-		}
-		else res.erase(res.begin(), res.end());
-		return res;
-	}
-
+		size_t pos = str.find_last_not_of(' ');
+    if (pos == std::string::npos) return cSv();
+    cSv trailBlankRemoved = str.substr_csv(0, pos);
+    pos = trailBlankRemoved.find_first_not_of(' ');
+    if (pos == std::string::npos) return cSv();
+    return trailBlankRemoved.substr_csv(pos);
+  }
 
-const char *getText(const char *shortText, const char *description) {
-  if (shortText && *shortText) return shortText;
-  return description;
-}
 // Spielfilm Thailand / Deutschland / Großbritannien 2015 (Rak ti Khon Kaen)
 #define MAX_LEN_ST 70
 template<class T>
@@ -352,13 +264,6 @@ template<class T>
 template void AppendTextTruncateOnWord<std::string>(std::string &target, const char *text, int max_len, bool tooltip);
 template void AppendTextTruncateOnWord<cLargeString>(cLargeString &target, const char *text, int max_len, bool tooltip);
 
-	std::string ZeroPad(int number)
-	{
-		std::stringstream os;
-		os << std::setw(2) << std::setfill('0') << number;
-		return os.str();
-	}
-
 	std::string MD5Hash(std::string const& str)
 	{
 		char* szInput = strdup(str.c_str());
@@ -370,10 +275,10 @@ template void AppendTextTruncateOnWord<cLargeString>(cLargeString &target, const
 
 	}
 
-	std::string xxHash32(std::string const& str)
+	std::string xxHash32(cSv str)
 	{
 	  char res[9];
-	  uint32_t result = XXHash32::hash(str.c_str(), str.length(), 20);
+	  uint32_t result = XXHash32::hash(str.data(), str.length(), 20);
 	  res[8] = 0;
       for (int i = 7; i >= 0; i--) {
 	    int dig = result % 16;
@@ -453,15 +358,15 @@ template void AppendTextTruncateOnWord<cLargeString>(cLargeString &target, const
     }
 	};
 
-	std::string StringUrlEncode( std::string const& input )
+	std::string StringUrlEncode(cSv input)
 	{
 		std::stringstream ostr;
-		for_each( input.begin(), input.end(), urlencoder( ostr ) );
+		std::for_each (input.begin(), input.end(), urlencoder( ostr ) );
 		return ostr.str();
 	}
 
 // return the time value as time_t from <datestring> formatted with <format>
-	time_t GetDateFromDatePicker(std::string const& datestring, std::string const& format)
+	time_t GetDateFromDatePicker(cSv datestring, cSv format)
 	{
 		if (datestring.empty())
 			return 0;
@@ -478,10 +383,10 @@ template void AppendTextTruncateOnWord<cLargeString>(cLargeString &target, const
 	}
 
 // format is in datepicker format ('mm' for month, 'dd' for day, 'yyyy' for year)
-	std::string DatePickerToC(time_t date, std::string const& format)
+	std::string DatePickerToC(time_t date, cSv format)
 	{
 		if (date == 0) return "";
-		std::string cformat = format;
+		std::string cformat(format);
 		cformat = StringReplace(cformat, "mm", "%m");
 		cformat = StringReplace(cformat, "dd", "%d");
 		cformat = StringReplace(cformat, "yyyy", "%Y");
@@ -511,45 +416,46 @@ template void AppendTextTruncateOnWord<cLargeString>(cLargeString &target, const
     intToTimeString(t, tm);
     return t;
   }
-  std::string charToString(const char *s) {
-    if (!s) return "";
-    return s;
-  }
 
-	std::string EncodeDomId(std::string const & toEncode, char const * from, char const * to)
+	std::string EncodeDomId(cSv toEncode, char const * from, char const * to)
 	{
-		std::string encoded = toEncode;
+		std::string encoded(toEncode);
 		for (; *from && *to; from++, to++) {
 			replace(encoded.begin(), encoded.end(), *from, *to);
 		}
 		return encoded;
 	}
 
-	std::string DecodeDomId(std::string const & toDecode, char const * from, char const * to)
+	std::string DecodeDomId(cSv toDecode, char const * from, char const * to)
 	{
-		std::string decoded = toDecode;
+		std::string decoded(toDecode);
 		for (; *from && *to; from++, to++) {
 			replace(decoded.begin(), decoded.end(), *from, *to);
 		}
 		return decoded;
 	}
 
-	std::string FileSystemExchangeChars(std::string const & s, bool ToFileSystem)
+	std::string FileSystemExchangeChars(cSv s, bool ToFileSystem)
 	{
-		char *str = strdup(s.c_str());
+    if (s.empty()) return std::string();
+    char *str = reinterpret_cast<char*>(std::malloc(s.length() + 1)); // vdr ExchangeChars needs a pointer to data allocated with malloc
+    if (!str) {
+      esyslog("live, ERROR: out of memory in FileSystemExchangeChars");
+      return std::string(s);
+    }
+    std::memcpy(str, s.data(), s.length());
+    str[s.length()] = 0;
 		str = ExchangeChars(str, ToFileSystem);
 		std::string data = str;
-		if (str) {
-			free(str);
-		}
+		std::free(str);
 		return data;
 	}
 
-	bool MoveDirectory(std::string const & sourceDir, std::string const & targetDir, bool copy)
+	bool MoveDirectory(cSv sourceDir, cSv targetDir, bool copy)
 	{
 		const char* delim = "/";
-		std::string source = sourceDir;
-		std::string target = targetDir;
+		std::string source(sourceDir);
+		std::string target(targetDir);
 
 		// add missing directory delimiters
 		if (source.compare(source.size() - 1, 1, delim) != 0) {
@@ -572,13 +478,9 @@ template void AppendTextTruncateOnWord<cLargeString>(cLargeString &target, const
 
 			struct stat st1, st2;
 			stat(source.c_str(), &st1);
-			stat(target.c_str(),&st2);
+			stat(target.c_str(), &st2);
 			if (!copy && (st1.st_dev == st2.st_dev)) {
-#if APIVERSNUM > 20101
 				if (!cVideoDirectory::RenameVideoFile(source.c_str(), target.c_str())) {
-#else
-				if (!RenameVideoFile(source.c_str(), target.c_str())) {
-#endif
 					esyslog("live: rename failed from %s to %s", source.c_str(), target.c_str());
 					return false;
 				}
@@ -674,11 +576,7 @@ template void AppendTextTruncateOnWord<cLargeString>(cLargeString &target, const
 						size_t found = source.find_last_of(delim);
 						if (found != std::string::npos) {
 							source = source.substr(0, found);
-#if APIVERSNUM > 20101
 							while (source != cVideoDirectory::Name()) {
-#else
-							while (source != VideoDirectory) {
-#endif
 								found = source.find_last_of(delim);
 								if (found == std::string::npos)
 									break;
@@ -695,11 +593,7 @@ template void AppendTextTruncateOnWord<cLargeString>(cLargeString &target, const
 					size_t found = target.find_last_of(delim);
 					if (found != std::string::npos) {
 						target = target.substr(0, found);
-#if APIVERSNUM > 20101
 						while (target != cVideoDirectory::Name()) {
-#else
-						while (target != VideoDirectory) {
-#endif
 							found = target.find_last_of(delim);
 							if (found == std::string::npos)
 								break;
@@ -716,40 +610,14 @@ template void AppendTextTruncateOnWord<cLargeString>(cLargeString &target, const
 		return true;
 	}
 
-  template<class T> int toCharsU(char *buffer, T i0) {
-// notes:
-//    i0 must be unsigned !!!!
-//    return number of characters written to buffer  (don't count 0 terminator)
-//    if buffer==NULL: don't write anything, just return the number
-//    sizeof(buffer) must be >= this return value + 1 !! This is not checked ....
-    int numChars;
-    int i = i0;
-    if (i < 10) numChars = 1;
-    else for (numChars = 0; i; i /= 10) numChars++;
-    if (!buffer) return numChars;
-    char *bufferEnd = buffer + numChars;
-    i = i0;
-    *bufferEnd = 0;
-    if (i < 10) *(--bufferEnd) = '0' + i;
-    else for (; i; i /= 10) *(--bufferEnd) = '0' + (i%10);
-    return numChars;
-  }
-  template int toCharsU<unsigned int>(char *buffer, unsigned int i0);
-  template<class T> int toCharsI(char *buffer, T i) {
-    if (i >= 0) return toCharsU(buffer, i);
-    if (buffer) *(buffer++) = '-';
-    return toCharsU(buffer, -1*i) + 1;
-  }
-  template int toCharsI<int>(char *buffer, int i);
-
-  std::string ScraperImagePath2Live(const std::string &path){
+  cSv ScraperImagePath2Live(cSv path) {
     int tvscraperImageDirLength = LiveSetup().GetTvscraperImageDir().length();
-    if (tvscraperImageDirLength == 0) return "";
+    if (tvscraperImageDirLength == 0) return cSv();
     if (path.compare(0, tvscraperImageDirLength, LiveSetup().GetTvscraperImageDir()) != 0) {
-      esyslog("live: ERROR, image path %s does not start with %s", path.c_str(), LiveSetup().GetTvscraperImageDir().c_str());
-      return "";
+      esyslog("live: ERROR, image path %.*s does not start with %s", (int)path.length(), path.data(), LiveSetup().GetTvscraperImageDir().c_str());
+      return cSv();
     }
-    return path.substr(tvscraperImageDirLength);
+    return path.substr_csv(tvscraperImageDirLength);
   }
 
   bool ScraperCallService(const char *Id, void *Data) {
@@ -757,18 +625,4 @@ template void AppendTextTruncateOnWord<cLargeString>(cLargeString &target, const
     if (!pScraper) return false;
     return pScraper->Service(Id, Data);
   }
-// XML tools ********************************
-
-// returns the content of <element>...</element>
-	std::string GetXMLValue( std::string const& xml, std::string const& element )
-	{
-		std::string start = "<" + element + ">";
-		std::string end = "</" + element + ">";
-		size_t startPos = xml.find(start);
-		if (startPos == std::string::npos) return "";
-		size_t endPos = xml.find(end);
-		if (endPos == std::string::npos) return "";
-		return xml.substr(startPos + start.size(), endPos - startPos - start.size());
-	}
-
 } // namespace vdrlive
diff --git a/tools.h b/tools.h
index 99c22df8..3c08aa9d 100644
--- a/tools.h
+++ b/tools.h
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@
 // uncomment to debug lock sequence 
 // #define DEBUG_LOCK
 
-#include "largeString.h"
 // STL headers need to be before VDR tools.h (included by <vdr/channels.h>)
 #include <istream>
 #include <sstream>
@@ -12,8 +11,8 @@
 #include <vector>
 
 #if TNTVERSION >= 30000
-        #include <cxxtools/log.h>  // must be loaded before any vdr include because of duplicate macros (LOG_ERROR, LOG_DEBUG, LOG_INFO)
-        #include "cxxtools/serializationinfo.h"
+  #include <cxxtools/log.h>  // must be loaded before any vdr include because of duplicate macros (LOG_ERROR, LOG_DEBUG, LOG_INFO)
+  #include "cxxtools/serializationinfo.h"
 #endif
 
 #ifndef DISABLE_TEMPLATES_COLLIDING_WITH_STL
@@ -21,10 +20,8 @@
 #define DISABLE_TEMPLATES_COLLIDING_WITH_STL
 #endif
 #include <vdr/channels.h>
-
-#define CONVERT(result, from, fn) \
-char result[fn(NULL, from) + 1]; \
-fn(result, from);
+#include "stringhelpers.h"
+#include "largeString.h"
 
 std::istream& operator>>( std::istream& is, tChannelID& ret );
 
@@ -53,6 +50,10 @@ namespace cxxtools
 #endif
 
 
+template<typename... Args> void stringAppendFormated(cLargeString &target, const char *format, Args&&... args) {
+  target.appendFormated(format, std::forward<Args>(args)...);
+}
+
 namespace vdrlive {
 	extern const std::locale g_locale;
 	extern const std::collate<char>& g_collate_char;
@@ -61,32 +62,16 @@ namespace vdrlive {
 template<class T>
   void AppendHtmlEscapedAndCorrectNonUTF8(T &target, const char* s, const char *end = NULL, bool tooltip = false);
 template<class T>
-	void AppendTextTruncateOnWord(T &target, const char *text, int max_len, bool tooltip = false);
-  void AppendCorrectNonUTF8(std::string &target, const char* s);
-
-  wint_t getNextUtfCodepoint(const char *&p);
-  int utf8CodepointIsValid(const char *p); // In case of invalid UTF8, return 0. Otherwise: Number of characters
-  wint_t Utf8ToUtf32(const char *&p, int len); // assumes, that uft8 validity checks have already been done. len must be provided. call utf8CodepointIsValid first
-	void AppendUtfCodepoint(std::string &target, wint_t codepoint);
-
-  template<typename... Args> void AppendFormated(std::string &target, char const* format, Args&&... args) {
-    char result[30];
-    size_t numNeeded = snprintf(result, sizeof(result), format, std::forward<Args>(args)...);
-
-    if (numNeeded < sizeof(result)) {
-      target.append(result);
-    } else {
-      char buf2[numNeeded+1];
-      sprintf(buf2, format, std::forward<Args>(args)...);
-      target.append(buf2);
-    }
+  inline void AppendHtmlEscapedAndCorrectNonUTF8(T &target, cSv s, bool tooltip = false) {
+    AppendHtmlEscapedAndCorrectNonUTF8(target, s.data(), s.data() + s.length(), tooltip);
   }
-  template<typename... Args> void AppendFormated(cLargeString &target, char const* format, Args&&... args) {
-    target.appendFormated(format, std::forward<Args>(args)...);
-  }
-  template<typename... Args> std::string Format(char const* format, Args&&... args) {
+
+template<class T>
+	void AppendTextTruncateOnWord(T &target, const char *text, int max_len, bool tooltip = false);
+
+  template<typename... Args> std::string Format(const char *format, Args&&... args) {
     std::string result;
-    AppendFormated(result, format, std::forward<Args>(args)...);
+    stringAppendFormated(result, format, std::forward<Args>(args)...);
     return result;
   }
  
@@ -97,56 +82,40 @@ template<class T>
   void AppendDateTime(std::string &target, char const* format, time_t time );
 	std::string FormatDateTime( char const* format, time_t time );
 
-	std::string StringReplace( std::string const& text, std::string const& substring, std::string const& replacement );
-
-	std::vector<std::string> StringSplit( std::string const& text, char delimiter );
+	std::string StringReplace(cSv text, cSv substring, cSv replacement );
 
-	int StringToInt( std::string const& string, int base = 10 );
+	std::vector<std::string> StringSplit(cSv text, char delimiter );
 
-	std::string StringWordTruncate(const std::string& input, size_t maxLen, bool& truncated);
-	inline std::string StringWordTruncate(const std::string& input, size_t maxLen) { bool dummy; return StringWordTruncate(input, maxLen, dummy); }
+	cSv StringWordTruncate(cSv input, size_t maxLen, bool& truncated);
+	inline cSv StringWordTruncate(cSv input, size_t maxLen) { bool dummy; return StringWordTruncate(input, maxLen, dummy); }
 
-  std::string StringEscapeAndBreak(std::string const& input, const char* nl = "<br/>");
+  std::string StringEscapeAndBreak(cSv input, const char* nl = "<br/>");
+	std::string StringFormatBreak(cSv input);
+	cSv StringTrim(cSv str);
 
-	std::string StringFormatBreak(std::string const& input);
-
-	std::string StringTrim(const std::string& str);
-	std::string ZeroPad(int number);
-
-	const char *getText(const char *shortText, const char *description);
 template<class T>
   void AppendTextMaxLen(T &target, const char *text);
 
 	std::string MD5Hash(std::string const& str);
-	std::string xxHash32(std::string const& str);
+	std::string xxHash32(cSv str);
 
-	time_t GetTimeT(std::string timestring);
+	time_t GetTimeT(std::string timestring); // timestring in HH:MM
 	std::string ExpandTimeString(std::string timestring);
 
-	std::string StringUrlEncode( std::string const& input );
+	std::string StringUrlEncode(cSv input);
 
-	std::string GetXMLValue( std::string const& xml, std::string const& element );
-
-	time_t GetDateFromDatePicker(std::string const& datestring, std::string const& format);
-	std::string DatePickerToC(time_t date, std::string const& format);
+	time_t GetDateFromDatePicker(cSv datestring, cSv format);
+	std::string DatePickerToC(time_t date, cSv format);
 	std::string intToTimeString(int tm);
 	int timeStringToInt(const char *t);
 	int timeStringToInt(const std::string &t);
-	std::string charToString(const char *s);
-
-	std::string EncodeDomId(std::string const & toEncode, char const * from = ".-:", char const * to = "pmc");
-	std::string DecodeDomId(std::string const & toDecode, char const * from = "pmc", char const * to = ".-:");
 
-	std::string FileSystemExchangeChars(std::string const & s, bool ToFileSystem);
+	std::string EncodeDomId(cSv toEncode, char const * from = ".-:", char const * to = "pmc");
+	std::string DecodeDomId(cSv toDecode, char const * from = "pmc", char const * to = ".-:");
 
-	bool MoveDirectory(std::string const & sourceDir, std::string const & targetDir, bool copy = false);
+	std::string FileSystemExchangeChars(cSv s, bool ToFileSystem);
 
-  template<class T> int toCharsU(char *buffer, T i);
-  template<class T> int toCharsI(char *buffer, T i);
-// notes:
-//    return number of characters written to buffer  (don't count 0 terminator)
-//    if buffer==NULL: don't write anything, just return the number
-//    sizeof(buffer) must be >= this return value + 1 !! This is not checked ....
+	bool MoveDirectory(cSv sourceDir, cSv targetDir, bool copy = false);
 
 	struct bad_lexical_cast: std::runtime_error
 	{
@@ -213,13 +182,13 @@ template<class T>
 // tool for images returned by tvscraper or scraper2vdr:
 // convert path (valid in local file system) to path which can be used by live (in browser) to access the image
 // Note: final browser path is: "/tvscraper/" + ScraperImagePath2Live(...)
-        std::string ScraperImagePath2Live(const std::string &path);
+  cSv ScraperImagePath2Live(cSv path);
 
 // call the service Id
 // return false if there is no scraper plugin, or if the serrvice does not exist
 // otherwise, return true
 // can be called with Data == Null to check is the service exits
-        bool ScraperCallService(const char *Id, void *Data);
+  bool ScraperCallService(const char *Id, void *Data);
 } // namespace vdrlive
 
 #endif // VDR_LIVE_TOOLS_H