diff --git a/src/bootsupport/modules/overtype-1.6.5.tm b/src/bootsupport/modules/overtype-1.6.5.tm
index 3142e1f3..f0e34919 100644
--- a/src/bootsupport/modules/overtype-1.6.5.tm
+++ b/src/bootsupport/modules/overtype-1.6.5.tm
@@ -729,7 +729,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval overtype {
                                             -width          [tcl::dict::get $vtstate renderwidth]\
                                             -insert_mode    [tcl::dict::get $vtstate insert_mode]\
                                             -autowrap_mode  [tcl::dict::get $vtstate autowrap_mode]\
-                                            -expand_right [tcl::dict::get $opts -opt_expand_right]\
+                                            -expand_right   [tcl::dict::get $opts -expand_right]\
                                             ""\
                                             $overflow_right\
                                         ]
@@ -1366,7 +1366,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval overtype {
 
             if {$overflowlength > 0} {
                 #overlay line wider or equal
-                #review - we still expand_right for centred for now.. possibly should expand_both with ellipsis each end?
+                #review - we still expand_right for centred for now.. possibly should do something like -expand_leftright with ellipsis each end?
                 set rinfo [renderline -info 1 -insert_mode 0 -transparent $opt_transparent -expand_right [tcl::dict::get $opts -overflow] -exposed1 $opt_exposed1 -exposed2 $opt_exposed2 $undertext $overtext]
                 set rendered        [tcl::dict::get $rinfo result]
                 set overflow_right  [tcl::dict::get $rinfo overflow_right]
@@ -1771,7 +1771,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval overtype {
     #-returnextra enables returning of overflow and length
     #review - use punk::ansi::ta::detect to short-circuit processing and do simpler string calcs as an optimisation?
     #review - DECSWL/DECDWL double width line codes - very difficult/impossible to align and compose with other elements
-    #(could render it by faking it with sixels and a lot of work - find/make a sixel font (converter?) and ensure it's exactly 2 cols per char?
+    #(could render it by faking it with sixels and a lot of work - find/make a sixel font and ensure it's exactly 2 cols per char?
     # This would probably be impractical to support for different fonts)
     #todo - review transparency issues with single/double width characters
     #bidi - need a base direction and concept of directional runs for RTL vs LTR - may be best handled at another layer?
@@ -2815,6 +2815,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval overtype {
                         \x1b\[<     1006\
                         \x1b\[      7CSI\
                         \x1bP       7DCS\
+                        \x90        8DCS\
                         \x9b        8CSI\
                         \x1b\]      7OSC\
                         \x9d        8OSC\
@@ -2836,6 +2837,10 @@ tcl::namespace::eval overtype {
                             #Device Control String  https://invisible-island.net/xterm/ctlseqs/ctlseqs.html#h4-Controls-beginning-with-ESC:ESC-F.C74
                             set codenorm [tcl::string::cat $leadernorm [tcl::string::range $code 2 end]]
                         }
+                        8DCS {
+                            #8-bit Device Control String
+                            set codenorm [tcl::string::cat $leadernorm [tcl::string::range $code 1 end]]
+                        }
                         7ESC {
                             set codenorm [tcl::string::cat $leadernorm [tcl::string::range $code 1 end]]
                         }
@@ -3265,6 +3270,17 @@ tcl::namespace::eval overtype {
                                     puts stderr "overtype::renderline DL -  Delete Line - not implemented [ansistring VIEW -lf 1 -vt 1 -nul 1 $code]"
 
                                 }
+                                T {
+                                    #CSI Pn T - SD Pan Up (empty lines introduced at top)
+                                    #CSI Pn+T - kitty extension (lines at top come from scrollback buffer)
+                                    #Pn new lines appear at top of the display, Pn old lines disappear at the bottom of the display
+                                    if {$param eq "" || $param eq "0"} {set param 1} 
+                                    if {[string index $param end] eq "+"} {
+                                        puts stderr "overtype::renderline CSI Pn + T - kitty Pan Up - not implemented [ansistring VIEW -lf 1 -vt 1 -nul 1 $code]"
+                                    } else {
+                                        puts stderr "overtype::renderline CSI Pn T - SD Pan Up - not implemented [ansistring VIEW -lf 1 -vt 1 -nul 1 $code]"
+                                    }
+                                }
                                 X {
                                     puts stderr "overtype::renderline X ECH ERASE CHARACTER - $param"
                                     #ECH - erase character
@@ -3862,9 +3878,14 @@ tcl::namespace::eval overtype {
                             }
 
                         }
-                        7DCS {
+                        7DCS - 8DCS {
                             puts stderr "overtype::renderline DCS - DEVICE CONTROL STRING command UNIMPLEMENTED. code [ansistring VIEW -lf 1 -vt 1 -nul 1 $code]"
-                            #
+                            #ST (string terminator) \x9c or \x1b\\ 
+                            if {[tcl::string::index $codenorm end] eq "\x9c"} {
+                                set code_content [tcl::string::range $codenorm 4 end-1] ;#ST is 8-bit 0x9c 
+                            } else {
+                                set code_content [tcl::string::range $codenorm 4 end-2] ;#ST is \x1b\\
+                            }
 
                         }
                         7OSC - 8OSC {
@@ -3934,6 +3955,12 @@ tcl::namespace::eval overtype {
                                     #tektronix cursor color
                                     puts stderr "overtype::renderline OSC 18 - set tektronix cursor color unimplemented. code [ansistring VIEW -lf 1 -vt 1 -nul 1 $code]"
                                 }
+                                99 {
+                                    #kitty desktop notifications
+                                    #https://sw.kovidgoyal.net/kitty/desktop-notifications/
+                                    #<OSC> 99 ; metadata ; payload <terminator>
+                                    puts stderr "overtype::renderline OSC 99 kitty desktop notification unimplemented. code [ansistring VIEW -lf 1 -vt 1 -nul 1 $code]"
+                                }
                                 104 {
                                     #reset colour palette
                                     #we want to do it for the current rendering context only (vvt)  - not just pass through to underlying vt
@@ -3942,6 +3969,13 @@ tcl::namespace::eval overtype {
                                     set instruction [list reset_colour_palette]
                                     break
                                 }
+                                1337 {
+                                    #iterm2 graphics and file transfer 
+                                    puts stderr "overtype::renderline OSC 1337 iterm2 graphics/file_transfer unimplemented. 1st 100 chars of code [ansistring VIEW -lf 1 -vt 1 -nul 1 [string range $code 0 99]]"
+                                }
+                                5113 {
+                                    puts stderr "overtype::renderline OSC 5113 kitty file transfer unimplemented. 1st 100 chars of code [ansistring VIEW -lf 1 -vt 1 -nul 1 [string range $code 0 99]]"
+                                }
                                 default {
                                     puts stderr "overtype::renderline OSC - UNIMPLEMENTED. code [ansistring VIEW -lf 1 -vt 1 -nul 1 $code]"
                                 }
diff --git a/src/bootsupport/modules/punk-0.1.tm b/src/bootsupport/modules/punk-0.1.tm
index 0ca26f39..9440ae9c 100644
--- a/src/bootsupport/modules/punk-0.1.tm
+++ b/src/bootsupport/modules/punk-0.1.tm
@@ -101,12 +101,15 @@ set punk_testd2 [dict create \
        ] \
 ]
 
-#impolitely cooperative withe punk repl - todo - tone it down.
+#impolitely cooperative with punk repl - todo - tone it down.
 #namespace eval ::punk::repl::codethread {
 #    variable running 0
 #}
-package require punk::lib
+package require punk::lib ;# subdependency punk::args
 package require punk::ansi
+if {![llength [info commands ::ansistring]]} {
+    namespace import punk::ansi::ansistring
+}
 #require aliascore after punk::lib & punk::ansi are loaded
 package require punk::aliascore ;#mostly punk::lib aliases
 punk::aliascore::init
@@ -114,9 +117,6 @@ punk::aliascore::init
 package require punk::repl::codethread 
 package require punk::config
 #package require textblock
-if {![llength [info commands ::ansistring]]} {
-    namespace import punk::ansi::ansistring
-}
 package require punk::console
 package require punk::ns
 package require punk::winpath ;# for windows paths - but has functions that can be called on unix systems
@@ -862,6 +862,8 @@ namespace eval punk {
                     }
                 }
                 #? {
+                    #review - compare to %# ?????
+                    #seems to be unimplemented ?
                     set assigned [string length $leveldata]
                     set already_assigned 1
                 }
@@ -7149,12 +7151,93 @@ namespace eval punk {
         dict filter $result value {?*}
     }
 
-
+    punk::args::definition {
+        *id punk::inspect
+        *proc -name punk::inspect -help\
+            "Function to display values - used pimarily in a punk pipeline.
+        The raw value arguments (not options) are always returned to pass
+        forward in the pipeline.
+        (pipeline data inserted at end of each |...> segment is passed as single item unless
+        inserted with an expanding insertion specifier such as .=>*  )
+        e.g1:
+        .=      list a b c              |v1,/1-end,/0>\\    
+        .=>*    inspect -label i1 --    |>\\    
+        .=v1>   inspect -label i2 --    |>\\   
+                string toupper
+        (3) i1: {a b c} {b c} a
+        (1) i2: a b c
+
+        - A B C
+        "
+        -label -type string -default "" -help\
+            "An optional label to help distinguish output when multiple
+            inspect statements are in a pipeline. This appears after the
+            bracketed count indicating number of values supplied.
+            e.g (2) MYLABEL: val1 val2
+            The label can include ANSI codes.
+            e.g
+            inspect -label [a+ red]mylabel -- val1 val2 val3 
+            "
+        -limit -type int -default 20 -help\
+            "When multiple values are passed to inspect - limit the number
+            of elements displayed in -channel output.
+            When truncation has occured an elipsis indication (...) will be appended.
+            e.g
+            .= lseq 20 to 50 by 3 |> .=>* inspect -limit 4 -- |> .=>* tcl::mathop::+
+            (11) 20 23 26 29...
+
+            - 385
+
+            For no limit - use -limit -1
+            "
+        -channel -type string -default stderr -help\
+            "An existing open channel to write to. If value is any of nul, null, /dev/nul
+            the channel output is disabled. This effectively disables inspect as the args
+            are simply passed through in the return to continue the pipeline.
+            " 
+        -showcount -type boolean -default 1 -help\
+            "Display a leading indicator in brackets showing the number of arg values present."
+        -ansi -type integer -default 1 -nocase 1 -choices {0 1 2 VIEW 3 VIEWCODES 4 VIEWSTYLES} -choicelabels {
+            0 "Strip ANSI codes from display
+        of values. The disply output will 
+        still be colourised if -ansibase has
+        not been set to empty string or 
+        [a+ normal]. The stderr or stdout
+        channels may also have an ansi colour.
+        (see 'colour off' or punk::config)"
+            1 "Leave value as is"
+            2 "Display the ANSI codes and
+        other control characters inline
+        with replacement indicators.
+        e.g esc, newline, space, tab"
+            VIEW "Alias for 2"
+            3 "Display as per 2 but with 
+        colourised ANSI replacement codes."
+            VIEWCODES "Alias for 3"
+            4 "Display ANSI and control
+        chars in default colour, but
+        apply the contained ansi to
+        the text portions so they display
+        as they would for -ansi 1" 
+        VIEWSTYLE "Alias for 4"
+        }
+        -ansibase -type ansistring -default {${[a+ brightgreen]}} -help\
+            "Base ansi code(s) that will apply to output written to the chosen -channel.
+            If there are ansi resets in the displayed values - output will revert to this base.
+            Does not affect return value."
+        -- -type none -help\
+            "End of options marker.
+            It is advisable to use this, as data in a pipeline may often being with -"
+
+        *values -min 0 -max -1
+        arg -type string -optional 1 -multiple 1 -help\
+            "value to display"
+    }
     #pipeline inspect
     #e.g
     #= {a z c} |> inspect -label input_dict |> lsort |> {inspect $data}
     proc inspect {args} {
-        set defaults [list -label "" -limit 20 -channel stderr -showcount 1 -ansi 1]
+        set defaults [list -label "" -limit 20 -channel stderr -showcount 1 -ansi 1 -ansibase [a+ brightgreen]]
         set flags [list]
         set endoptsposn [lsearch $args --] ;#first --  if data expected to contain --, then should always be called with --.  e.g inspect --
         if {$endoptsposn >= 0} {
@@ -7177,24 +7260,28 @@ namespace eval punk {
         }
         foreach {k v} $flags {
             if {$k ni [dict keys $defaults]} {
-                error "inspect: unknown option $k. Known options: [dict keys $defaults].  If data contains flaglike elements, consider calling with end-of-opts marker. e.g inspect --"
+                #error "inspect: unknown option $k. Known options: [dict keys $defaults].  If data contains flaglike elements, consider calling with end-of-opts marker. e.g inspect --"
+                punk::args::get_by_id punk::inspect $args
             }
         }
         set opts [dict merge $defaults $flags]
         # -- --- --- --- ---
-        set label [dict get $opts -label]
-        set channel [dict get $opts -channel]
-        set showcount [dict get $opts -showcount]
+        set label       [dict get $opts -label]
+        set channel     [dict get $opts -channel]
+        set showcount   [dict get $opts -showcount]
         if {[string length $label]} {
             set label "${label}: "
         }
         set limit [dict get $opts -limit]
-        set opt_ansi [dict get $opts -ansi]
+        set opt_ansiraw [dict get $opts -ansi]
+        set opt_ansi [tcl::prefix::match -error "" [list 0 1 2 3 4 view viewcodes viewstyle] [string tolower $opt_ansiraw]]
         switch -- [string tolower $opt_ansi] {
-            0 - 1 - 2 {}
-            view {set opt_ansi 2}
+            0 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 {}
+            view        {set opt_ansi 2}
+            viewcodes   {set opt_ansi 3}
+            viewstyle   {set opt_ansi 4}
             default {
-                error "inspect -ansi 0|1|2|view - received -ansi $opt_ansi"
+                error "inspect -ansi 0|1|2|view|3|viewcodes|4|viewstyle - received -ansi $opt_ansiraw"
             }
         }
         # -- --- --- --- ---
@@ -7248,15 +7335,50 @@ namespace eval punk {
         } else {
             set displaycount ""
         }
-        if {$opt_ansi == 0} {
-            set displayval [punk::ansi::ansistrip $displayval]
-        } elseif {$opt_ansi == 2} {
-            set displayval [ansistring VIEW $displayval]
+
+        set ansibase [dict get $opts -ansibase]
+        if {$ansibase ne ""} {
+            #-ansibase default is hardcoded into punk::args definition 
+            #run a test using any ansi code to see if colour is still enabled
+            if {[a+ red] eq ""} {
+                set ansibase "" ;#colour seems to be disabled
+            }
+        }
+
+        switch -- $opt_ansi {
+            0 {
+                set displayval $ansibase[punk::ansi::ansistrip $displayval]
+            }
+            1 {
+                #val may have ansi - including resets. Pass through ansibase_lines to 
+                if {$ansibase ne ""} {
+                    set displayval [::textblock::ansibase_lines $displayval $ansibase]
+                }
+            }
+            2 {
+                set displayval $ansibase[ansistring VIEW $displayval]
+                if {$ansibase ne ""} {
+                    set displayval [::textblock::ansibase_lines $displayval $ansibase]
+                }
+            }
+            3 {
+                set displayval $ansibase[ansistring VIEWCODE $displayval]
+                if {$ansibase ne ""} {
+                    set displayval [::textblock::ansibase_lines $displayval $ansibase]
+                }
+            }
+            4 {
+                set displayval $ansibase[ansistring VIEWSTYLE $displayval]
+                if {$ansibase ne ""} {
+                    set displayval [::textblock::ansibase_lines $displayval $ansibase]
+                }
+            }
         }
+
         if {![string length $more]} {
-            puts $channel "$displaycount$label[a green bold]$displayval[a]"
+            puts $channel "$displaycount$label$displayval[a]"
         } else {
-            puts $channel "$displaycount$label[a green bold]$displayval[a yellow bold]$more[a]"
+            puts $channel "$displaycount$label$displayval[a yellow bold]$more[a]"
         }
         return $val
     }
diff --git a/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/ansi-0.1.1.tm b/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/ansi-0.1.1.tm
index 1e52d3e9..452092e7 100644
--- a/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/ansi-0.1.1.tm
+++ b/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/ansi-0.1.1.tm
@@ -167,6 +167,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ansi::class {
                         }
                         default {
                             puts stderr "render_to_input_line unexpected argument '$k' usage: ?-dimensions WxH? ?-minus charcount? x"
+                            punk::args::get_by_id "punk::ansi::class::class_ansi render_to_input_line" $args
                         }
                     }
                 }
@@ -2415,6 +2416,7 @@ Brightblack 100   Brightred 101   Brightgreen 102   Brightyellow 103   Brightblu
         *id punk::ansi::a+
         *proc -name "punk::ansi::a+" -help\
             "Returns an ANSI sgr escape sequence based on the list of supplied codes.
+            Unlike punk::ansi::a - it is not prefixed with an ANSI reset.
             "
         *values -min 0 -max -1
     }   [string map [list <choices> [dict keys $SGR_map]] {
@@ -2432,10 +2434,12 @@ Brightblack 100   Brightred 101   Brightgreen 102   Brightyellow 103   Brightblu
             The acceptable values for <termcolour> and <webcolour> can be queried using
             punk::ansi::a? term
             and
-            punk::ansi::a? web"
-
+            punk::ansi::a? web
+            
+            Example to set foreground red and background cyan followed by a reset:
+            set str \"[a+ red Cyan]sample text[a]\"
+            "
     }]]
-
     proc a+ {args} {
         #*** !doctools
         #[call [fun a+] [opt {ansicode...}]]
@@ -7065,13 +7069,12 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ansi::ansistring {
         }
     }
 
-    #inserting into global namespace like this should be kept to a minimum.. but this is considered a core aspect of punk::ansi
-    #todo - document
-    interp alias {} ansistring {} ::punk::ansi::ansistring
 
     #*** !doctools
     #[list_end] [comment {--- end definitions namespace punk::ansi::ta ---}]
 }
+
+
 tcl::namespace::eval punk::ansi::control {
     proc APC {args} {
         return \x1b_[join $args {;}]\x1b\\
@@ -7393,6 +7396,10 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ansi::internal {
     }
 }
 
+#inserting into global namespace like this should be kept to a minimum.. but this is considered a core aspect of punk::ansi
+#todo - document
+interp alias {} ansistring {} ::punk::ansi::ansistring
+
 if {![info exists ::punk::args::register::NAMESPACES]} {
     namespace eval ::punk::args::register {
         set NAMESPACES [list]
diff --git a/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/args-0.1.0.tm b/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/args-0.1.0.tm
index c087ae0b..5a589fe3 100644
--- a/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/args-0.1.0.tm
+++ b/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/args-0.1.0.tm
@@ -353,7 +353,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
             }
             set optionspecs [join $normargs \n]
             if {[string first \$\{ $optionspecs] > 0} {
-                set optionspecs [uplevel 1 [list punk::args::lib::tstr -return string -eval 1 $optionspecs]]
+                set optionspecs [uplevel 1 [list punk::args::lib::tstr -return string -eval 1 -allowcommands $optionspecs]]
             }
         } else {
             if {[tcl::dict::exists $argdefcache_unresolved $cache_key]} {
@@ -1262,30 +1262,43 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
         if {$arg_error_isrunning} {
             error "arg_error already running - error in arg_error?\n triggering errmsg: $msg"
         }
-        set arg_error_isrunning 1
 
         if {[llength $args] %2 != 0} {
             error "error in arg_error processing - expected opt/val pairs after msg and spec_dict"
         }
+
+        set arg_error_isrunning 1
+
         set badarg ""
-        set returntype error
+        set returntype table ;#table as string 
+        set as_error 1 ;#usual case is to raise an error
         dict for {k v} $args {
             switch -- $k {
                 -badarg {
                     set badarg $v
                 }
+                -aserror {
+                    if {![string is boolean -strict $v]} {
+                        set arg_error_isrunning 0
+                        error "arg_error invalid value for option -aserror. Received '$v' expected a boolean"
+                    }
+                    set as_error $v
+                }
                 -return {
-                    if {$v ni {error string}} {
-                        error "arg_error invalid value for option -return. Received '$v' expected one of: error string"
+                    if {$v ni {string table tableobject}} {
+                        set arg_error_isrunning 0
+                        error "arg_error invalid value for option -return. Received '$v' expected one of: string table tableobject"
                     }
                     set returntype $v
                 }
                 default {
+                    set arg_error_isrunning 0
                     error "arg_error invalid option $k. Known_options: -badarg -return"
                 }
             }
         }
 
+        set t "" ;#possible oo table object - may be tested for objectiness at the end so needs to exist.
 
         #REVIEW - risk of accidental indefinite recursion if functions used here also use punk::args::get_dict and there is an argument error 
         #e.g list_as_table
@@ -1300,12 +1313,20 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
             #couldn't load textblock package
             #just return the original errmsg without formatting
         }
+        set use_table 0
+        if {$has_textblock && $returntype in {table tableobject}} {
+            set use_table 1
+        }
         set errlines [list] ;#for non-textblock output
         if {[catch  {
-            if {$has_textblock} {
+            if {$use_table} {
                 append errmsg \n
             } else {
-                append errmsg \n "[a+ brightred](layout package textblock is missing)[a]" \n
+                if {($returntype in {table tableobject}) && !$has_textblock} {
+                    append errmsg \n "[a+ brightred](layout package textblock is missing)[a]" \n
+                } else {
+                    append errmsg \n
+                }
             }
             set procname [Dict_getdef $spec_dict proc_info -name ""]
             set prochelp [Dict_getdef $spec_dict proc_info -help ""]
@@ -1333,7 +1354,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
             } else {
                 set docurl_display ""
             }
-            if {$has_textblock} {
+            if {$use_table} {
                 set t [textblock::class::table new [a+ brightyellow]Usage[a]]
                 $t add_column -headers $blank_header_col -minwidth 3 
                 $t add_column -headers $blank_header_col 
@@ -1343,7 +1364,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
             }
             set h 0
             if {$procname ne ""} {
-                if {$has_textblock} {
+                if {$use_table} {
                     $t configure_header $h -colspans {1 4 0 0 0} -values [list PROC/METHOD: $procname_display]
                 } else {
                     lappend errlines "PROC/METHOD: $procname_display"
@@ -1351,7 +1372,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
                 incr h
             }
             if {$prochelp ne ""} {
-                if {$has_textblock} {
+                if {$use_table} {
                     $t configure_header $h -colspans {1 4 0 0 0} -values [list Description: $prochelp_display]
                 } else {
                     lappend errlines "Description: $prochelp_display"
@@ -1362,14 +1383,14 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
                 if {![catch {package require punk::ansi}]} {
                     set docurl [punk::ansi::hyperlink $docurl]
                 }
-                if {$has_textblock} {
+                if {$use_table} {
                     $t configure_header $h -colspans {1 4 0 0 0} -values [list $docname $docurl_display]
                 } else {
                     lappend errlines "$docname $docurl_display"
                 }
                 incr h
             }
-            if {$has_textblock} {
+            if {$use_table} {
                 $t configure_header $h -values {Arg Type Default Multi Help}
             } else {
                 lappend errlines " --ARGUMENTS-- "
@@ -1519,7 +1540,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
                             set numcols [llength $formattedchoices]
                         }
                         if {$numcols > 0} {
-                            if {$has_textblock} {
+                            if {$use_table} {
                                 #risk of recursing 
                                 set choicetable [textblock::list_as_table -show_hseps 1 -show_edge 1 -columns $numcols $formattedchoices]
                                 append help \n[textblock::join -- "    " $choicetable]
@@ -1565,7 +1586,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
                         append typeshow \n "-range [dict get $arginfo -range]"
                     }
 
-                    if {$has_textblock} {
+                    if {$use_table} {
                         $t add_row [list $argshow $typeshow $default $multiple $help]
                         if {$arg eq $badarg} {
                             $t configure_row [expr {[$t row_count]-1}] -ansibase $A_BADARG
@@ -1577,11 +1598,14 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
                 }
             }
 
-            if {$has_textblock} {
+            if {$use_table} {
                 $t configure -show_hseps 0 -show_header 1 -ansibase_body [a+ brightwhite] -ansibase_header [a+ brightyellow] -ansiborder_header [a+ brightyellow] -ansiborder_body [a+ brightyellow]
-                $t configure -maxwidth 80
+                $t configure -maxwidth 80 ;#review
                 append errmsg [$t print]
-                $t destroy
+                if {$returntype ne "tableobject"} {
+                    #returntype of table means just the text of the table
+                    $t destroy
+                }
             } else {
                 append errmsg [join $errlines \n]
             }
@@ -1595,11 +1619,22 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
         }
         set arg_error_isrunning 0
         #add PUNK to the tail end of the more usual -errorcode {TCL WRONGARGS} so we maintain reasonable compat with things looking for TCL WRONGARGS - but also differentiate it. 
-        #Also,we're polite enough in the errorInfo, nothing wrong with a Clint Eastwood style errorCode  ;)
-        if {$returntype eq "error"} {
-            return -code error -errorcode {TCL WRONGARGS PUNK} $errmsg
+        #Also, we're polite enough in the errorInfo, nothing wrong with a Clint Eastwood style errorCode  ;)
+        if {$use_table} {
+            #assert returntype is one of table, tableobject
+            set result $errmsg ;#default if for some reason table couldn't be used
+            if {$returntype eq "tableobject"} {
+                if {[info object isa object $t]} {
+                    set result $t
+                } 
+            }
         } else {
-            return $errmsg
+            set result $errmsg
+        }
+        if {$as_error} {
+            return -code error -errorcode {TCL WRONGARGS PUNK} $result
+        } else {
+            return $result
         }
     }
 
@@ -1609,17 +1644,21 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
         *proc -name punk::args::usage -help\
             "return usage information as a string
             in table form."
+        -return -default table -choices {string table tableobject}
+
         *values -min 0 -max 1
         id  -help\
             "exact id.
             Will usually match the command name"
     }]
-    proc usage {id} {
+    proc usage {args} {
+        lassign [dict values [punk::args::get_by_id punk::args::usage $args]] leaders opts values received
+        set id [dict get $values id]
         set speclist [get_spec $id]
         if {[llength $speclist] == 0} {
             error "punk::args::usage - no such id: $id"
         }
-        arg_error "" [uplevel 1 [list punk::args::definition {*}$speclist]] -return string
+        arg_error "" [uplevel 1 [list punk::args::definition {*}$speclist]] {*}$opts -aserror 0 
     }
 
     lappend PUNKARGS [list {
@@ -2726,7 +2765,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args::lib {
         *id punk::args::lib::tstr
         *proc -name punk::args::lib::tstr -help\
             "A rough equivalent of js template literals"
-        -allowcommands -default -1 -type none -help\
+        -allowcommands -default 0 -type none -help\
             "if -allowcommands is present, placeholder can contain commands e.g {\$\{plaintext0 [lindex $var 0] plaintext2\}}"
         -return        -default list -choices {dict list string args}\
             -choicelabels {
diff --git a/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/char-0.1.0.tm b/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/char-0.1.0.tm
index 4a6c9ab1..3024053b 100644
--- a/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/char-0.1.0.tm
+++ b/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/char-0.1.0.tm
@@ -600,6 +600,48 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::char {
         puts stdout \n
         puts stdout "cursor position immediately after outputing 3 bytes (xyz): $cursorposn"
     }
+    proc test_zalgo {} {
+        #from: https://github.com/jameslanska/unicode-display-width/blob/5e28d94c75e8c421a87199363b85c90dc37125b8/docs/unicode_background.md
+        #see: https://lingojam.com/ZalgoText
+        puts stdout "44 chars long - 9 graphemes - 9 columns wide"
+
+        set str "Ẓ̌á̲l͔̝̞̄̑͌g̖̘̘̔̔͢͞͝o̪̔T̢̙̫̈̍͞e̬͈͕͌̏͑x̺̍ṭ̓̓ͅ"
+
+    }
+
+    proc test_zalgo2 {} {
+
+        # ------------------------
+
+
+
+        set str "Z̸̢͉̣͔̭̪͙̖̳̘͈͍̤̩̟͈͈͕̯̅̏̆̓̌́́͌̿̕ͅą̷̦̤̫̩͕̥̐̎̓́́̂̀͆́̔̄̈́̏̌́̆͜͜͝͠l̴̩̙̺͚̟͇͖͔͕̹̟͌̈́̄̇́̉̋̕̚͜͠͠g̸͇̩͔̺̝̗̥̖̙̑̈́̈́̿̾̌͌͊̈̀͊̑̇̑͌̍̅̌͊͜͠͝ǫ̴̢̧͎͔̞̤̻̱̮̬͕̗̭͍̣̠̳̆̀̋̓͒̾̄͜͝͠͝T̴̛͉̬̋́̈́̈́̓͗̍̏̔̈̋̀͐̓̎̅̚̕͠͝͝ê̵̖̖̈͊̔̓̔̐̓̃͊̋͋̎͂͋̕x̴̡͎͖̼͎̦͎̲̪̘̺̯̲̬̮̥̼̰͌̃͜ͅt̶̛̘͎̰̔͐͌́̈́͊͗͌̅͂̐̆͌̀͂͘"
+
+
+
+
+        # ------------------------
+    }
+
+    proc test_zalgo3 {} {
+
+        # ------------------------
+
+
+
+
+       set str "Ẕ̸̢̼̺̜̰̣̣̖̭̜͓͖̺̥̼̠͙͙̟̥̟̠̤̫͍̠̤̮͚̝̜̙͈̦̙̩̹̙̜̩̦͔͕̈̃̅̇̈́͂̇̽̈́́́́̎͊̂̑̋͆̔̾͋̚͜ͅã̵̛̪̽̎̃͑̒̇͋͂̽̃̍͊̀̈̊̊̔̊̆̈́͗͑͗̽̄̋͗̄͌̑͊͝͝͠ͅl̵̢͇̖͉͖̝̹̜̞͓͎͍͈̞̱̙͙̦̪͔̱̮͈͉̼͎̭̝̯͇͚̺̟̱͙̳̰̙͚͖̝̫͙̎̅̃͆̈́̋̌̔̋̋͗̈́̔̐͆̈́̓̾̄̀́̏́͒̆̌͒̈́̈́̾̏̀͜͝g̸̖͂͋̊͗̈́̓̆̈̋̒͐̕o̶̧̢͓̲̗̠̘͕̦̤̹̗͉̰͔̯͓̭̹̻͔͇̯̜̙̍̂̃̃̀̓͌̒͊̊̋̒̿̿̌͐̄͗̾̕͝T̶̛̳̜̰͍̹̻̫̠̱̼̼̙̆̑̾̾͛́́̿͋͌̎̀̀̽̆͌̽̂̈̇̅̇̃́̿͗̾͒̎͊̑̾͝͠ȩ̸̢̨̛̛̛̭͔͎͇̫͎͈̲̻̙͕͎̣͈̩̺̗͖͙͇͌͐̒̎͐̓́̉́͐̓̐͌̅̊͋͑̈́͗͑̏̕͜͜͝ͅx̸̧̧̛̖̣̥̘͎͎̳̭̙̦̝͖̝̮̱̹̯̺̙̩̯̮͖̻̰͓̰̩͇̥̑͌̊̐̉̏͆̓̑̎̊̓͒̂̄̆͆̀̊̄̈̽͐͛̏͊̓̌͑́̎̈́̍̈́̊͗̉̋͆̿̊͘͜͜͝͝ͅͅͅt̵̡̨̜̘͎̦͚̠̗̺͉̼̠̲̠͙̺̹̗̲̏̈́̂̚͜͜͝ͅ"
+
+
+
+
+
+        # ------------------------
+
+    }
+
+
+
     proc test_farmer {} {
         #an interesting article re grapheme clustering problems in terminals https://mitchellh.com/writing/grapheme-clusters-in-terminals
         #(similar to the problem with grave accent rendering width that the test_grave proc is written for)
@@ -620,17 +662,29 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::char {
         puts stdout "farmer2 with no joiner          codes: \\U0001f9d1\\U001f33e               : $farmer2"
 
         package require punk::console
+        puts stdout \n
         puts stdout "#2--5---9---C---"
         puts -nonewline stdout \033\[2K\033\[1G ;#2K erase line 1G cursor at col1
-        puts -nonewline "${farmer1}";set cursorposn [punk::console::get_cursor_pos]
-        puts stdout \n
-        puts stdout "cursor position immediately after outputing farmer1 (expecting 1 glyph 2 wide)          : $cursorposn"
+        puts -nonewline "${farmer1}";set cursorposn [punk::console::get_cursor_pos_list]
+        puts stdout "\ncursor position immediately after outputing farmer1 (expecting 1 glyph 2 wide)          : cursor at col [lindex $cursorposn 1]"
+        if {[lindex $cursorposn 1] eq "3"} {
+            puts stdout "[a+ green]OK[a]"
+        } else {
+            puts stdout "[a+ red]ERR - expected cursor position to be 3 after emitting farmer1[a]"
+        }
+        puts stdout "----------------"
         puts stdout "#2--5---9---C---"
-        puts -nonewline "${farmer2}";set cursorposn [punk::console::get_cursor_pos]
-        puts stdout \n
-        puts stdout "cursor position immediately after outputing farmer2 (expecting 2 glyphs 4 wide in total): $cursorposn"
+        puts -nonewline "${farmer2}";set cursorposn [punk::console::get_cursor_pos_list]
+        puts stdout "\ncursor position immediately after outputing farmer2 (expecting 2 glyphs 4 wide in total): cursor at col [lindex $cursorposn 1]"
+        if {[lindex $cursorposn 1] eq "5"} {
+            puts stdout "[a+ green]OK[a]"
+        } else {
+            puts stdout "[a+ red]ERR - expected cursor position to be 5 after emitting farmer2[a]"
+        }
+        puts stdout "----------------"
 
-        return [list $farmer1 $farmer2]
+        puts "returning farmer1 - should be single glyph"
+        return $farmer1
     }
 
     #G0 Sets Sequence   G1 Sets Sequence   Meaning
@@ -1916,6 +1970,172 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::char {
     # - tab/vtab?
     # - compare with wcswidth returning -1 for entire string containing such in python,perl
     proc wcswidth {string} {
+        #faster than textutil::wcswidth (at least for string up to a few K in length)
+        #..but - 'scan' is horrible for 400K+ (Tcl evaluation stack has to be reallocated/copied?) 
+        #Tcl initial evaluation stack size is 2000 (? review)
+        #REVIEW - when we cater for grapheme clusters - we can't just split the string at arbitrary points like this!!
+        set chunksize 2000
+        set chunks_required [expr {int(ceil([tcl::string::length $string] / double($chunksize)))}]
+        set width 0
+        set startidx 0
+        set endidx [expr {$startidx + $chunksize -1}]
+        for {set i 0} {$i < $chunks_required} {incr i} {
+            set chunk [tcl::string::range $string $startidx $endidx] 
+
+            set codes [scan $chunk [tcl::string::repeat %c [tcl::string::length $chunk]]]
+            foreach c $codes {
+                if {$c <= 255 && !($c < 31 || $c == 127)} {
+                    #review - non-printing ascii? why does textutil::wcswidth report 1 ??
+                    #todo - compare with python or other lang wcwidth 
+                    incr width 
+                } elseif {$c < 917504 || $c > 917631} {
+                    #TODO - various other joiners and non-printing chars
+                    set w [textutil::wcswidth_char $c]
+                    if {$w < 0} {
+                        return -1
+                    } else {
+                        incr width $w
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+            incr startidx   $chunksize
+            incr endidx     $chunksize
+        }
+        return $width
+    }
+
+
+
+    # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    #test
+    # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    proc grapheme_split_tk {string} {
+        if {![regexp "\[\uFF-\U10FFFF\]" $string]} {
+            #only ascii - no joiners or unicode
+            return [split $string {}]
+        }
+        package require tk
+        set i 0
+        set graphemes [list]
+        while {$i < [tcl::string::length $string]} {
+            set aftercluster [tk::endOfCluster $string $i]
+            lappend graphemes [string range $string $i $aftercluster-1] 
+            set i $aftercluster
+        }
+        return $graphemes
+    }
+    proc wcswidth_clustered {string} {
+        package require tk
+        set width 0
+        set i 0
+        if {![regexp "\[\uFF-\U10FFFF\]" $string]} {
+            return [punk::char::wcswidth_unclustered $string] ;#still use our wcswidth to account for non-printable ascii
+        }
+        while {$i < [tcl::string::length $string]} {
+            set aftercluster [tk::endOfCluster $string $i]
+            set g [string range $string $i $aftercluster-1]
+            if {$aftercluster > ($i + 1)} {
+                #review - proper way to determine screen width (columns occupied) of a cluster??
+                #according to this:
+                #https://lib.rs/crates/unicode-display-width
+                #for each grapheme - if any of the code points in the cluster have an east asian width of 2,
+                #The entire grapheme width is 2 regardless of how many code points constitute the grapheme
+                set gw 1
+                foreach ch [split $g ""] {
+                    if {[punk::char::wcswidth_single $ch] == 2} {
+                        set gw 2
+                        break
+                    }
+                }
+                incr width $gw
+                
+                #if {[string first \u200d $g] >=0} {
+                #    incr width 2 
+                #} else {
+                #    #other joiners???
+                #    incr width [wcswidth_unclustered $g]
+                #}
+            } else {
+                incr width [wcswidth_unclustered $g] 
+            }
+            set i $aftercluster
+        }
+
+        return $width
+    }
+    proc wcswidth_single {char} {
+        scan $c %c dec
+        if {$c <= 255 && !($c < 31 || $c == 127)} {
+            #review - non-printing ascii? why does textutil::wcswidth report 1 ??
+            #todo - compare with python or other lang wcwidth 
+            return 1 
+        } elseif {$c < 917504 || $c > 917631} {
+            #TODO - various other joiners and non-printing chars
+            return [textutil::wcswidth_char $c]
+            #may return -1 - REVIEW
+        }
+        return 0
+    }
+    proc wcswidth_unclustered1 {string} {
+        set width 0
+        foreach c [split $string {}] {
+            scan $c %c dec
+            if {$c <= 255 && !($c < 31 || $c == 127)} {
+                #review - non-printing ascii? why does textutil::wcswidth report 1 ??
+                #todo - compare with python or other lang wcwidth 
+                incr width 
+            } elseif {$c < 917504 || $c > 917631} {
+                #TODO - various other joiners and non-printing chars
+                set w [textutil::wcswidth_char $c]
+                if {$w < 0} {
+                    return -1
+                } else {
+                    incr width $w
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        return $width
+    }
+    #todo - consider disallowing/erroring out when \r \n in string?
+    # - tab/vtab?
+    # - compare with wcswidth returning -1 for entire string containing such in python,perl
+    proc wcswidth_unclustered {string} {
+        #faster than textutil::wcswidth (at least for string up to a few K in length)
+        #..but - 'scan' is horrible for 400K+ (Tcl evaluation stack has to be reallocated/copied?) 
+        #Tcl initial evaluation stack size is 2000 (? review)
+        #we can only split the string at arbitrary points like this because we are specifically dealing with input that has no clusters!.
+        set chunksize 2000
+        set chunks_required [expr {int(ceil([tcl::string::length $string] / double($chunksize)))}]
+        set width 0
+        set startidx 0
+        set endidx [expr {$startidx + $chunksize -1}]
+        for {set i 0} {$i < $chunks_required} {incr i} {
+            set chunk [tcl::string::range $string $startidx $endidx] 
+
+            set codes [scan $chunk [tcl::string::repeat %c [tcl::string::length $chunk]]]
+            foreach c $codes {
+                if {$c <= 255 && !($c < 31 || $c == 127)} {
+                    #review - non-printing ascii? why does textutil::wcswidth report 1 ??
+                    #todo - compare with python or other lang wcwidth 
+                    incr width 
+                } elseif {$c < 917504 || $c > 917631} {
+                    #TODO - various other joiners and non-printing chars
+                    set w [textutil::wcswidth_char $c]
+                    if {$w < 0} {
+                        return -1
+                    } else {
+                        incr width $w
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+            incr startidx   $chunksize
+            incr endidx     $chunksize
+        }
+        return $width
+    }
+    # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+    proc wcswidth0 {string} {
         #faster than textutil::wcswidth (at least for string up to a few K in length)
         #..but - 'scan' is horrible for 400K+ 
         #TODO 
@@ -1943,20 +2163,6 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::char {
         }
         return $width
     }
-    #faster than textutil::wcswidth (at least for string up to a few K in length)
-    proc wcswidth1 {string} {
-        set codes [scan $string [tcl::string::repeat %c [tcl::string::length $string]]]
-        set width 0
-        foreach c $codes {
-            set w [textutil::wcswidth_char $c]
-            if {$w < 0} {
-                return -1
-            } else {
-                incr width $w
-            }
-        }
-        return $width
-    }
     proc wcswidth2 {string} {
         set codes [scan $string [tcl::string::repeat %c [tcl::string::length $string]]]
         set widths [lmap c $codes {textutil::wcswidth_char $c}]
diff --git a/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/console-0.1.1.tm b/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/console-0.1.1.tm
index c4f2bfc4..c27503c3 100644
--- a/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/console-0.1.1.tm
+++ b/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/console-0.1.1.tm
@@ -875,6 +875,7 @@ namespace eval punk::console {
         }
     }
 
+    punk::args::set_alias punk::console::code_a+ punk::ansi::a+
     proc code_a+ {args} {
         variable ansi_wanted
         if {$ansi_wanted <= 0} {
diff --git a/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/lib-0.1.1.tm b/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/lib-0.1.1.tm
index 9ebd2ca2..6fabbba7 100644
--- a/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/lib-0.1.1.tm
+++ b/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/lib-0.1.1.tm
@@ -962,21 +962,6 @@ namespace eval punk::lib {
    
     namespace import ::punk::args::lib::tstr
     
-    #get info about punk nestindex key ie type: list,dict,undetermined
-    proc nestindex_info {args} {
-        set argd [punk::args::get_dict {
-            -parent -default ""
-            nestindex 
-        } $args]
-        set opt_parent      [dict get $argd opts -parent]
-        if {$opt_parent eq ""} {
-            set parent_type undetermined
-        } else {
-            set parent_type [nestindex_info -parent "" $opt_parent] ;#make sure we explicitly set parent of parent to empty so we don't just recurse forever doing nothing  
-        }
-        
-
-    }
 
 
     proc invoke command {
@@ -1127,17 +1112,35 @@ namespace eval punk::lib {
             -keytemplates       -default {\$\{$key\}} -type list -help "list of templates for keys at each level"
             -keysorttype        -default "none" -choices {none dictionary ascii integer real}
             -keysortdirection   -default increasing -choices {increasing decreasing}
+            -debug              -default 0 -type boolean -help\
+                "When enabled, produces some rudimentary debug output on stderr"
             *values -min 1 -max -1
             dictvalue                       -type list -help "dict or list value"
             patterns            -default "*"   -type string -multiple 1 -help "key or key glob pattern"
         }] $args]
+
+        #for punk::lib - we want to reduce pkg dependencies.
+        # - so we won't even use the tcllib debug pkg here 
+        set opt_debug               [dict get $argd opts -debug]
+        if {$opt_debug} {
+            if {[info body debug::showdict] eq ""} {
+                proc ::punk::lib::debug::showdict {args} {
+                    catch {puts stderr "punk::lib::showdict-> [string cat {*}$args]"}
+                }
+            }
+        } else {
+            if {[info body debug::showdict] ne ""} {
+                proc ::punk::lib::debug::showdict {args} {}
+            }
+        }
+
         set opt_sep                 [dict get $argd opts -separator]
         set opt_mismatch_sep        [dict get $argd opts -separator_mismatch]
         set opt_keysorttype         [dict get $argd opts -keysorttype]
         set opt_keysortdirection    [dict get $argd opts -keysortdirection]
         set opt_trimright           [dict get $argd opts -trimright]
         set opt_keytemplates        [dict get $argd opts -keytemplates]
-        puts stderr "---> $opt_keytemplates <---"
+        debug::showdict "keytemplates ---> $opt_keytemplates <---"
         set opt_ansibase_keys       [dict get $argd opts -ansibase_keys]
         set opt_ansibase_values     [dict get $argd opts -ansibase_values]
         set opt_return              [dict get $argd opts -return]
@@ -4112,10 +4115,31 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::lib::system {
         return $incomplete
     }
 
+    #get info about punk nestindex key ie type: list,dict,undetermined
+    # pdict devel 
+    proc nestindex_info {args} {
+        set argd [punk::args::get_dict {
+            -parent -default ""
+            nestindex 
+        } $args]
+        set opt_parent      [dict get $argd opts -parent]
+        if {$opt_parent eq ""} {
+            set parent_type undetermined
+        } else {
+            set parent_type [nestindex_info -parent "" $opt_parent] ;#make sure we explicitly set parent of parent to empty so we don't just recurse forever doing nothing  
+        }
+
+        #??? 
+
+    }
     #*** !doctools
     #[list_end] [comment {--- end definitions namespace punk::lib::system ---}]
 }
 
+tcl::namespace::eval punk::lib::debug {
+    proc showdict {args} {}
+}
+
 if {![info exists ::punk::args::register::NAMESPACES]} {
     namespace eval ::punk::args::register {
         set ::punk::args::register::NAMESPACES [list] ;#use fully qualified so 8.6 doesn't find existing var in global namespace
diff --git a/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/ns-0.1.0.tm b/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/ns-0.1.0.tm
index 880dde53..14b8f00d 100644
--- a/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/ns-0.1.0.tm
+++ b/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/ns-0.1.0.tm
@@ -1896,6 +1896,10 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ns {
         *id punk::ns::arginfo
         *proc -name punk::ns::arginfo -help\
             "Show usage info for a command"
+        -return -type string -default table -choices {string table tableobject}
+        -- -type none -help\
+            "End of options marker
+            Use this if the command to view begins with a -"
         *values -min 1
         commandpath -help\
             "command (may be alias or ensemble)"
@@ -2050,7 +2054,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ns {
                                     incr i
                                 }
                                 punk::args::definition $argspec
-                                return [punk::args::usage "$origin new"]
+                                return [punk::args::usage {*}$opts "$origin new"]
                             }
                             create {
                                 set constructorinfo [info class constructor $origin]
@@ -2079,7 +2083,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ns {
                                     incr i
                                 }
                                 punk::args::definition $argspec
-                                return [punk::args::usage "$origin create"]
+                                return [punk::args::usage {*}$opts "$origin create"]
                             }
                             destroy {
                                 #review - generally no doc
@@ -2092,7 +2096,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ns {
                                     *values -min 0 -max 0
                                 }]
                                 punk::args::definition $argspec
-                                return [punk::args::usage "$origin destroy"]
+                                return [punk::args::usage {*}$opts "$origin destroy"]
                             }
                             default {
                                 #use info object call <obj> <method> to resolve callchain 
@@ -2112,7 +2116,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ns {
                                                 set id "[string trimleft $origin :] $c1" ;# "<object> <method>"
                                                 if {[info commands ::punk::args::id_exists] ne ""} {
                                                     if {[punk::args::id_exists $id]} {
-                                                        return [uplevel 1 [list punk::args::usage $id]]
+                                                        return [uplevel 1 [list punk::args::usage {*}$opts $id]]
                                                     }
                                                 }
                                                 set def [::info object definition $origin $c1]
@@ -2120,7 +2124,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ns {
                                                 set id "[string trimleft $location :] $c1" ;# "<class> <method>"
                                                 if {[info commands ::punk::args::id_exists] ne ""} {
                                                     if {[punk::args::id_exists $id]} {
-                                                        return [uplevel 1 [list punk::args::usage $id]]
+                                                        return [uplevel 1 [list punk::args::usage {*}$opts $id]]
                                                     }
                                                 }
                                                 set def [::info class definition $location $c1]
@@ -2162,7 +2166,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ns {
                                         incr i
                                     }
                                     punk::args::definition $argspec
-                                    return [punk::args::usage "$location $c1"]
+                                    return [punk::args::usage {*}$opts "$location $c1"]
                                 } else {
                                     return "unable to resolve $origin method $c1"
                                 }
@@ -2216,7 +2220,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ns {
                 }]
                 append argspec \n $vline
                 punk::args::definition $argspec
-                return [punk::args::usage $origin]
+                return [punk::args::usage {*}$opts $origin]
             }
             privateObject {
                 return "Command is a privateObject - no info currently available"
@@ -2327,7 +2331,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ns {
             }]
             append argspec \n $vline
             punk::args::definition $argspec
-            return [punk::args::usage $origin]
+            return [punk::args::usage {*}$opts $origin]
         }
 
         #check for tepam help
@@ -2363,7 +2367,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ns {
         set id [string trimleft $origin :]
         if {[info commands ::punk::args::id_exists] ne ""} {
             if {[punk::args::id_exists $id]} {
-                return [uplevel 1 [list punk::args::usage $id]]
+                return [uplevel 1 [list punk::args::usage {*}$opts $id]]
             }
         }
         set origin_ns [nsprefix $origin]
diff --git a/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/repl/codethread-0.1.1.tm b/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/repl/codethread-0.1.1.tm
index d14b626d..b3693f71 100644
--- a/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/repl/codethread-0.1.1.tm
+++ b/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/repl/codethread-0.1.1.tm
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::repl::codethread {
                 if {[llength $::codeinterp::run_command_cache] > 2000} {
                     set ::codeinterp::run_command_cache [lrange $::codeinterp::run_command_cache 1750 end][unset ::codeinterp::run_command_cache]
                 }
-                if {[string first ":::" $::punk::ns::ns_current]} {
+                if {[string first ":::" $::punk::ns::ns_current] >= 0} {
                     #support for browsing 'odd' (inadvisable) namespaces
                     #don't use 'namespace exists' - will conflate ::test::x with ::test:::x
                     #if {$::punk::ns::ns_current in [namespace children  [punk::ns::nsprefix $::punk::ns::ns_current]} {
diff --git a/src/bootsupport/modules/textblock-0.1.2.tm b/src/bootsupport/modules/textblock-0.1.2.tm
index 1a298b4e..3651c0f0 100644
--- a/src/bootsupport/modules/textblock-0.1.2.tm
+++ b/src/bootsupport/modules/textblock-0.1.2.tm
@@ -299,6 +299,9 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
         #It does however affect all ensemble commands - so even 'dict get/set' etc won't be as efficient in a safe interp.
 
         #e.g $t configure -framemap_body [table_edge_map " "]
+
+        # -- --- --- --- ---
+        #unused?
         proc table_edge_map {char} {
             variable table_edge_parts
             set map [list]
@@ -335,6 +338,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
             }
             return $map
         }
+        # -- --- --- --- ---
 
         if {[tcl::info::commands [tcl::namespace::current]::table] eq ""} {
             #*** !doctools
@@ -374,6 +378,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                 variable o_columndefs
                 variable o_columndata
                 variable o_columnstates
+                variable o_headerdefs
                 variable o_headerstates
 
                 variable o_rowdefs
@@ -432,6 +437,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                     set o_columndefs    [tcl::dict::create]
                     set o_columndata    [tcl::dict::create] ;#we store data by column even though it is often added row by row
                     set o_columnstates  [tcl::dict::create] ;#store the maxwidthbodyseen etc as we add rows and maxwidthheaderseen etc as we add headers - it is needed often and expensive to calculate repeatedly
+                    set o_headerdefs    [tcl::dict::create] ;#by header-row
                     set o_headerstates  [tcl::dict::create]
                     set o_rowdefs       [tcl::dict::create] ;#user requested row data e.g -minheight -maxheight
                     set o_rowstates     [tcl::dict::create] ;#actual row data such as -minheight and -maxheight detected from supplied row data
@@ -439,12 +445,14 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                     set TSUB \uF111 ;#should be BMP PUA code to show as either replacement char or nerdfont glyph. See FSUB for comments regarding choices.
                     set o_calculated_column_widths [list]
                     set o_column_width_algorithm "span"
-                    set header_defaults [tcl::dict::create\
+                    set o_opts_header_defaults [tcl::dict::create\
                         -colspans {}\
                         -values {}\
                         -ansibase {}\
+                        -ansireset "\x1b\[m"\
+                        -minheight 1\
+                        -maxheight ""\
                     ]
-                    set o_opts_header_defaults $header_defaults
                 }
 
                 method width_algorithm {{alg ""}} {
@@ -1107,10 +1115,18 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                                 }
                             }
                         }
-                        #args checked - ok to update headerstates  and columndefs and columnstates
+                        #args checked - ok to update headerstates, headerdefs  and columndefs and columnstates
                         tcl::dict::set o_columndefs $cidx $checked_opts
-
                         set o_headerstates $hstates 
+                        dict for {hidx hstate} $hstates {
+                            #configure_header
+                            if {![dict exists $o_headerdefs $hidx]} {
+                                #remove calculated members  -values -colspans
+                                set hdefaults [dict remove $o_opts_header_defaults -values -colspans]
+                                dict set o_headerdefs $hidx $hdefaults 
+                            }
+                        }
+
                         tcl::dict::set o_columnstates $cidx $colstate
 
                         if {$args_got_headers} {
@@ -1267,11 +1283,10 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                     return $hcolspans
                 }
 
-                #should be configure_headerrow ?
                 method configure_header {index_expression args} {
                     #*** !doctools
                     #[call class::table [method configure_header]]
-                    #[para] - undocumented
+                    #[para] - configure header row-wise 
 
                     #the header data being configured or returned here is mostly derived from the column defs and if necessary written to the column defs.
                     #It can also be set column by column - but it is much easier (especially for colspans) to configure them on a header-row basis
@@ -1279,7 +1294,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                     set num_headers [my header_count_calc]
                     set hidx [lindex [tcl::dict::keys $o_headerstates] $index_expression]
                     if {$hidx eq ""} {
-                        error "textblock::table::configure_header - no row defined at index '$hidx'."
+                        error "textblock::table::configure_header - no header row defined at index '$index_expression'."
                     }
                     if {$hidx > $num_headers -1} {
                         #assert - shouldn't happen
@@ -1298,6 +1313,14 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                             lappend header_row_items $relevant_header ;#may be empty string because column had nothing at that index, or may be empty string stored in that column. We don't differentiate. 
                         }
                         tcl::dict::set result -values $header_row_items 
+
+                        #review - ensure always a headerdef record for each header?
+                        if {[tcl::dict::exists $o_headerdefs $hidx]} {
+                            set result [tcl::dict::merge $result [tcl::dict::get $o_headerdefs $hidx]]
+                        } else {
+                            #warn for now
+                            puts stderr "no headerdef record for header $hidx"
+                        }
                         return $result
                     }
                     if {[llength $args] == 1} {
@@ -1328,7 +1351,8 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                                     set colspans_by_header [my header_colspans] 
                                     set result [tcl::dict::create]
                                     set val [tcl::dict::get $colspans_by_header $hidx]
-                                    set returndict [tcl::dict::create option $k value $val ansireset "\x1b\[m"]
+                                    #ansireset not required
+                                    set returndict [tcl::dict::create option $k value $val]
                                 }
                                 -ansibase {
                                     set val ???
@@ -1369,8 +1393,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                                         lappend header_ansibase_items $code
                                     }
                                 }
-                                set header_ansibase [punk::ansi::codetype::sgr_merge_singles $row_ansibase_items]
-                                error "sorry - -ansibase not yet implemented for header rows"
+                                set header_ansibase [punk::ansi::codetype::sgr_merge_singles $header_ansibase_items]
                                 lappend checked_opts $k $header_ansibase
                             }
                             -ansireset {
@@ -1472,6 +1495,10 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                     #safe jumptable test
                     #dict for {k v} $checked_opts {}
                     #foreach {k v} $checked_opts {}
+
+                    # headerdefs excludes -values and -colspans
+                    set update_hdefs [tcl::dict::get $o_headerdefs $hidx]
+
                     tcl::dict::for {k v} $checked_opts {
                         switch -- $k {
                             -values {
@@ -1538,8 +1565,28 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                                     incr c
                                 }
                             }
+                            default {
+                                dict set update_hdefs $k $v
+                            }
                         }
                     }
+                    set opt_minh [tcl::dict::get $update_hdefs -minheight]
+                    set opt_maxh [tcl::dict::get $update_hdefs -maxheight]
+
+                    #todo - allow zero values to hide/collapse
+                    # - see also configure_row
+                    if {![tcl::string::is integer $opt_minh] || ($opt_maxh ne "" && ![tcl::string::is integer -strict $opt_maxh])} {
+                        error "[tcl::namespace::current]::table::configure_header error -minheight '$opt_minh' and -maxheight '$opt_maxh' must be integers greater than or equal to 1 (for now)"
+                    }
+                    if {$opt_minh < 1 || ($opt_maxh ne "" && $opt_maxh < 1)} {
+                        error "[tcl::namespace::current]::table::configure_header error -minheight '$opt_minh' and -maxheight '$opt_maxh' must both be 1 or greater (for now)"
+                    }
+                    if {$opt_maxh ne "" && $opt_maxh < $opt_minh} {
+                        error "[tcl::namespace::current]::table::configure_header error -maxheight '$opt_maxh' must greater than -minheight '$opt_minh'"
+                    }
+
+                    #set o_headerstate $hidx -minheight? -maxheight? ???
+                    tcl::dict::set o_headerdefs $hidx $update_hdefs 
                 }
 
                 method add_row {valuelist args} {
@@ -2050,7 +2097,8 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                         foreach header $header_list {
                             set headerspans [tcl::dict::get $all_colspans $hrow]
                             set this_span [lindex $headerspans $cidx]
-                            set hval $ansibase_header$header ;#no reset
+                            #set hval $ansibase_header$header ;#no reset
+                            set hval $header
                             set rowh [my header_height $hrow]
 
                             if {$hrow == 0} {
@@ -2317,7 +2365,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                                     set h_lines [lrepeat $rowh $bline]
                                     set hcell_blank [::join $h_lines \n]
                                     # -usecache 1 ok
-                                    #frame borders will never display - so use the simplest frametype and don't apply any ansi
+                                    #frame borders will never display - so use the simplest frametype and don't apply any ansi 
                                     #puts "===>zerospan hlims: $hlims"
                                     set header_frame [textblock::frame -checkargs 0 -ellipsis 0 -width [expr {$padwidth+2}] -type ascii\
                                         -boxlimits $hlims -boxmap $framesub_map  $hcell_blank\
@@ -2589,8 +2637,8 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                         }
                     }
 
-                    set ansibase_body   [tcl::dict::get $o_opts_table -ansibase_body]
-                    set ansibase_header [tcl::dict::get $o_opts_table -ansibase_header]
+                    #set ansibase_body   [tcl::dict::get $o_opts_table -ansibase_body]
+                    #set ansibase_header [tcl::dict::get $o_opts_table -ansibase_header]
 
                     #set header_underlay $ansibase_header$cell_line_blank
 
@@ -2613,7 +2661,35 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                     set showing_vseps [my Showing_vseps]
                     for {set hrow 0} {$hrow < $num_header_rows} {incr hrow} {
                         set hdr [lindex $headerlist $hrow]
-                        set header_maxdataheight [my header_height $hrow]  ;#from cached headerstates
+                        #jjj
+                        set header_maxdataheight   [tcl::dict::get $o_headerstates $hrow maxheightseen]
+                        #set header_maxdataheight [my header_height $hrow]  ;#from cached headerstates
+                        set headerdefminh   [tcl::dict::get $o_headerdefs $hrow -minheight]
+                        set headerdefmaxh   [tcl::dict::get $o_headerdefs $hrow -maxheight]
+                        if {"$headerdefminh$headerdefmaxh" ne "" && $headerdefminh eq $headerdefmaxh} {
+                            set headerh $headerdefminh ;#exact height defined for the row
+                        } else {
+                            if {$headerdefminh eq ""} {
+                                if {$headerdefmaxh eq ""} {
+                                    #both defs empty
+                                    set headerh $header_maxdataheight
+                                } else {
+                                    set headerh [expr {min(1,$headerdefmaxh,$header_maxdataheight)}]
+                                }
+                            } else {
+                                if {$headerdefmaxh eq ""} {
+                                    set headerh [expr {max($headerdefminh,$header_maxdataheight)}]
+                                } else {
+                                    if {$header_maxdataheight < $headerdefminh} {
+                                        set headerh $headerdefminh
+                                    } else {
+                                        set headerh [expr {max($headerdefminh,$header_maxdataheight)}]
+                                    }
+                                }
+                            }
+                        }
+
+
                         set headerrow_colspans [tcl::dict::get $all_colspans $hrow]
                         set this_span [lindex $headerrow_colspans $cidx] 
 
@@ -2654,8 +2730,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                         set rowdefminh    [tcl::dict::get $o_rowdefs $r -minheight]
                         set rowdefmaxh    [tcl::dict::get $o_rowdefs $r -maxheight]
                         if {"$rowdefminh$rowdefmaxh" ne "" && $rowdefminh eq $rowdefmaxh} { 
-                            #an exact height is defined for the row
-                            set rowh $rowdefminh
+                            set rowh $rowdefminh ;#an exact height is defined for the row
                         } else {
                             if {$rowdefminh eq ""} {
                                 if {$rowdefmaxh eq ""} {
@@ -2814,6 +2889,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                         $t destroy
                     }
                     puts stdout "columnstates: $o_columnstates"
+                    puts stdout "headerdefs:   $o_headerdefs"
                     puts stdout "headerstates: $o_headerstates"
                     tcl::dict::for {k coldef} $o_columndefs {
                         if {[tcl::dict::exists $o_columndata $k]} {
@@ -4205,6 +4281,68 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
         return $t
     }
 
+    proc bookend_lines {block start {end "\x1b\[m"}} {
+        set out "" 
+        foreach ln [split $block \n] {
+            append out $start $ln $end \n
+        }
+        return [string range $out 0 end-1]
+    }
+    proc ansibase_lines {block {newprefix ""}} {
+        set base "" 
+        set out ""
+        if {$newprefix eq ""} {
+            foreach ln [split $block \n] {
+                set parts [punk::ansi::ta::split_codes $ln]
+                if {[lindex $parts 0] eq ""} {
+                    if {[lindex $parts 1] ne "" && ![punk::ansi::codetype::is_sgr_reset [lindex $parts 1]]} {
+                        set base [lindex $parts 1]
+                        append out $base
+                    } else {
+                        append out $base
+                    }
+                } else {
+                    #leading plaintext - maintain our base
+                    append out $base [lindex $parts 0] [lindex $parts 1]
+                }
+
+                set code_idx 3
+                foreach {pt code} [lrange $parts 2 end] {
+                    if {[punk::ansi::codetype::is_sgr_reset $code]} {
+                        set parts [linsert $parts $code_idx+1 $base] 
+                    }
+                    incr code_idx 2
+                }
+                append out {*}[lrange $parts 2 end] \n
+            }
+            return [string range $out 0 end-1]
+        } else {
+            set base $newprefix
+            foreach ln [split $block \n] {
+                set parts [punk::ansi::ta::split_codes $ln]
+                set code_idx 1
+                set offset 0
+                foreach {pt code} $parts {
+                    if {$code_idx == 1} {
+                        #first pt & code
+                        if {$pt ne ""} {
+                            #leading plaintext
+                            set parts [linsert $parts 0 $base]
+                            incr offset
+                        }
+                    }
+                    if {[punk::ansi::codetype::is_sgr_reset $code]} {
+                        set parts [linsert $parts [expr {$code_idx+1+$offset}] $base]
+                        incr offset
+                    }
+                    incr code_idx 2
+                } 
+                append out {*}$parts \n
+            }
+            return [string range $out 0 end-1]
+        }
+    }
+
     set FRAMETYPES  [textblock::frametypes]
     punk::args::definition [punk::lib::tstr -return string {
         *id textblock::list_as_table
@@ -4606,12 +4744,22 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
         return [punk::char::ansifreestring_width $tl] 
     }
     #uses tcl's tcl::string::length on each line. Length will include chars in ansi codes etc - this is not a 'width' determining function.
-    proc string_length_line_max textblock {
-        tcl::mathfunc::max {*}[lmap v [split $textblock \n] {tcl::string::length $v}]
+    proc string_length_line_max {textblock} {
+        #tcl::mathfunc::max {*}[lmap v [split $textblock \n] {tcl::string::length $v}]
+        set max 0
+        foreach ln [split $textblock \n] {
+            if {[tcl::string::length $ln] > $max} {set max [tcl::string::length $ln]}
+        }
+        return $max
     }
+    #*slightly* slower
+    #proc string_length_line_max {textblock} {
+    #    tcl::mathfunc::max {*}[lmap v [split $textblock \n] {tcl::string::length $v}]
+    #}
     proc string_length_line_min textblock {
         tcl::mathfunc::min {*}[lmap v [split $textblock \n] {tcl::string::length $v}]
     }
+
     proc height {textblock} {
         #This is the height as it will/would-be rendered - not the number of input lines purely in terms of le
         #empty string still has height 1 (at least for left-right/right-left languages) 
@@ -4652,6 +4800,45 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
 
         return [tcl::dict::create width $width height $height] ;#maintain order in 'image processing' standard width then height - caller may use lassign [tcl::dict::values [blocksize <data>]] width height
     }
+    proc size2 {textblock} {
+        if {$textblock eq ""} {
+            return [tcl::dict::create width 0 height 1] ;#no such thing as zero-height block - for consistency with non-empty strings having no line-endings
+        }
+        #strangely - tcl::string::last (windows tcl8.7 anway) is faster than tcl::string::first for large strings when the needle not in the haystack
+        if {[tcl::string::last \t $textblock] >= 0} {
+            if {[tcl::info::exists punk::console::tabwidth]} {
+                set tw $::punk::console::tabwidth
+            } else {
+                set tw 8
+            }
+            set textblock [textutil::tabify::untabify2 $textblock $tw]
+        }
+        #ansistripraw on entire block in one go rather than line by line - result should be the same - review - make tests
+        if {[string length $textblock] > 1 && [punk::ansi::ta::detect $textblock]} {
+            set textblock [punk::ansi::ansistripraw $textblock]
+        }
+        if {[tcl::string::last \n $textblock] >= 0} {
+            #set width [tcl::mathfunc::max {*}[lmap v [punk::lib::lines_as_list -- $textblock] {::punk::char::ansifreestring_width $v}]]
+            set lines [split $textblock \n]
+            set num_le [expr {[llength $lines]-1}]
+            #set width [tcl::mathfunc::max {*}[lmap v $lines {::punk::char::ansifreestring_width $v}]]
+            set width 0
+            foreach ln $lines {
+                set w [::punk::char::ansifreestring_width $ln]
+                if {$w > $width} {
+                    set width $w
+                }
+            }
+        } else {
+            set num_le 0
+            set width [punk::char::ansifreestring_width $textblock] 
+        }
+        #set num_le [expr {[tcl::string::length $textblock]-[tcl::string::length [tcl::string::map [list \n {} \v {}] $textblock]]}] ;#faster than splitting into single-char list
+        #our concept of block-height is likely to be different to other line-counting mechanisms
+        set height [expr {$num_le + 1}] ;# one line if no le - 2 if there is one trailing le even if no data follows le
+
+        return [tcl::dict::create width $width height $height] ;#maintain order in 'image processing' standard width then height - caller may use lassign [tcl::dict::values [blocksize <data>]] width height
+    }
     proc size_as_opts {textblock} {
         set sz [size $textblock]
         return [dict create -width [dict get $sz width] -height [dict get $sz height]]
diff --git a/src/doc/_module_termscheme-0.1.0.tm.man b/src/doc/_module_termscheme-0.1.0.tm.man
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b3c65d30
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/doc/_module_termscheme-0.1.0.tm.man
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+[comment {--- punk::docgen generated from inline doctools comments ---}]
+[comment {--- punk::docgen DO NOT EDIT DOCS HERE UNLESS YOU REMOVE THESE COMMENT LINES ---}]
+[comment {--- punk::docgen overwrites this file ---}]
+[manpage_begin shellspy_module_termscheme 0 0.1.0]
+[copyright "2024"]
+[titledesc {Module API}]  [comment {-- Name section and table of contents description --}]
+[moddesc {-}]             [comment {-- Description at end of page heading --}]
+[require termscheme]
+[keywords module]
+[description]
+[para] -
+[section Overview]
+[para] overview of termscheme
+[subsection Concepts]
+[para] -
+[subsection dependencies]
+[para] packages used by termscheme
+[list_begin itemized]
+[item] [package {Tcl 8.6}]
+[list_end]
+[section API]
+[subsection {Namespace termscheme::class}]
+[para] class definitions
+if {[tcl::info::commands [tcl::namespace::current]::interface_sample1] eq ""} {
+[list_begin enumerated]
+[list_end] [comment {--- end class enumeration ---}]
+}
+}
+ ++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++
+[subsection {Namespace termscheme}]
+[para] Core API functions for termscheme
+[list_begin definitions]
+[list_end] [comment {--- end definitions namespace termscheme ---}]
+[subsection {Namespace termscheme::lib}]
+[para] Secondary functions that are part of the API
+[list_begin definitions]
+[list_end] [comment {--- end definitions namespace termscheme::lib ---}]
+[section Internal]
+tcl::namespace::eval termscheme::system {
+[subsection {Namespace termscheme::system}]
+[para] Internal functions that are not part of the API
+[manpage_end]
diff --git a/src/doc/punk/_module_ansi-0.1.1.tm.man b/src/doc/punk/_module_ansi-0.1.1.tm.man
index f91271c0..bd7699d7 100644
--- a/src/doc/punk/_module_ansi-0.1.1.tm.man
+++ b/src/doc/punk/_module_ansi-0.1.1.tm.man
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ tput rmam
 [call [fun ansistrip] [arg text] ]
 [para]Return a string with ansi codes stripped out
 [para]Alternate graphics chars are replaced with modern unicode equivalents (e.g boxdrawing glyphs)
-[call [fun ansistrip] [arg text] ]
+[call [fun ansistrip2] [arg text] ]
 [para]Return a string with ansi codes stripped out
 [para]Alternate graphics chars are replaced with modern unicode equivalents (e.g boxdrawing glyphs)
 [call [fun ansistripraw] [arg text] ]
diff --git a/src/doc/punk/_module_args-0.1.0.tm.man b/src/doc/punk/_module_args-0.1.0.tm.man
index ae031089..3cec3218 100644
--- a/src/doc/punk/_module_args-0.1.0.tm.man
+++ b/src/doc/punk/_module_args-0.1.0.tm.man
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@
            #setting -type none indicates a flag that doesn't take a value (solo flag)
            -nocomplain -type none
            *values -min 1 -max -1
-       } $args]] opts values
+       } $args]] leaders opts values
 
        puts "translation is [dict get $opts -translation]"
        foreach f [dict values $values] {
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@
 }]
 [para]The lines beginning with * are optional in most cases and can be used to set defaults and some extra controls
 [para] - the above example would work just fine with only the -<optionname> lines, but would allow zero filenames to be supplied as no -min value is set for *values
-[para]valid * lines being with *proc *opts *values
+[para]valid * lines being with *proc *leaders *opts *values
 [para]lines beginning with a dash define options - a name can optionally be given to each trailing positional argument.
 [para]If no names are defined for positional arguments, they will end up in the values key of the dict with numerical keys starting at zero.
 [para]e.g the result from the punk::args call above may be something like:
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@
            *values -min 2 -max 2
             fileA -type existingfile 1
             fileB -type existingfile 1
-       } $args]] opts values
+       } $args]] leaders opts values
        puts "$category fileA: [dict get $values fileA]"
        puts "$category fileB: [dict get $values fileB]"
    }
@@ -164,14 +164,16 @@ For functions that are part of an API a package may be more suitable.
 [item] [package {Tcl 8.6-}]
 [list_end]
 [section API]
-[subsection {Namespace punk::args::class}]
-[para] class definitions
-[list_begin enumerated]
-[list_end] [comment {--- end class enumeration ---}]
+[subsection {Namespace punk::args}]
+[para] cooperative namespace punk::args::register
+[para] punk::args aware packages may add their own namespace to the public list variable NAMESPACES before or after punk::args is loaded
+[para] The punk::args package will then test for a public list variable <namepace>::PUNKARGS containing argument definitions when it needs to.
+[list_begin definitions]
+[list_end] [comment {--- end definitions namespace punk::args::register ---}]
 [subsection {Namespace punk::args}]
 [para] Core API functions for punk::args
 [list_begin definitions]
-[call [fun get_dict] [arg optionspecs] [arg rawargs] [opt {option value...}]]
+[call [fun get_dict] [arg optionspecs] [arg rawargs]]
 [para]Parse rawargs as a sequence of zero or more option-value pairs followed by zero or more values
 [para]Returns a dict of the form: opts <options_dict> values <values_dict>
 [para]ARGUMENTS:
@@ -186,7 +188,7 @@ For functions that are part of an API a package may be more suitable.
 [para]argumentname -key val -ky2 val2...
 [para]where the valid keys for each option specification are: -default -type -range -choices
 [para]comment lines begining with # are ignored and can be placed anywhere except within a multiline value where it would become part of that value
-[para]lines beginning with *proc *opts or *values also take -key val pairs and can be used to set defaults and control settings.
+[para]lines beginning with *proc *leaders *opts or *values also take -key val pairs and can be used to set defaults and control settings.
 [para]*opts or *values lines can appear multiple times with defaults affecting flags/values that follow.
 [arg_def list rawargs]
 [para] This is a list of the arguments to parse. Usually it will be the $args value from the containing proc,
diff --git a/src/doc/punk/_module_console-0.1.1.tm.man b/src/doc/punk/_module_console-0.1.1.tm.man
index 7271136f..b1c595b3 100644
--- a/src/doc/punk/_module_console-0.1.1.tm.man
+++ b/src/doc/punk/_module_console-0.1.1.tm.man
@@ -17,7 +17,9 @@
 [para] packages used by punk::console
 [list_begin itemized]
 [item] [package {Tcl 8.6-}]
+[item] [package {Thread}]
 [item] [package {punk::ansi}]
+[item] [package {punk::args}]
 [list_end]
 [section API]
 [subsection {Namespace punk::console}]
diff --git a/src/doc/punk/_module_lib-0.1.1.tm.man b/src/doc/punk/_module_lib-0.1.1.tm.man
index 3ed85582..79c78d55 100644
--- a/src/doc/punk/_module_lib-0.1.1.tm.man
+++ b/src/doc/punk/_module_lib-0.1.1.tm.man
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 [para] packages used by punk::lib
 [list_begin itemized]
 [item] [package {Tcl 8.6-}]
+[item] [package {punk::args}]
 [list_end]
 [section API]
 [subsection {Namespace punk::lib::compat}]
diff --git a/src/doc/punk/_module_safe-0.1.0.tm.man b/src/doc/punk/_module_safe-0.1.0.tm.man
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0e7e062e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/doc/punk/_module_safe-0.1.0.tm.man
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+[comment {--- punk::docgen generated from inline doctools comments ---}]
+[comment {--- punk::docgen DO NOT EDIT DOCS HERE UNLESS YOU REMOVE THESE COMMENT LINES ---}]
+[comment {--- punk::docgen overwrites this file ---}]
+[manpage_begin punkshell_module_punk::safe 0 0.1.0]
+[copyright "2024"]
+[titledesc {Module API}]  [comment {-- Name section and table of contents description --}]
+[moddesc {punk::safe - safebase interpreters}]             [comment {-- Description at end of page heading --}]
+[require punk::safe]
+[keywords module]
+[description]
+[para] -
+[section Overview]
+[para] overview of punk::safe
+[subsection Concepts]
+[para] -
+[subsection dependencies]
+[para] packages used by punk::safe
+[list_begin itemized]
+[item] [package {Tcl 8.6}]
+[item] [package {punk::args}]
+[list_end]
+[section API]
+[subsection {Namespace punk::safe::class}]
+[para] class definitions
+if {[tcl::info::commands [tcl::namespace::current]::interface_sample1] eq ""} {
+[list_begin enumerated]
+[list_end] [comment {--- end class enumeration ---}]
+}
+}
+ ++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++
+[subsection {Namespace punk::safe::lib}]
+[para] Secondary functions that are part of the API
+[list_begin definitions]
+[list_end] [comment {--- end definitions namespace punk::safe::lib ---}]
+[subsection {Namespace punk::safe}]
+[para] Core API functions for punk::safe
+[list_begin definitions]
+[call [fun setSyncMode] [arg args]]
+[list_end] [comment {--- end definitions namespace punk::safe ---}]
+[section Internal]
+[subsection {Namespace punk::safe::system}]
+[para] Internal functions that are not part of the API
+[manpage_end]
diff --git a/src/doc/punk/_module_sixel-0.1.0.tm.man b/src/doc/punk/_module_sixel-0.1.0.tm.man
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e7bfbac3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/doc/punk/_module_sixel-0.1.0.tm.man
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+[comment {--- punk::docgen generated from inline doctools comments ---}]
+[comment {--- punk::docgen DO NOT EDIT DOCS HERE UNLESS YOU REMOVE THESE COMMENT LINES ---}]
+[comment {--- punk::docgen overwrites this file ---}]
+[manpage_begin punkshell_module_punk::sixel 0 0.1.0]
+[copyright "2024"]
+[titledesc {punk::sixel API}]  [comment {-- Name section and table of contents description --}]
+[moddesc {experimental sixel functions}]             [comment {-- Description at end of page heading --}]
+[require punk::sixel]
+[keywords module experimental]
+[description]
+[para] Experimental support functions for working with sixel data
+[para] For real sixel work a version written in a systems language such as c or zig may be required.
+[section Overview]
+[para] overview of punk::sixel
+[subsection Concepts]
+[para] -
+[subsection dependencies]
+[para] packages used by punk::sixel
+[list_begin itemized]
+[item] [package {Tcl 8.6}]
+[item] [package {punk::args}]
+[item] [package {punk::console}]
+[item] [package {punk::ansi}]
+[list_end]
+[section API]
+[subsection {Namespace punk::sixel::class}]
+[para] class definitions
+if {[tcl::info::commands [tcl::namespace::current]::interface_sample1] eq ""} {
+[list_begin enumerated]
+[list_end] [comment {--- end class enumeration ---}]
+}
+}
+ ++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++
+[subsection {Namespace punk::sixel}]
+[para] Core API functions for punk::sixel
+[list_begin definitions]
+[list_end] [comment {--- end definitions namespace punk::sixel ---}]
+[subsection {Namespace punk::sixel::lib}]
+[para] Secondary functions that are part of the API
+[list_begin definitions]
+[list_end] [comment {--- end definitions namespace punk::sixel::lib ---}]
+[manpage_end]
diff --git a/src/doc/punk/args/_module_tclcore-0.1.0.tm.man b/src/doc/punk/args/_module_tclcore-0.1.0.tm.man
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9729cd57
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/doc/punk/args/_module_tclcore-0.1.0.tm.man
@@ -0,0 +1,43 @@
+[comment {--- punk::docgen generated from inline doctools comments ---}]
+[comment {--- punk::docgen DO NOT EDIT DOCS HERE UNLESS YOU REMOVE THESE COMMENT LINES ---}]
+[comment {--- punk::docgen overwrites this file ---}]
+[manpage_begin punkshell_module_punk::args::tclcore 0 0.1.0]
+[copyright "2025"]
+[titledesc {punk::args definitions for tcl core commands}]  [comment {-- Name section and table of contents description --}]
+[moddesc {tcl core argument definitions}]             [comment {-- Description at end of page heading --}]
+[require punk::args::tclcore]
+[keywords module]
+[description]
+[para] -
+[section Overview]
+[para] overview of punk::args::tclcore
+[subsection Concepts]
+[para] -
+[subsection dependencies]
+[para] packages used by punk::args::tclcore
+[list_begin itemized]
+[item] [package {Tcl 8.6}]
+[item] [package {punk::args}]
+[list_end]
+[section API]
+[subsection {Namespace punk::args::tclcore::class}]
+[para] class definitions
+if {[tcl::info::commands [tcl::namespace::current]::interface_sample1] eq ""} {
+[list_begin enumerated]
+[list_end] [comment {--- end class enumeration ---}]
+}
+}
+ ++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++
+[subsection {Namespace punk::args::tclcore}]
+[para] Core API functions for punk::args::tclcore
+[list_begin definitions]
+[list_end] [comment {--- end definitions namespace punk::args::tclcore ---}]
+[subsection {Namespace punk::args::tclcore::lib}]
+[para] Secondary functions that are part of the API
+[list_begin definitions]
+[list_end] [comment {--- end definitions namespace punk::args::tclcore::lib ---}]
+[section Internal]
+tcl::namespace::eval punk::args::tclcore::system {
+[subsection {Namespace punk::args::tclcore::system}]
+[para] Internal functions that are not part of the API
+[manpage_end]
diff --git a/src/doc/punk/nav/_module_fs-0.1.0.tm.man b/src/doc/punk/nav/_module_fs-0.1.0.tm.man
index 94a6f7e8..a6bb29ba 100644
--- a/src/doc/punk/nav/_module_fs-0.1.0.tm.man
+++ b/src/doc/punk/nav/_module_fs-0.1.0.tm.man
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 [comment {--- punk::docgen generated from inline doctools comments ---}]
 [comment {--- punk::docgen DO NOT EDIT DOCS HERE UNLESS YOU REMOVE THESE COMMENT LINES ---}]
 [comment {--- punk::docgen overwrites this file ---}]
-[manpage_begin shellspy_module_punk::nav::fs 0 0.1.0]
+[manpage_begin punkshell_module_punk::nav::fs 0 0.1.0]
 [copyright "2024"]
 [titledesc {punk::nav::fs console filesystem navigation}]  [comment {-- Name section and table of contents description --}]
 [moddesc {fs nav}]             [comment {-- Description at end of page heading --}]
diff --git a/src/doc/punk/repl/_module_codethread-0.1.0.tm.man b/src/doc/punk/repl/_module_codethread-0.1.0.tm.man
index cf3eddbc..c713bec8 100644
--- a/src/doc/punk/repl/_module_codethread-0.1.0.tm.man
+++ b/src/doc/punk/repl/_module_codethread-0.1.0.tm.man
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 [comment {--- punk::docgen generated from inline doctools comments ---}]
 [comment {--- punk::docgen DO NOT EDIT DOCS HERE UNLESS YOU REMOVE THESE COMMENT LINES ---}]
 [comment {--- punk::docgen overwrites this file ---}]
-[manpage_begin shellspy_module_punk::repl::codethread 0 0.1.0]
+[manpage_begin punkshell_module_punk::repl::codethread 0 0.1.0]
 [copyright "2024"]
 [titledesc {Module repl codethread}]  [comment {-- Name section and table of contents description --}]
 [moddesc {codethread for repl - root interpreter}]             [comment {-- Description at end of page heading --}]
@@ -21,12 +21,8 @@
 [section API]
 [subsection {Namespace punk::repl::codethread::class}]
 [para] class definitions
-if {[info commands [tcl::namespace::current]::interface_sample1] eq ""} {
 [list_begin enumerated]
 [list_end] [comment {--- end class enumeration ---}]
-}
-}
- ++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++
 [subsection {Namespace punk::repl::codethread}]
 [para] Core API functions for punk::repl::codethread
 [list_begin definitions]
diff --git a/src/doc/punk/repl/_module_codethread-0.1.1.tm.man b/src/doc/punk/repl/_module_codethread-0.1.1.tm.man
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2e7d8fc2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/doc/punk/repl/_module_codethread-0.1.1.tm.man
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+[comment {--- punk::docgen generated from inline doctools comments ---}]
+[comment {--- punk::docgen DO NOT EDIT DOCS HERE UNLESS YOU REMOVE THESE COMMENT LINES ---}]
+[comment {--- punk::docgen overwrites this file ---}]
+[manpage_begin punkshell_module_punk::repl::codethread 0 0.1.1]
+[copyright "2024"]
+[titledesc {Module repl codethread}]  [comment {-- Name section and table of contents description --}]
+[moddesc {codethread for repl - root interpreter}]             [comment {-- Description at end of page heading --}]
+[require punk::repl::codethread]
+[keywords module repl]
+[description]
+[para] This is part of the infrastructure required for the punk::repl to operate
+[section Overview]
+[para] overview of punk::repl::codethread
+[subsection Concepts]
+[para] -
+[subsection dependencies]
+[para] packages used by punk::repl::codethread
+[list_begin itemized]
+[item] [package {Tcl 8.6}]
+[list_end]
+[section API]
+[subsection {Namespace punk::repl::codethread::class}]
+[para] class definitions
+[list_begin enumerated]
+[list_end] [comment {--- end class enumeration ---}]
+[subsection {Namespace punk::repl::codethread}]
+[para] Core API functions for punk::repl::codethread
+[list_begin definitions]
+[list_end] [comment {--- end definitions namespace punk::repl::codethread ---}]
+[subsection {Namespace punk::repl::codethread::lib}]
+[para] Secondary functions that are part of the API
+[list_begin definitions]
+[list_end] [comment {--- end definitions namespace punk::repl::codethread::lib ---}]
+[section Internal]
+[subsection {Namespace punk::repl::codethread::system}]
+[para] Internal functions that are not part of the API
+[manpage_end]
diff --git a/src/modules/punk-0.1.tm b/src/modules/punk-0.1.tm
index 0ca26f39..c093dd56 100644
--- a/src/modules/punk-0.1.tm
+++ b/src/modules/punk-0.1.tm
@@ -101,12 +101,15 @@ set punk_testd2 [dict create \
        ] \
 ]
 
-#impolitely cooperative withe punk repl - todo - tone it down.
+#impolitely cooperative with punk repl - todo - tone it down.
 #namespace eval ::punk::repl::codethread {
 #    variable running 0
 #}
-package require punk::lib
+package require punk::lib ;# subdependency punk::args
 package require punk::ansi
+if {![llength [info commands ::ansistring]]} {
+    namespace import punk::ansi::ansistring
+}
 #require aliascore after punk::lib & punk::ansi are loaded
 package require punk::aliascore ;#mostly punk::lib aliases
 punk::aliascore::init
@@ -114,9 +117,6 @@ punk::aliascore::init
 package require punk::repl::codethread 
 package require punk::config
 #package require textblock
-if {![llength [info commands ::ansistring]]} {
-    namespace import punk::ansi::ansistring
-}
 package require punk::console
 package require punk::ns
 package require punk::winpath ;# for windows paths - but has functions that can be called on unix systems
@@ -862,6 +862,8 @@ namespace eval punk {
                     }
                 }
                 #? {
+                    #review - compare to %# ?????
+                    #seems to be unimplemented ?
                     set assigned [string length $leveldata]
                     set already_assigned 1
                 }
@@ -7149,12 +7151,93 @@ namespace eval punk {
         dict filter $result value {?*}
     }
 
-
+    punk::args::definition {
+        *id punk::inspect
+        *proc -name punk::inspect -help\
+            "Function to display values - used pimarily in a punk pipeline.
+        The raw value arguments (not options) are always returned to pass
+        forward in the pipeline.
+        (pipeline data inserted at end of each |...> segment is passed as single item unless
+        inserted with an expanding insertion specifier such as .=>*  )
+        e.g1:
+        .=      list a b c              |v1,/1-end,/0>\\    
+        .=>*    inspect -label i1 --    |>\\    
+        .=v1>   inspect -label i2 --    |>\\   
+                string toupper
+        (3) i1: {a b c} {b c} a
+        (1) i2: a b c
+
+        - A B C
+        "
+        -label -type string -default "" -help\
+            "An optional label to help distinguish output when multiple
+            inspect statements are in a pipeline. This appears after the
+            bracketed count indicating number of values supplied.
+            e.g (2) MYLABEL: val1 val2
+            The label can include ANSI codes.
+            e.g
+            inspect -label [a+ red]mylabel -- val1 val2 val3 
+            "
+        -limit -type int -default 20 -help\
+            "When multiple values are passed to inspect - limit the number
+            of elements displayed in -channel output.
+            When truncation has occured an elipsis indication (...) will be appended.
+            e.g
+            .= lseq 20 to 50 by 3 |> .=>* inspect -limit 4 -- |> .=>* tcl::mathop::+
+            (11) 20 23 26 29...
+
+            - 385
+
+            For no limit - use -limit -1
+            "
+        -channel -type string -default stderr -help\
+            "An existing open channel to write to. If value is any of nul, null, /dev/nul
+            the channel output is disabled. This effectively disables inspect as the args
+            are simply passed through in the return to continue the pipeline.
+            " 
+        -showcount -type boolean -default 1 -help\
+            "Display a leading indicator in brackets showing the number of arg values present."
+        -ansi -type integer -default 1 -nocase 1 -choices {0 1 2 VIEW 3 VIEWCODES 4 VIEWSTYLES} -choicelabels {
+            0 "Strip ANSI codes from display
+        of values. The disply output will 
+        still be colourised if -ansibase has
+        not been set to empty string or 
+        [a+ normal]. The stderr or stdout
+        channels may also have an ansi colour.
+        (see 'colour off' or punk::config)"
+            1 "Leave value as is"
+            2 "Display the ANSI codes and
+        other control characters inline
+        with replacement indicators.
+        e.g esc, newline, space, tab"
+            VIEW "Alias for 2"
+            3 "Display as per 2 but with 
+        colourised ANSI replacement codes."
+            VIEWCODES "Alias for 3"
+            4 "Display ANSI and control
+        chars in default colour, but
+        apply the contained ansi to
+        the text portions so they display
+        as they would for -ansi 1" 
+        VIEWSTYLE "Alias for 4"
+        }
+        -ansibase -type ansistring -default {${[a+ brightgreen]}} -help\
+            "Base ansi code(s) that will apply to output written to the chosen -channel.
+            If there are ansi resets in the displayed values - output will revert to this base.
+            Does not affect return value."
+        -- -type none -help\
+            "End of options marker.
+            It is advisable to use this, as data in a pipeline may often begin with -"
+
+        *values -min 0 -max -1
+        arg -type string -optional 1 -multiple 1 -help\
+            "value to display"
+    }
     #pipeline inspect
     #e.g
     #= {a z c} |> inspect -label input_dict |> lsort |> {inspect $data}
     proc inspect {args} {
-        set defaults [list -label "" -limit 20 -channel stderr -showcount 1 -ansi 1]
+        set defaults [list -label "" -limit 20 -channel stderr -showcount 1 -ansi 1 -ansibase [a+ brightgreen]]
         set flags [list]
         set endoptsposn [lsearch $args --] ;#first --  if data expected to contain --, then should always be called with --.  e.g inspect --
         if {$endoptsposn >= 0} {
@@ -7177,24 +7260,28 @@ namespace eval punk {
         }
         foreach {k v} $flags {
             if {$k ni [dict keys $defaults]} {
-                error "inspect: unknown option $k. Known options: [dict keys $defaults].  If data contains flaglike elements, consider calling with end-of-opts marker. e.g inspect --"
+                #error "inspect: unknown option $k. Known options: [dict keys $defaults].  If data contains flaglike elements, consider calling with end-of-opts marker. e.g inspect --"
+                punk::args::get_by_id punk::inspect $args
             }
         }
         set opts [dict merge $defaults $flags]
         # -- --- --- --- ---
-        set label [dict get $opts -label]
-        set channel [dict get $opts -channel]
-        set showcount [dict get $opts -showcount]
+        set label       [dict get $opts -label]
+        set channel     [dict get $opts -channel]
+        set showcount   [dict get $opts -showcount]
         if {[string length $label]} {
             set label "${label}: "
         }
         set limit [dict get $opts -limit]
-        set opt_ansi [dict get $opts -ansi]
+        set opt_ansiraw [dict get $opts -ansi]
+        set opt_ansi [tcl::prefix::match -error "" [list 0 1 2 3 4 view viewcodes viewstyle] [string tolower $opt_ansiraw]]
         switch -- [string tolower $opt_ansi] {
-            0 - 1 - 2 {}
-            view {set opt_ansi 2}
+            0 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 {}
+            view        {set opt_ansi 2}
+            viewcodes   {set opt_ansi 3}
+            viewstyle   {set opt_ansi 4}
             default {
-                error "inspect -ansi 0|1|2|view - received -ansi $opt_ansi"
+                error "inspect -ansi 0|1|2|view|3|viewcodes|4|viewstyle - received -ansi $opt_ansiraw"
             }
         }
         # -- --- --- --- ---
@@ -7248,15 +7335,50 @@ namespace eval punk {
         } else {
             set displaycount ""
         }
-        if {$opt_ansi == 0} {
-            set displayval [punk::ansi::ansistrip $displayval]
-        } elseif {$opt_ansi == 2} {
-            set displayval [ansistring VIEW $displayval]
+
+        set ansibase [dict get $opts -ansibase]
+        if {$ansibase ne ""} {
+            #-ansibase default is hardcoded into punk::args definition 
+            #run a test using any ansi code to see if colour is still enabled
+            if {[a+ red] eq ""} {
+                set ansibase "" ;#colour seems to be disabled
+            }
+        }
+
+        switch -- $opt_ansi {
+            0 {
+                set displayval $ansibase[punk::ansi::ansistrip $displayval]
+            }
+            1 {
+                #val may have ansi - including resets. Pass through ansibase_lines to 
+                if {$ansibase ne ""} {
+                    set displayval [::textblock::ansibase_lines $displayval $ansibase]
+                }
+            }
+            2 {
+                set displayval $ansibase[ansistring VIEW $displayval]
+                if {$ansibase ne ""} {
+                    set displayval [::textblock::ansibase_lines $displayval $ansibase]
+                }
+            }
+            3 {
+                set displayval $ansibase[ansistring VIEWCODE $displayval]
+                if {$ansibase ne ""} {
+                    set displayval [::textblock::ansibase_lines $displayval $ansibase]
+                }
+            }
+            4 {
+                set displayval $ansibase[ansistring VIEWSTYLE $displayval]
+                if {$ansibase ne ""} {
+                    set displayval [::textblock::ansibase_lines $displayval $ansibase]
+                }
+            }
         }
+
         if {![string length $more]} {
-            puts $channel "$displaycount$label[a green bold]$displayval[a]"
+            puts $channel "$displaycount$label$displayval[a]"
         } else {
-            puts $channel "$displaycount$label[a green bold]$displayval[a yellow bold]$more[a]"
+            puts $channel "$displaycount$label$displayval[a yellow bold]$more[a]"
         }
         return $val
     }
diff --git a/src/modules/punk/ansi-999999.0a1.0.tm b/src/modules/punk/ansi-999999.0a1.0.tm
index ba86ced6..39266073 100644
--- a/src/modules/punk/ansi-999999.0a1.0.tm
+++ b/src/modules/punk/ansi-999999.0a1.0.tm
@@ -167,6 +167,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ansi::class {
                         }
                         default {
                             puts stderr "render_to_input_line unexpected argument '$k' usage: ?-dimensions WxH? ?-minus charcount? x"
+                            punk::args::get_by_id "punk::ansi::class::class_ansi render_to_input_line" $args
                         }
                     }
                 }
@@ -2415,6 +2416,7 @@ Brightblack 100   Brightred 101   Brightgreen 102   Brightyellow 103   Brightblu
         *id punk::ansi::a+
         *proc -name "punk::ansi::a+" -help\
             "Returns an ANSI sgr escape sequence based on the list of supplied codes.
+            Unlike punk::ansi::a - it is not prefixed with an ANSI reset.
             "
         *values -min 0 -max -1
     }   [string map [list <choices> [dict keys $SGR_map]] {
@@ -2432,10 +2434,12 @@ Brightblack 100   Brightred 101   Brightgreen 102   Brightyellow 103   Brightblu
             The acceptable values for <termcolour> and <webcolour> can be queried using
             punk::ansi::a? term
             and
-            punk::ansi::a? web"
-
+            punk::ansi::a? web
+            
+            Example to set foreground red and background cyan followed by a reset:
+            set str \"[a+ red Cyan]sample text[a]\"
+            "
     }]]
-
     proc a+ {args} {
         #*** !doctools
         #[call [fun a+] [opt {ansicode...}]]
@@ -7065,13 +7069,12 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ansi::ansistring {
         }
     }
 
-    #inserting into global namespace like this should be kept to a minimum.. but this is considered a core aspect of punk::ansi
-    #todo - document
-    interp alias {} ansistring {} ::punk::ansi::ansistring
 
     #*** !doctools
     #[list_end] [comment {--- end definitions namespace punk::ansi::ta ---}]
 }
+
+
 tcl::namespace::eval punk::ansi::control {
     proc APC {args} {
         return \x1b_[join $args {;}]\x1b\\
@@ -7393,6 +7396,10 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ansi::internal {
     }
 }
 
+#inserting into global namespace like this should be kept to a minimum.. but this is considered a core aspect of punk::ansi
+#todo - document
+interp alias {} ansistring {} ::punk::ansi::ansistring
+
 if {![info exists ::punk::args::register::NAMESPACES]} {
     namespace eval ::punk::args::register {
         set NAMESPACES [list]
diff --git a/src/modules/punk/args-999999.0a1.0.tm b/src/modules/punk/args-999999.0a1.0.tm
index d51a934b..e6497cdf 100644
--- a/src/modules/punk/args-999999.0a1.0.tm
+++ b/src/modules/punk/args-999999.0a1.0.tm
@@ -353,7 +353,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
             }
             set optionspecs [join $normargs \n]
             if {[string first \$\{ $optionspecs] > 0} {
-                set optionspecs [uplevel 1 [list punk::args::lib::tstr -return string -eval 1 $optionspecs]]
+                set optionspecs [uplevel 1 [list punk::args::lib::tstr -return string -eval 1 -allowcommands $optionspecs]]
             }
         } else {
             if {[tcl::dict::exists $argdefcache_unresolved $cache_key]} {
@@ -1262,30 +1262,43 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
         if {$arg_error_isrunning} {
             error "arg_error already running - error in arg_error?\n triggering errmsg: $msg"
         }
-        set arg_error_isrunning 1
 
         if {[llength $args] %2 != 0} {
             error "error in arg_error processing - expected opt/val pairs after msg and spec_dict"
         }
+
+        set arg_error_isrunning 1
+
         set badarg ""
-        set returntype error
+        set returntype table ;#table as string 
+        set as_error 1 ;#usual case is to raise an error
         dict for {k v} $args {
             switch -- $k {
                 -badarg {
                     set badarg $v
                 }
+                -aserror {
+                    if {![string is boolean -strict $v]} {
+                        set arg_error_isrunning 0
+                        error "arg_error invalid value for option -aserror. Received '$v' expected a boolean"
+                    }
+                    set as_error $v
+                }
                 -return {
-                    if {$v ni {error string}} {
-                        error "arg_error invalid value for option -return. Received '$v' expected one of: error string"
+                    if {$v ni {string table tableobject}} {
+                        set arg_error_isrunning 0
+                        error "arg_error invalid value for option -return. Received '$v' expected one of: string table tableobject"
                     }
                     set returntype $v
                 }
                 default {
+                    set arg_error_isrunning 0
                     error "arg_error invalid option $k. Known_options: -badarg -return"
                 }
             }
         }
 
+        set t "" ;#possible oo table object - may be tested for objectiness at the end so needs to exist.
 
         #REVIEW - risk of accidental indefinite recursion if functions used here also use punk::args::get_dict and there is an argument error 
         #e.g list_as_table
@@ -1300,12 +1313,20 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
             #couldn't load textblock package
             #just return the original errmsg without formatting
         }
+        set use_table 0
+        if {$has_textblock && $returntype in {table tableobject}} {
+            set use_table 1
+        }
         set errlines [list] ;#for non-textblock output
         if {[catch  {
-            if {$has_textblock} {
+            if {$use_table} {
                 append errmsg \n
             } else {
-                append errmsg \n "[a+ brightred](layout package textblock is missing)[a]" \n
+                if {($returntype in {table tableobject}) && !$has_textblock} {
+                    append errmsg \n "[a+ brightred](layout package textblock is missing)[a]" \n
+                } else {
+                    append errmsg \n
+                }
             }
             set procname [Dict_getdef $spec_dict proc_info -name ""]
             set prochelp [Dict_getdef $spec_dict proc_info -help ""]
@@ -1333,7 +1354,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
             } else {
                 set docurl_display ""
             }
-            if {$has_textblock} {
+            if {$use_table} {
                 set t [textblock::class::table new [a+ brightyellow]Usage[a]]
                 $t add_column -headers $blank_header_col -minwidth 3 
                 $t add_column -headers $blank_header_col 
@@ -1343,7 +1364,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
             }
             set h 0
             if {$procname ne ""} {
-                if {$has_textblock} {
+                if {$use_table} {
                     $t configure_header $h -colspans {1 4 0 0 0} -values [list PROC/METHOD: $procname_display]
                 } else {
                     lappend errlines "PROC/METHOD: $procname_display"
@@ -1351,7 +1372,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
                 incr h
             }
             if {$prochelp ne ""} {
-                if {$has_textblock} {
+                if {$use_table} {
                     $t configure_header $h -colspans {1 4 0 0 0} -values [list Description: $prochelp_display]
                 } else {
                     lappend errlines "Description: $prochelp_display"
@@ -1362,14 +1383,14 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
                 if {![catch {package require punk::ansi}]} {
                     set docurl [punk::ansi::hyperlink $docurl]
                 }
-                if {$has_textblock} {
+                if {$use_table} {
                     $t configure_header $h -colspans {1 4 0 0 0} -values [list $docname $docurl_display]
                 } else {
                     lappend errlines "$docname $docurl_display"
                 }
                 incr h
             }
-            if {$has_textblock} {
+            if {$use_table} {
                 $t configure_header $h -values {Arg Type Default Multi Help}
             } else {
                 lappend errlines " --ARGUMENTS-- "
@@ -1519,7 +1540,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
                             set numcols [llength $formattedchoices]
                         }
                         if {$numcols > 0} {
-                            if {$has_textblock} {
+                            if {$use_table} {
                                 #risk of recursing 
                                 set choicetable [textblock::list_as_table -show_hseps 1 -show_edge 1 -columns $numcols $formattedchoices]
                                 append help \n[textblock::join -- "    " $choicetable]
@@ -1565,7 +1586,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
                         append typeshow \n "-range [dict get $arginfo -range]"
                     }
 
-                    if {$has_textblock} {
+                    if {$use_table} {
                         $t add_row [list $argshow $typeshow $default $multiple $help]
                         if {$arg eq $badarg} {
                             $t configure_row [expr {[$t row_count]-1}] -ansibase $A_BADARG
@@ -1577,11 +1598,14 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
                 }
             }
 
-            if {$has_textblock} {
+            if {$use_table} {
                 $t configure -show_hseps 0 -show_header 1 -ansibase_body [a+ brightwhite] -ansibase_header [a+ brightyellow] -ansiborder_header [a+ brightyellow] -ansiborder_body [a+ brightyellow]
-                $t configure -maxwidth 80
+                $t configure -maxwidth 80 ;#review
                 append errmsg [$t print]
-                $t destroy
+                if {$returntype ne "tableobject"} {
+                    #returntype of table means just the text of the table
+                    $t destroy
+                }
             } else {
                 append errmsg [join $errlines \n]
             }
@@ -1595,11 +1619,22 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
         }
         set arg_error_isrunning 0
         #add PUNK to the tail end of the more usual -errorcode {TCL WRONGARGS} so we maintain reasonable compat with things looking for TCL WRONGARGS - but also differentiate it. 
-        #Also,we're polite enough in the errorInfo, nothing wrong with a Clint Eastwood style errorCode  ;)
-        if {$returntype eq "error"} {
-            return -code error -errorcode {TCL WRONGARGS PUNK} $errmsg
+        #Also, we're polite enough in the errorInfo, nothing wrong with a Clint Eastwood style errorCode  ;)
+        if {$use_table} {
+            #assert returntype is one of table, tableobject
+            set result $errmsg ;#default if for some reason table couldn't be used
+            if {$returntype eq "tableobject"} {
+                if {[info object isa object $t]} {
+                    set result $t
+                } 
+            }
         } else {
-            return $errmsg
+            set result $errmsg
+        }
+        if {$as_error} {
+            return -code error -errorcode {TCL WRONGARGS PUNK} $result
+        } else {
+            return $result
         }
     }
 
@@ -1609,17 +1644,21 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
         *proc -name punk::args::usage -help\
             "return usage information as a string
             in table form."
+        -return -default table -choices {string table tableobject}
+
         *values -min 0 -max 1
         id  -help\
             "exact id.
             Will usually match the command name"
     }]
-    proc usage {id} {
+    proc usage {args} {
+        lassign [dict values [punk::args::get_by_id punk::args::usage $args]] leaders opts values received
+        set id [dict get $values id]
         set speclist [get_spec $id]
         if {[llength $speclist] == 0} {
             error "punk::args::usage - no such id: $id"
         }
-        arg_error "" [uplevel 1 [list punk::args::definition {*}$speclist]] -return string
+        arg_error "" [uplevel 1 [list punk::args::definition {*}$speclist]] {*}$opts -aserror 0 
     }
 
     lappend PUNKARGS [list {
@@ -2726,7 +2765,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args::lib {
         *id punk::args::lib::tstr
         *proc -name punk::args::lib::tstr -help\
             "A rough equivalent of js template literals"
-        -allowcommands -default -1 -type none -help\
+        -allowcommands -default 0 -type none -help\
             "if -allowcommands is present, placeholder can contain commands e.g {\$\{plaintext0 [lindex $var 0] plaintext2\}}"
         -return        -default list -choices {dict list string args}\
             -choicelabels {
diff --git a/src/modules/punk/args/tclcore-999999.0a1.0.tm b/src/modules/punk/args/tclcore-999999.0a1.0.tm
index 7728f056..83220d1d 100644
--- a/src/modules/punk/args/tclcore-999999.0a1.0.tm
+++ b/src/modules/punk/args/tclcore-999999.0a1.0.tm
@@ -198,12 +198,58 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args::tclcore {
             The handler is invoked when a command called from within the namespace cannot
             be found in the current namespace, the namespace's path nor in the global
             namespace.
-            "
+            When the handler is invoiked, the full invocation line will be appended to
+            the script and the result evaluated in the context of the namespace.
+            The default handler for all namespaces is [a+ italic]::unknown[a].
+            If no argument is given, it returns the handler for the current namespace."
         *values -min 0 -max 1
         script -type script -optional 1 -help\
-            "A well formed list representing a command name and "
+            "A well formed list representing a command name and optional arguments."
     } "*doc -name Manpage: -url [manpage_tcl namespace]" ]
 
+    set I [a+ italic]
+    set NI [a+ noitalic]
+    lappend PUNKARGS [list {
+        *id tcl::process::status
+        *proc -name "Builtin: tcl::process::status" -help\
+            "Returns a dictionary mapping subprocess PIDs to their respective status.
+            if ${$I}pids${$NI} is specified as a list of PIDs then the command
+            only returns the status of the matching subprocesses if they exist, and
+            raises an error otherwise.
+            For active processes, the status is an empty value. For terminated 
+            processes, the status is a list with the following format:
+            {code ?msg errorCode?} 
+            where:
+                ${$I}code${$NI}
+                    is a standard Tcl return code, ie.,
+                    0 for TCL_OK and 1 for TCL_ERROR,
+                ${$I}msg${$NI}
+                    is the human readable error message,
+                ${$I}errorCode${$NI}
+                    uses the same format as the errorCode global variable
+                    Note that msg and errorCode are only present for abnormally 
+                    terminated processes (i.e. those where the code is nonzero).
+                    Under the hood this command calls Tcl_WaitPid with the
+                    WNOHANG flag set for non-blocking behaviour, unless the -wait
+                    switch is set (see below).
+                    
+            "
+        -wait -type none -optional 1 -help\
+            "By default the command returns immediately (the underlying Tcl_WaitPid
+            is called with the WNOHANG flag set) unless this switch is set. if pids
+            is specified as a list of PIDS then the command waits until the status
+            of the matching subprocesses are avaliable. If pids was not specified,
+            this command will wait for all known subprocesses."
+        -- -type none -optional 1 -help\
+            "Marks the end of switches. The argument following this one will be
+            treated as the first arg even if it starts with a -."
+        *values -min 0 -max 1
+        pids -type list -optional 1 -help\
+            "A list of PIDs"
+    } "*doc -name Manpage: -url [manpage_tcl namespace]" ]
+
+
+
     lappend PUNKARGS [list {
         *id lappend
         *proc -name "builtin: lappend" -help\
@@ -613,13 +659,6 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args::tclcore {
         string -type string -optional 0
     }] "*doc -name Manpage: -url [manpage_tcl string]"
 
-    if {![info exists ::punk::args::register::NAMESPACES]} {
-        namespace eval ::punk::args::register {
-            set ::punk::args::register::NAMESPACES [list] ;#use fully qualified so 8.6 doesn't find existing var in global namespace
-        }
-    }
-    lappend ::punk::args::register::NAMESPACES ::punk::args::tclcore
-
     #*** !doctools
     #[subsection {Namespace punk::args::tclcore}]
     #[para] Core API functions for punk::args::tclcore 
@@ -687,6 +726,14 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args::tclcore::lib {
 
 #}
 # ++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++
+
+if {![info exists ::punk::args::register::NAMESPACES]} {
+    namespace eval ::punk::args::register {
+        set ::punk::args::register::NAMESPACES [list] ;#use fully qualified so 8.6 doesn't find existing var in global namespace
+    }
+}
+lappend ::punk::args::register::NAMESPACES ::punk::args::tclcore
+
 ##  Ready   
 package provide punk::args::tclcore [tcl::namespace::eval punk::args::tclcore {
     variable pkg punk::args::tclcore
diff --git a/src/modules/punk/char-999999.0a1.0.tm b/src/modules/punk/char-999999.0a1.0.tm
index e3c42dca..c99d1a35 100644
--- a/src/modules/punk/char-999999.0a1.0.tm
+++ b/src/modules/punk/char-999999.0a1.0.tm
@@ -600,6 +600,48 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::char {
         puts stdout \n
         puts stdout "cursor position immediately after outputing 3 bytes (xyz): $cursorposn"
     }
+    proc test_zalgo {} {
+        #from: https://github.com/jameslanska/unicode-display-width/blob/5e28d94c75e8c421a87199363b85c90dc37125b8/docs/unicode_background.md
+        #see: https://lingojam.com/ZalgoText
+        puts stdout "44 chars long - 9 graphemes - 9 columns wide"
+
+        set str "Ẓ̌á̲l͔̝̞̄̑͌g̖̘̘̔̔͢͞͝o̪̔T̢̙̫̈̍͞e̬͈͕͌̏͑x̺̍ṭ̓̓ͅ"
+
+    }
+
+    proc test_zalgo2 {} {
+
+        # ------------------------
+
+
+
+        set str "Z̸̢͉̣͔̭̪͙̖̳̘͈͍̤̩̟͈͈͕̯̅̏̆̓̌́́͌̿̕ͅą̷̦̤̫̩͕̥̐̎̓́́̂̀͆́̔̄̈́̏̌́̆͜͜͝͠l̴̩̙̺͚̟͇͖͔͕̹̟͌̈́̄̇́̉̋̕̚͜͠͠g̸͇̩͔̺̝̗̥̖̙̑̈́̈́̿̾̌͌͊̈̀͊̑̇̑͌̍̅̌͊͜͠͝ǫ̴̢̧͎͔̞̤̻̱̮̬͕̗̭͍̣̠̳̆̀̋̓͒̾̄͜͝͠͝T̴̛͉̬̋́̈́̈́̓͗̍̏̔̈̋̀͐̓̎̅̚̕͠͝͝ê̵̖̖̈͊̔̓̔̐̓̃͊̋͋̎͂͋̕x̴̡͎͖̼͎̦͎̲̪̘̺̯̲̬̮̥̼̰͌̃͜ͅt̶̛̘͎̰̔͐͌́̈́͊͗͌̅͂̐̆͌̀͂͘"
+
+
+
+
+        # ------------------------
+    }
+
+    proc test_zalgo3 {} {
+
+        # ------------------------
+
+
+
+
+       set str "Ẕ̸̢̼̺̜̰̣̣̖̭̜͓͖̺̥̼̠͙͙̟̥̟̠̤̫͍̠̤̮͚̝̜̙͈̦̙̩̹̙̜̩̦͔͕̈̃̅̇̈́͂̇̽̈́́́́̎͊̂̑̋͆̔̾͋̚͜ͅã̵̛̪̽̎̃͑̒̇͋͂̽̃̍͊̀̈̊̊̔̊̆̈́͗͑͗̽̄̋͗̄͌̑͊͝͝͠ͅl̵̢͇̖͉͖̝̹̜̞͓͎͍͈̞̱̙͙̦̪͔̱̮͈͉̼͎̭̝̯͇͚̺̟̱͙̳̰̙͚͖̝̫͙̎̅̃͆̈́̋̌̔̋̋͗̈́̔̐͆̈́̓̾̄̀́̏́͒̆̌͒̈́̈́̾̏̀͜͝g̸̖͂͋̊͗̈́̓̆̈̋̒͐̕o̶̧̢͓̲̗̠̘͕̦̤̹̗͉̰͔̯͓̭̹̻͔͇̯̜̙̍̂̃̃̀̓͌̒͊̊̋̒̿̿̌͐̄͗̾̕͝T̶̛̳̜̰͍̹̻̫̠̱̼̼̙̆̑̾̾͛́́̿͋͌̎̀̀̽̆͌̽̂̈̇̅̇̃́̿͗̾͒̎͊̑̾͝͠ȩ̸̢̨̛̛̛̭͔͎͇̫͎͈̲̻̙͕͎̣͈̩̺̗͖͙͇͌͐̒̎͐̓́̉́͐̓̐͌̅̊͋͑̈́͗͑̏̕͜͜͝ͅx̸̧̧̛̖̣̥̘͎͎̳̭̙̦̝͖̝̮̱̹̯̺̙̩̯̮͖̻̰͓̰̩͇̥̑͌̊̐̉̏͆̓̑̎̊̓͒̂̄̆͆̀̊̄̈̽͐͛̏͊̓̌͑́̎̈́̍̈́̊͗̉̋͆̿̊͘͜͜͝͝ͅͅͅt̵̡̨̜̘͎̦͚̠̗̺͉̼̠̲̠͙̺̹̗̲̏̈́̂̚͜͜͝ͅ"
+
+
+
+
+
+        # ------------------------
+
+    }
+
+
+
     proc test_farmer {} {
         #an interesting article re grapheme clustering problems in terminals https://mitchellh.com/writing/grapheme-clusters-in-terminals
         #(similar to the problem with grave accent rendering width that the test_grave proc is written for)
@@ -620,17 +662,29 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::char {
         puts stdout "farmer2 with no joiner          codes: \\U0001f9d1\\U001f33e               : $farmer2"
 
         package require punk::console
+        puts stdout \n
         puts stdout "#2--5---9---C---"
         puts -nonewline stdout \033\[2K\033\[1G ;#2K erase line 1G cursor at col1
-        puts -nonewline "${farmer1}";set cursorposn [punk::console::get_cursor_pos]
-        puts stdout \n
-        puts stdout "cursor position immediately after outputing farmer1 (expecting 1 glyph 2 wide)          : $cursorposn"
+        puts -nonewline "${farmer1}";set cursorposn [punk::console::get_cursor_pos_list]
+        puts stdout "\ncursor position immediately after outputing farmer1 (expecting 1 glyph 2 wide)          : cursor at col [lindex $cursorposn 1]"
+        if {[lindex $cursorposn 1] eq "3"} {
+            puts stdout "[a+ green]OK[a]"
+        } else {
+            puts stdout "[a+ red]ERR - expected cursor position to be 3 after emitting farmer1[a]"
+        }
+        puts stdout "----------------"
         puts stdout "#2--5---9---C---"
-        puts -nonewline "${farmer2}";set cursorposn [punk::console::get_cursor_pos]
-        puts stdout \n
-        puts stdout "cursor position immediately after outputing farmer2 (expecting 2 glyphs 4 wide in total): $cursorposn"
+        puts -nonewline "${farmer2}";set cursorposn [punk::console::get_cursor_pos_list]
+        puts stdout "\ncursor position immediately after outputing farmer2 (expecting 2 glyphs 4 wide in total): cursor at col [lindex $cursorposn 1]"
+        if {[lindex $cursorposn 1] eq "5"} {
+            puts stdout "[a+ green]OK[a]"
+        } else {
+            puts stdout "[a+ red]ERR - expected cursor position to be 5 after emitting farmer2[a]"
+        }
+        puts stdout "----------------"
 
-        return [list $farmer1 $farmer2]
+        puts "returning farmer1 - should be single glyph"
+        return $farmer1
     }
 
     #G0 Sets Sequence   G1 Sets Sequence   Meaning
@@ -1916,6 +1970,172 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::char {
     # - tab/vtab?
     # - compare with wcswidth returning -1 for entire string containing such in python,perl
     proc wcswidth {string} {
+        #faster than textutil::wcswidth (at least for string up to a few K in length)
+        #..but - 'scan' is horrible for 400K+ (Tcl evaluation stack has to be reallocated/copied?) 
+        #Tcl initial evaluation stack size is 2000 (? review)
+        #REVIEW - when we cater for grapheme clusters - we can't just split the string at arbitrary points like this!!
+        set chunksize 2000
+        set chunks_required [expr {int(ceil([tcl::string::length $string] / double($chunksize)))}]
+        set width 0
+        set startidx 0
+        set endidx [expr {$startidx + $chunksize -1}]
+        for {set i 0} {$i < $chunks_required} {incr i} {
+            set chunk [tcl::string::range $string $startidx $endidx] 
+
+            set codes [scan $chunk [tcl::string::repeat %c [tcl::string::length $chunk]]]
+            foreach c $codes {
+                if {$c <= 255 && !($c < 31 || $c == 127)} {
+                    #review - non-printing ascii? why does textutil::wcswidth report 1 ??
+                    #todo - compare with python or other lang wcwidth 
+                    incr width 
+                } elseif {$c < 917504 || $c > 917631} {
+                    #TODO - various other joiners and non-printing chars
+                    set w [textutil::wcswidth_char $c]
+                    if {$w < 0} {
+                        return -1
+                    } else {
+                        incr width $w
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+            incr startidx   $chunksize
+            incr endidx     $chunksize
+        }
+        return $width
+    }
+
+
+
+    # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    #test
+    # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    proc grapheme_split_tk {string} {
+        if {![regexp "\[\uFF-\U10FFFF\]" $string]} {
+            #only ascii - no joiners or unicode
+            return [split $string {}]
+        }
+        package require tk
+        set i 0
+        set graphemes [list]
+        while {$i < [tcl::string::length $string]} {
+            set aftercluster [tk::endOfCluster $string $i]
+            lappend graphemes [string range $string $i $aftercluster-1] 
+            set i $aftercluster
+        }
+        return $graphemes
+    }
+    proc wcswidth_clustered {string} {
+        package require tk
+        set width 0
+        set i 0
+        if {![regexp "\[\uFF-\U10FFFF\]" $string]} {
+            return [punk::char::wcswidth_unclustered $string] ;#still use our wcswidth to account for non-printable ascii
+        }
+        while {$i < [tcl::string::length $string]} {
+            set aftercluster [tk::endOfCluster $string $i]
+            set g [string range $string $i $aftercluster-1]
+            if {$aftercluster > ($i + 1)} {
+                #review - proper way to determine screen width (columns occupied) of a cluster??
+                #according to this:
+                #https://lib.rs/crates/unicode-display-width
+                #for each grapheme - if any of the code points in the cluster have an east asian width of 2,
+                #The entire grapheme width is 2 regardless of how many code points constitute the grapheme
+                set gw 1
+                foreach ch [split $g ""] {
+                    if {[punk::char::wcswidth_single $ch] == 2} {
+                        set gw 2
+                        break
+                    }
+                }
+                incr width $gw
+                
+                #if {[string first \u200d $g] >=0} {
+                #    incr width 2 
+                #} else {
+                #    #other joiners???
+                #    incr width [wcswidth_unclustered $g]
+                #}
+            } else {
+                incr width [wcswidth_unclustered $g] 
+            }
+            set i $aftercluster
+        }
+
+        return $width
+    }
+    proc wcswidth_single {char} {
+        scan $c %c dec
+        if {$c <= 255 && !($c < 31 || $c == 127)} {
+            #review - non-printing ascii? why does textutil::wcswidth report 1 ??
+            #todo - compare with python or other lang wcwidth 
+            return 1 
+        } elseif {$c < 917504 || $c > 917631} {
+            #TODO - various other joiners and non-printing chars
+            return [textutil::wcswidth_char $c]
+            #may return -1 - REVIEW
+        }
+        return 0
+    }
+    proc wcswidth_unclustered1 {string} {
+        set width 0
+        foreach c [split $string {}] {
+            scan $c %c dec
+            if {$c <= 255 && !($c < 31 || $c == 127)} {
+                #review - non-printing ascii? why does textutil::wcswidth report 1 ??
+                #todo - compare with python or other lang wcwidth 
+                incr width 
+            } elseif {$c < 917504 || $c > 917631} {
+                #TODO - various other joiners and non-printing chars
+                set w [textutil::wcswidth_char $c]
+                if {$w < 0} {
+                    return -1
+                } else {
+                    incr width $w
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        return $width
+    }
+    #todo - consider disallowing/erroring out when \r \n in string?
+    # - tab/vtab?
+    # - compare with wcswidth returning -1 for entire string containing such in python,perl
+    proc wcswidth_unclustered {string} {
+        #faster than textutil::wcswidth (at least for string up to a few K in length)
+        #..but - 'scan' is horrible for 400K+ (Tcl evaluation stack has to be reallocated/copied?) 
+        #Tcl initial evaluation stack size is 2000 (? review)
+        #we can only split the string at arbitrary points like this because we are specifically dealing with input that has no clusters!.
+        set chunksize 2000
+        set chunks_required [expr {int(ceil([tcl::string::length $string] / double($chunksize)))}]
+        set width 0
+        set startidx 0
+        set endidx [expr {$startidx + $chunksize -1}]
+        for {set i 0} {$i < $chunks_required} {incr i} {
+            set chunk [tcl::string::range $string $startidx $endidx] 
+
+            set codes [scan $chunk [tcl::string::repeat %c [tcl::string::length $chunk]]]
+            foreach c $codes {
+                if {$c <= 255 && !($c < 31 || $c == 127)} {
+                    #review - non-printing ascii? why does textutil::wcswidth report 1 ??
+                    #todo - compare with python or other lang wcwidth 
+                    incr width 
+                } elseif {$c < 917504 || $c > 917631} {
+                    #TODO - various other joiners and non-printing chars
+                    set w [textutil::wcswidth_char $c]
+                    if {$w < 0} {
+                        return -1
+                    } else {
+                        incr width $w
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+            incr startidx   $chunksize
+            incr endidx     $chunksize
+        }
+        return $width
+    }
+    # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+    proc wcswidth0 {string} {
         #faster than textutil::wcswidth (at least for string up to a few K in length)
         #..but - 'scan' is horrible for 400K+ 
         #TODO 
@@ -1943,20 +2163,6 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::char {
         }
         return $width
     }
-    #faster than textutil::wcswidth (at least for string up to a few K in length)
-    proc wcswidth1 {string} {
-        set codes [scan $string [tcl::string::repeat %c [tcl::string::length $string]]]
-        set width 0
-        foreach c $codes {
-            set w [textutil::wcswidth_char $c]
-            if {$w < 0} {
-                return -1
-            } else {
-                incr width $w
-            }
-        }
-        return $width
-    }
     proc wcswidth2 {string} {
         set codes [scan $string [tcl::string::repeat %c [tcl::string::length $string]]]
         set widths [lmap c $codes {textutil::wcswidth_char $c}]
diff --git a/src/modules/punk/console-999999.0a1.0.tm b/src/modules/punk/console-999999.0a1.0.tm
index b52f7381..93668120 100644
--- a/src/modules/punk/console-999999.0a1.0.tm
+++ b/src/modules/punk/console-999999.0a1.0.tm
@@ -875,6 +875,7 @@ namespace eval punk::console {
         }
     }
 
+    punk::args::set_alias punk::console::code_a+ punk::ansi::a+
     proc code_a+ {args} {
         variable ansi_wanted
         if {$ansi_wanted <= 0} {
diff --git a/src/modules/punk/lib-999999.0a1.0.tm b/src/modules/punk/lib-999999.0a1.0.tm
index 242531c8..f84dd0af 100644
--- a/src/modules/punk/lib-999999.0a1.0.tm
+++ b/src/modules/punk/lib-999999.0a1.0.tm
@@ -962,21 +962,6 @@ namespace eval punk::lib {
    
     namespace import ::punk::args::lib::tstr
     
-    #get info about punk nestindex key ie type: list,dict,undetermined
-    proc nestindex_info {args} {
-        set argd [punk::args::get_dict {
-            -parent -default ""
-            nestindex 
-        } $args]
-        set opt_parent      [dict get $argd opts -parent]
-        if {$opt_parent eq ""} {
-            set parent_type undetermined
-        } else {
-            set parent_type [nestindex_info -parent "" $opt_parent] ;#make sure we explicitly set parent of parent to empty so we don't just recurse forever doing nothing  
-        }
-        
-
-    }
 
 
     proc invoke command {
@@ -1127,17 +1112,35 @@ namespace eval punk::lib {
             -keytemplates       -default {\$\{$key\}} -type list -help "list of templates for keys at each level"
             -keysorttype        -default "none" -choices {none dictionary ascii integer real}
             -keysortdirection   -default increasing -choices {increasing decreasing}
+            -debug              -default 0 -type boolean -help\
+                "When enabled, produces some rudimentary debug output on stderr"
             *values -min 1 -max -1
             dictvalue                       -type list -help "dict or list value"
             patterns            -default "*"   -type string -multiple 1 -help "key or key glob pattern"
         }] $args]
+
+        #for punk::lib - we want to reduce pkg dependencies.
+        # - so we won't even use the tcllib debug pkg here 
+        set opt_debug               [dict get $argd opts -debug]
+        if {$opt_debug} {
+            if {[info body debug::showdict] eq ""} {
+                proc ::punk::lib::debug::showdict {args} {
+                    catch {puts stderr "punk::lib::showdict-> [string cat {*}$args]"}
+                }
+            }
+        } else {
+            if {[info body debug::showdict] ne ""} {
+                proc ::punk::lib::debug::showdict {args} {}
+            }
+        }
+
         set opt_sep                 [dict get $argd opts -separator]
         set opt_mismatch_sep        [dict get $argd opts -separator_mismatch]
         set opt_keysorttype         [dict get $argd opts -keysorttype]
         set opt_keysortdirection    [dict get $argd opts -keysortdirection]
         set opt_trimright           [dict get $argd opts -trimright]
         set opt_keytemplates        [dict get $argd opts -keytemplates]
-        puts stderr "---> $opt_keytemplates <---"
+        debug::showdict "keytemplates ---> $opt_keytemplates <---"
         set opt_ansibase_keys       [dict get $argd opts -ansibase_keys]
         set opt_ansibase_values     [dict get $argd opts -ansibase_values]
         set opt_return              [dict get $argd opts -return]
@@ -4112,10 +4115,31 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::lib::system {
         return $incomplete
     }
 
+    #get info about punk nestindex key ie type: list,dict,undetermined
+    # pdict devel 
+    proc nestindex_info {args} {
+        set argd [punk::args::get_dict {
+            -parent -default ""
+            nestindex 
+        } $args]
+        set opt_parent      [dict get $argd opts -parent]
+        if {$opt_parent eq ""} {
+            set parent_type undetermined
+        } else {
+            set parent_type [nestindex_info -parent "" $opt_parent] ;#make sure we explicitly set parent of parent to empty so we don't just recurse forever doing nothing  
+        }
+
+        #??? 
+
+    }
     #*** !doctools
     #[list_end] [comment {--- end definitions namespace punk::lib::system ---}]
 }
 
+tcl::namespace::eval punk::lib::debug {
+    proc showdict {args} {}
+}
+
 if {![info exists ::punk::args::register::NAMESPACES]} {
     namespace eval ::punk::args::register {
         set ::punk::args::register::NAMESPACES [list] ;#use fully qualified so 8.6 doesn't find existing var in global namespace
diff --git a/src/modules/punk/mix/commandset/loadedlib-999999.0a1.0.tm b/src/modules/punk/mix/commandset/loadedlib-999999.0a1.0.tm
index 56cb8f03..3e8781e3 100644
--- a/src/modules/punk/mix/commandset/loadedlib-999999.0a1.0.tm
+++ b/src/modules/punk/mix/commandset/loadedlib-999999.0a1.0.tm
@@ -31,8 +31,9 @@ namespace eval punk::mix::commandset::loadedlib {
         *proc -name "punk::mix::commandset::loadedlib search" -help "search all Tcl libraries available to your local interpreter"
         -return  -type string -default table -choices {table tableobject list lines}
         -present -type integer -default 2 -choices {0 1 2} -choicelabels {absent present both} -help\
-            "(unimplemented) Display only those that are 0:absent 1:present 2:both"
-        -highlight -type boolean -default 1 -help "Highlight which version is present with ansi underline and colour"
+            "(unimplemented) Display only those that are 0:absent 1:present 2:either"
+        -highlight -type boolean -default 1 -help\
+            "Highlight which version is present with ansi underline and colour"
         -refresh -default 0 -type boolean -help "Re-scan the tm and library folders"
         searchstrings -default * -multiple 1 -help\
             "Names to search for, may contain glob chars (* ?) e.g *lib*
diff --git a/src/modules/punk/ns-999999.0a1.0.tm b/src/modules/punk/ns-999999.0a1.0.tm
index 21b5f4ce..0fc59e13 100644
--- a/src/modules/punk/ns-999999.0a1.0.tm
+++ b/src/modules/punk/ns-999999.0a1.0.tm
@@ -1896,6 +1896,10 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ns {
         *id punk::ns::arginfo
         *proc -name punk::ns::arginfo -help\
             "Show usage info for a command"
+        -return -type string -default table -choices {string table tableobject}
+        -- -type none -help\
+            "End of options marker
+            Use this if the command to view begins with a -"
         *values -min 1
         commandpath -help\
             "command (may be alias or ensemble)"
@@ -2050,7 +2054,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ns {
                                     incr i
                                 }
                                 punk::args::definition $argspec
-                                return [punk::args::usage "$origin new"]
+                                return [punk::args::usage {*}$opts "$origin new"]
                             }
                             create {
                                 set constructorinfo [info class constructor $origin]
@@ -2079,7 +2083,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ns {
                                     incr i
                                 }
                                 punk::args::definition $argspec
-                                return [punk::args::usage "$origin create"]
+                                return [punk::args::usage {*}$opts "$origin create"]
                             }
                             destroy {
                                 #review - generally no doc
@@ -2092,7 +2096,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ns {
                                     *values -min 0 -max 0
                                 }]
                                 punk::args::definition $argspec
-                                return [punk::args::usage "$origin destroy"]
+                                return [punk::args::usage {*}$opts "$origin destroy"]
                             }
                             default {
                                 #use info object call <obj> <method> to resolve callchain 
@@ -2112,7 +2116,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ns {
                                                 set id "[string trimleft $origin :] $c1" ;# "<object> <method>"
                                                 if {[info commands ::punk::args::id_exists] ne ""} {
                                                     if {[punk::args::id_exists $id]} {
-                                                        return [uplevel 1 [list punk::args::usage $id]]
+                                                        return [uplevel 1 [list punk::args::usage {*}$opts $id]]
                                                     }
                                                 }
                                                 set def [::info object definition $origin $c1]
@@ -2120,7 +2124,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ns {
                                                 set id "[string trimleft $location :] $c1" ;# "<class> <method>"
                                                 if {[info commands ::punk::args::id_exists] ne ""} {
                                                     if {[punk::args::id_exists $id]} {
-                                                        return [uplevel 1 [list punk::args::usage $id]]
+                                                        return [uplevel 1 [list punk::args::usage {*}$opts $id]]
                                                     }
                                                 }
                                                 set def [::info class definition $location $c1]
@@ -2162,7 +2166,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ns {
                                         incr i
                                     }
                                     punk::args::definition $argspec
-                                    return [punk::args::usage "$location $c1"]
+                                    return [punk::args::usage {*}$opts "$location $c1"]
                                 } else {
                                     return "unable to resolve $origin method $c1"
                                 }
@@ -2216,7 +2220,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ns {
                 }]
                 append argspec \n $vline
                 punk::args::definition $argspec
-                return [punk::args::usage $origin]
+                return [punk::args::usage {*}$opts $origin]
             }
             privateObject {
                 return "Command is a privateObject - no info currently available"
@@ -2327,7 +2331,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ns {
             }]
             append argspec \n $vline
             punk::args::definition $argspec
-            return [punk::args::usage $origin]
+            return [punk::args::usage {*}$opts $origin]
         }
 
         #check for tepam help
@@ -2363,7 +2367,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ns {
         set id [string trimleft $origin :]
         if {[info commands ::punk::args::id_exists] ne ""} {
             if {[punk::args::id_exists $id]} {
-                return [uplevel 1 [list punk::args::usage $id]]
+                return [uplevel 1 [list punk::args::usage {*}$opts $id]]
             }
         }
         set origin_ns [nsprefix $origin]
diff --git a/src/modules/punk/repl-0.1.tm b/src/modules/punk/repl-0.1.tm
index 6ffc6842..70c34c4a 100644
--- a/src/modules/punk/repl-0.1.tm
+++ b/src/modules/punk/repl-0.1.tm
@@ -2584,7 +2584,8 @@ namespace eval repl {
         set codethread_cond [thread::cond create] ;#repl::codethread_cond held by parent(repl) vs punk::repl::codethread::replthread_cond held by child(codethread)
         set codethread_mutex [thread::mutex create]
 
-        thread::send $codethread [string map [list   %args%         [list $opts]\
+
+        set init_script [string map [list   %args%         [list $opts]\
                                                      %argv0%        [list $::argv0]\
                                                      %argv%         [list $::argv]\
                                                      %argc%         [list $::argc]\
@@ -3097,8 +3098,20 @@ namespace eval repl {
             #puts stderr "returning threadid"
             #puts stderr [thread::id]
 
-            return [thread::id]
+            thread::id
         }]
+
+        #thread::send $codethread $init_script
+        if {![catch {
+            thread::send $codethread $init_script result ;#use a result var when wrapping in a catch - without it we can get a return code of 2 (TCL_RETURN)
+        } errMsg]} {
+            return $result
+        } else {
+            puts stderr "repl::init Failed during thread::send"
+            puts stderr "$::errorInfo"
+            thread::release $codethread
+            error $errMsg
+        }
     }
     #init - don't auto init - require init with possible options e.g -safe 
 }
diff --git a/src/modules/punk/repl/codethread-999999.0a1.0.tm b/src/modules/punk/repl/codethread-999999.0a1.0.tm
index 07c8509b..dd01a40d 100644
--- a/src/modules/punk/repl/codethread-999999.0a1.0.tm
+++ b/src/modules/punk/repl/codethread-999999.0a1.0.tm
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::repl::codethread {
                 if {[llength $::codeinterp::run_command_cache] > 2000} {
                     set ::codeinterp::run_command_cache [lrange $::codeinterp::run_command_cache 1750 end][unset ::codeinterp::run_command_cache]
                 }
-                if {[string first ":::" $::punk::ns::ns_current]} {
+                if {[string first ":::" $::punk::ns::ns_current] >= 0} {
                     #support for browsing 'odd' (inadvisable) namespaces
                     #don't use 'namespace exists' - will conflate ::test::x with ::test:::x
                     #if {$::punk::ns::ns_current in [namespace children  [punk::ns::nsprefix $::punk::ns::ns_current]} {
diff --git a/src/modules/textblock-999999.0a1.0.tm b/src/modules/textblock-999999.0a1.0.tm
index 8dbc9644..e1d69015 100644
--- a/src/modules/textblock-999999.0a1.0.tm
+++ b/src/modules/textblock-999999.0a1.0.tm
@@ -299,6 +299,9 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
         #It does however affect all ensemble commands - so even 'dict get/set' etc won't be as efficient in a safe interp.
 
         #e.g $t configure -framemap_body [table_edge_map " "]
+
+        # -- --- --- --- ---
+        #unused?
         proc table_edge_map {char} {
             variable table_edge_parts
             set map [list]
@@ -335,6 +338,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
             }
             return $map
         }
+        # -- --- --- --- ---
 
         if {[tcl::info::commands [tcl::namespace::current]::table] eq ""} {
             #*** !doctools
@@ -374,6 +378,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                 variable o_columndefs
                 variable o_columndata
                 variable o_columnstates
+                variable o_headerdefs
                 variable o_headerstates
 
                 variable o_rowdefs
@@ -432,6 +437,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                     set o_columndefs    [tcl::dict::create]
                     set o_columndata    [tcl::dict::create] ;#we store data by column even though it is often added row by row
                     set o_columnstates  [tcl::dict::create] ;#store the maxwidthbodyseen etc as we add rows and maxwidthheaderseen etc as we add headers - it is needed often and expensive to calculate repeatedly
+                    set o_headerdefs    [tcl::dict::create] ;#by header-row
                     set o_headerstates  [tcl::dict::create]
                     set o_rowdefs       [tcl::dict::create] ;#user requested row data e.g -minheight -maxheight
                     set o_rowstates     [tcl::dict::create] ;#actual row data such as -minheight and -maxheight detected from supplied row data
@@ -439,12 +445,14 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                     set TSUB \uF111 ;#should be BMP PUA code to show as either replacement char or nerdfont glyph. See FSUB for comments regarding choices.
                     set o_calculated_column_widths [list]
                     set o_column_width_algorithm "span"
-                    set header_defaults [tcl::dict::create\
+                    set o_opts_header_defaults [tcl::dict::create\
                         -colspans {}\
                         -values {}\
                         -ansibase {}\
+                        -ansireset "\x1b\[m"\
+                        -minheight 1\
+                        -maxheight ""\
                     ]
-                    set o_opts_header_defaults $header_defaults
                 }
 
                 method width_algorithm {{alg ""}} {
@@ -1107,10 +1115,18 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                                 }
                             }
                         }
-                        #args checked - ok to update headerstates  and columndefs and columnstates
+                        #args checked - ok to update headerstates, headerdefs  and columndefs and columnstates
                         tcl::dict::set o_columndefs $cidx $checked_opts
-
                         set o_headerstates $hstates 
+                        dict for {hidx hstate} $hstates {
+                            #configure_header
+                            if {![dict exists $o_headerdefs $hidx]} {
+                                #remove calculated members  -values -colspans
+                                set hdefaults [dict remove $o_opts_header_defaults -values -colspans]
+                                dict set o_headerdefs $hidx $hdefaults 
+                            }
+                        }
+
                         tcl::dict::set o_columnstates $cidx $colstate
 
                         if {$args_got_headers} {
@@ -1267,11 +1283,10 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                     return $hcolspans
                 }
 
-                #should be configure_headerrow ?
                 method configure_header {index_expression args} {
                     #*** !doctools
                     #[call class::table [method configure_header]]
-                    #[para] - undocumented
+                    #[para] - configure header row-wise 
 
                     #the header data being configured or returned here is mostly derived from the column defs and if necessary written to the column defs.
                     #It can also be set column by column - but it is much easier (especially for colspans) to configure them on a header-row basis
@@ -1279,7 +1294,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                     set num_headers [my header_count_calc]
                     set hidx [lindex [tcl::dict::keys $o_headerstates] $index_expression]
                     if {$hidx eq ""} {
-                        error "textblock::table::configure_header - no row defined at index '$hidx'."
+                        error "textblock::table::configure_header - no header row defined at index '$index_expression'."
                     }
                     if {$hidx > $num_headers -1} {
                         #assert - shouldn't happen
@@ -1298,6 +1313,14 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                             lappend header_row_items $relevant_header ;#may be empty string because column had nothing at that index, or may be empty string stored in that column. We don't differentiate. 
                         }
                         tcl::dict::set result -values $header_row_items 
+
+                        #review - ensure always a headerdef record for each header?
+                        if {[tcl::dict::exists $o_headerdefs $hidx]} {
+                            set result [tcl::dict::merge $result [tcl::dict::get $o_headerdefs $hidx]]
+                        } else {
+                            #warn for now
+                            puts stderr "no headerdef record for header $hidx"
+                        }
                         return $result
                     }
                     if {[llength $args] == 1} {
@@ -1328,7 +1351,8 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                                     set colspans_by_header [my header_colspans] 
                                     set result [tcl::dict::create]
                                     set val [tcl::dict::get $colspans_by_header $hidx]
-                                    set returndict [tcl::dict::create option $k value $val ansireset "\x1b\[m"]
+                                    #ansireset not required
+                                    set returndict [tcl::dict::create option $k value $val]
                                 }
                                 -ansibase {
                                     set val ???
@@ -1369,8 +1393,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                                         lappend header_ansibase_items $code
                                     }
                                 }
-                                set header_ansibase [punk::ansi::codetype::sgr_merge_singles $row_ansibase_items]
-                                error "sorry - -ansibase not yet implemented for header rows"
+                                set header_ansibase [punk::ansi::codetype::sgr_merge_singles $header_ansibase_items]
                                 lappend checked_opts $k $header_ansibase
                             }
                             -ansireset {
@@ -1472,6 +1495,10 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                     #safe jumptable test
                     #dict for {k v} $checked_opts {}
                     #foreach {k v} $checked_opts {}
+
+                    # headerdefs excludes -values and -colspans
+                    set update_hdefs [tcl::dict::get $o_headerdefs $hidx]
+
                     tcl::dict::for {k v} $checked_opts {
                         switch -- $k {
                             -values {
@@ -1538,8 +1565,28 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                                     incr c
                                 }
                             }
+                            default {
+                                dict set update_hdefs $k $v
+                            }
                         }
                     }
+                    set opt_minh [tcl::dict::get $update_hdefs -minheight]
+                    set opt_maxh [tcl::dict::get $update_hdefs -maxheight]
+
+                    #todo - allow zero values to hide/collapse
+                    # - see also configure_row
+                    if {![tcl::string::is integer $opt_minh] || ($opt_maxh ne "" && ![tcl::string::is integer -strict $opt_maxh])} {
+                        error "[tcl::namespace::current]::table::configure_header error -minheight '$opt_minh' and -maxheight '$opt_maxh' must be integers greater than or equal to 1 (for now)"
+                    }
+                    if {$opt_minh < 1 || ($opt_maxh ne "" && $opt_maxh < 1)} {
+                        error "[tcl::namespace::current]::table::configure_header error -minheight '$opt_minh' and -maxheight '$opt_maxh' must both be 1 or greater (for now)"
+                    }
+                    if {$opt_maxh ne "" && $opt_maxh < $opt_minh} {
+                        error "[tcl::namespace::current]::table::configure_header error -maxheight '$opt_maxh' must greater than -minheight '$opt_minh'"
+                    }
+
+                    #set o_headerstate $hidx -minheight? -maxheight? ???
+                    tcl::dict::set o_headerdefs $hidx $update_hdefs 
                 }
 
                 method add_row {valuelist args} {
@@ -2050,7 +2097,8 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                         foreach header $header_list {
                             set headerspans [tcl::dict::get $all_colspans $hrow]
                             set this_span [lindex $headerspans $cidx]
-                            set hval $ansibase_header$header ;#no reset
+                            #set hval $ansibase_header$header ;#no reset
+                            set hval $header
                             set rowh [my header_height $hrow]
 
                             if {$hrow == 0} {
@@ -2317,7 +2365,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                                     set h_lines [lrepeat $rowh $bline]
                                     set hcell_blank [::join $h_lines \n]
                                     # -usecache 1 ok
-                                    #frame borders will never display - so use the simplest frametype and don't apply any ansi
+                                    #frame borders will never display - so use the simplest frametype and don't apply any ansi 
                                     #puts "===>zerospan hlims: $hlims"
                                     set header_frame [textblock::frame -checkargs 0 -ellipsis 0 -width [expr {$padwidth+2}] -type ascii\
                                         -boxlimits $hlims -boxmap $framesub_map  $hcell_blank\
@@ -2589,8 +2637,8 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                         }
                     }
 
-                    set ansibase_body   [tcl::dict::get $o_opts_table -ansibase_body]
-                    set ansibase_header [tcl::dict::get $o_opts_table -ansibase_header]
+                    #set ansibase_body   [tcl::dict::get $o_opts_table -ansibase_body]
+                    #set ansibase_header [tcl::dict::get $o_opts_table -ansibase_header]
 
                     #set header_underlay $ansibase_header$cell_line_blank
 
@@ -2613,7 +2661,35 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                     set showing_vseps [my Showing_vseps]
                     for {set hrow 0} {$hrow < $num_header_rows} {incr hrow} {
                         set hdr [lindex $headerlist $hrow]
-                        set header_maxdataheight [my header_height $hrow]  ;#from cached headerstates
+                        #jjj
+                        set header_maxdataheight   [tcl::dict::get $o_headerstates $hrow maxheightseen]
+                        #set header_maxdataheight [my header_height $hrow]  ;#from cached headerstates
+                        set headerdefminh   [tcl::dict::get $o_headerdefs $hrow -minheight]
+                        set headerdefmaxh   [tcl::dict::get $o_headerdefs $hrow -maxheight]
+                        if {"$headerdefminh$headerdefmaxh" ne "" && $headerdefminh eq $headerdefmaxh} {
+                            set headerh $headerdefminh ;#exact height defined for the row
+                        } else {
+                            if {$headerdefminh eq ""} {
+                                if {$headerdefmaxh eq ""} {
+                                    #both defs empty
+                                    set headerh $header_maxdataheight
+                                } else {
+                                    set headerh [expr {min(1,$headerdefmaxh,$header_maxdataheight)}]
+                                }
+                            } else {
+                                if {$headerdefmaxh eq ""} {
+                                    set headerh [expr {max($headerdefminh,$header_maxdataheight)}]
+                                } else {
+                                    if {$header_maxdataheight < $headerdefminh} {
+                                        set headerh $headerdefminh
+                                    } else {
+                                        set headerh [expr {max($headerdefminh,$header_maxdataheight)}]
+                                    }
+                                }
+                            }
+                        }
+
+
                         set headerrow_colspans [tcl::dict::get $all_colspans $hrow]
                         set this_span [lindex $headerrow_colspans $cidx] 
 
@@ -2654,8 +2730,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                         set rowdefminh    [tcl::dict::get $o_rowdefs $r -minheight]
                         set rowdefmaxh    [tcl::dict::get $o_rowdefs $r -maxheight]
                         if {"$rowdefminh$rowdefmaxh" ne "" && $rowdefminh eq $rowdefmaxh} { 
-                            #an exact height is defined for the row
-                            set rowh $rowdefminh
+                            set rowh $rowdefminh ;#an exact height is defined for the row
                         } else {
                             if {$rowdefminh eq ""} {
                                 if {$rowdefmaxh eq ""} {
@@ -2814,6 +2889,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                         $t destroy
                     }
                     puts stdout "columnstates: $o_columnstates"
+                    puts stdout "headerdefs:   $o_headerdefs"
                     puts stdout "headerstates: $o_headerstates"
                     tcl::dict::for {k coldef} $o_columndefs {
                         if {[tcl::dict::exists $o_columndata $k]} {
@@ -4205,6 +4281,68 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
         return $t
     }
 
+    proc bookend_lines {block start {end "\x1b\[m"}} {
+        set out "" 
+        foreach ln [split $block \n] {
+            append out $start $ln $end \n
+        }
+        return [string range $out 0 end-1]
+    }
+    proc ansibase_lines {block {newprefix ""}} {
+        set base "" 
+        set out ""
+        if {$newprefix eq ""} {
+            foreach ln [split $block \n] {
+                set parts [punk::ansi::ta::split_codes $ln]
+                if {[lindex $parts 0] eq ""} {
+                    if {[lindex $parts 1] ne "" && ![punk::ansi::codetype::is_sgr_reset [lindex $parts 1]]} {
+                        set base [lindex $parts 1]
+                        append out $base
+                    } else {
+                        append out $base
+                    }
+                } else {
+                    #leading plaintext - maintain our base
+                    append out $base [lindex $parts 0] [lindex $parts 1]
+                }
+
+                set code_idx 3
+                foreach {pt code} [lrange $parts 2 end] {
+                    if {[punk::ansi::codetype::is_sgr_reset $code]} {
+                        set parts [linsert $parts $code_idx+1 $base] 
+                    }
+                    incr code_idx 2
+                }
+                append out {*}[lrange $parts 2 end] \n
+            }
+            return [string range $out 0 end-1]
+        } else {
+            set base $newprefix
+            foreach ln [split $block \n] {
+                set parts [punk::ansi::ta::split_codes $ln]
+                set code_idx 1
+                set offset 0
+                foreach {pt code} $parts {
+                    if {$code_idx == 1} {
+                        #first pt & code
+                        if {$pt ne ""} {
+                            #leading plaintext
+                            set parts [linsert $parts 0 $base]
+                            incr offset
+                        }
+                    }
+                    if {[punk::ansi::codetype::is_sgr_reset $code]} {
+                        set parts [linsert $parts [expr {$code_idx+1+$offset}] $base]
+                        incr offset
+                    }
+                    incr code_idx 2
+                } 
+                append out {*}$parts \n
+            }
+            return [string range $out 0 end-1]
+        }
+    }
+
     set FRAMETYPES  [textblock::frametypes]
     punk::args::definition [punk::lib::tstr -return string {
         *id textblock::list_as_table
@@ -4606,12 +4744,22 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
         return [punk::char::ansifreestring_width $tl] 
     }
     #uses tcl's tcl::string::length on each line. Length will include chars in ansi codes etc - this is not a 'width' determining function.
-    proc string_length_line_max textblock {
-        tcl::mathfunc::max {*}[lmap v [split $textblock \n] {tcl::string::length $v}]
+    proc string_length_line_max {textblock} {
+        #tcl::mathfunc::max {*}[lmap v [split $textblock \n] {tcl::string::length $v}]
+        set max 0
+        foreach ln [split $textblock \n] {
+            if {[tcl::string::length $ln] > $max} {set max [tcl::string::length $ln]}
+        }
+        return $max
     }
+    #*slightly* slower
+    #proc string_length_line_max {textblock} {
+    #    tcl::mathfunc::max {*}[lmap v [split $textblock \n] {tcl::string::length $v}]
+    #}
     proc string_length_line_min textblock {
         tcl::mathfunc::min {*}[lmap v [split $textblock \n] {tcl::string::length $v}]
     }
+
     proc height {textblock} {
         #This is the height as it will/would-be rendered - not the number of input lines purely in terms of le
         #empty string still has height 1 (at least for left-right/right-left languages) 
@@ -4652,6 +4800,45 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
 
         return [tcl::dict::create width $width height $height] ;#maintain order in 'image processing' standard width then height - caller may use lassign [tcl::dict::values [blocksize <data>]] width height
     }
+    proc size2 {textblock} {
+        if {$textblock eq ""} {
+            return [tcl::dict::create width 0 height 1] ;#no such thing as zero-height block - for consistency with non-empty strings having no line-endings
+        }
+        #strangely - tcl::string::last (windows tcl8.7 anway) is faster than tcl::string::first for large strings when the needle not in the haystack
+        if {[tcl::string::last \t $textblock] >= 0} {
+            if {[tcl::info::exists punk::console::tabwidth]} {
+                set tw $::punk::console::tabwidth
+            } else {
+                set tw 8
+            }
+            set textblock [textutil::tabify::untabify2 $textblock $tw]
+        }
+        #ansistripraw on entire block in one go rather than line by line - result should be the same - review - make tests
+        if {[string length $textblock] > 1 && [punk::ansi::ta::detect $textblock]} {
+            set textblock [punk::ansi::ansistripraw $textblock]
+        }
+        if {[tcl::string::last \n $textblock] >= 0} {
+            #set width [tcl::mathfunc::max {*}[lmap v [punk::lib::lines_as_list -- $textblock] {::punk::char::ansifreestring_width $v}]]
+            set lines [split $textblock \n]
+            set num_le [expr {[llength $lines]-1}]
+            #set width [tcl::mathfunc::max {*}[lmap v $lines {::punk::char::ansifreestring_width $v}]]
+            set width 0
+            foreach ln $lines {
+                set w [::punk::char::ansifreestring_width $ln]
+                if {$w > $width} {
+                    set width $w
+                }
+            }
+        } else {
+            set num_le 0
+            set width [punk::char::ansifreestring_width $textblock] 
+        }
+        #set num_le [expr {[tcl::string::length $textblock]-[tcl::string::length [tcl::string::map [list \n {} \v {}] $textblock]]}] ;#faster than splitting into single-char list
+        #our concept of block-height is likely to be different to other line-counting mechanisms
+        set height [expr {$num_le + 1}] ;# one line if no le - 2 if there is one trailing le even if no data follows le
+
+        return [tcl::dict::create width $width height $height] ;#maintain order in 'image processing' standard width then height - caller may use lassign [tcl::dict::values [blocksize <data>]] width height
+    }
     proc size_as_opts {textblock} {
         set sz [size $textblock]
         return [dict create -width [dict get $sz width] -height [dict get $sz height]]
diff --git a/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.project-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/overtype-1.6.5.tm b/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.project-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/overtype-1.6.5.tm
index 3142e1f3..f0e34919 100644
--- a/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.project-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/overtype-1.6.5.tm
+++ b/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.project-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/overtype-1.6.5.tm
@@ -729,7 +729,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval overtype {
                                             -width          [tcl::dict::get $vtstate renderwidth]\
                                             -insert_mode    [tcl::dict::get $vtstate insert_mode]\
                                             -autowrap_mode  [tcl::dict::get $vtstate autowrap_mode]\
-                                            -expand_right [tcl::dict::get $opts -opt_expand_right]\
+                                            -expand_right   [tcl::dict::get $opts -expand_right]\
                                             ""\
                                             $overflow_right\
                                         ]
@@ -1366,7 +1366,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval overtype {
 
             if {$overflowlength > 0} {
                 #overlay line wider or equal
-                #review - we still expand_right for centred for now.. possibly should expand_both with ellipsis each end?
+                #review - we still expand_right for centred for now.. possibly should do something like -expand_leftright with ellipsis each end?
                 set rinfo [renderline -info 1 -insert_mode 0 -transparent $opt_transparent -expand_right [tcl::dict::get $opts -overflow] -exposed1 $opt_exposed1 -exposed2 $opt_exposed2 $undertext $overtext]
                 set rendered        [tcl::dict::get $rinfo result]
                 set overflow_right  [tcl::dict::get $rinfo overflow_right]
@@ -1771,7 +1771,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval overtype {
     #-returnextra enables returning of overflow and length
     #review - use punk::ansi::ta::detect to short-circuit processing and do simpler string calcs as an optimisation?
     #review - DECSWL/DECDWL double width line codes - very difficult/impossible to align and compose with other elements
-    #(could render it by faking it with sixels and a lot of work - find/make a sixel font (converter?) and ensure it's exactly 2 cols per char?
+    #(could render it by faking it with sixels and a lot of work - find/make a sixel font and ensure it's exactly 2 cols per char?
     # This would probably be impractical to support for different fonts)
     #todo - review transparency issues with single/double width characters
     #bidi - need a base direction and concept of directional runs for RTL vs LTR - may be best handled at another layer?
@@ -2815,6 +2815,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval overtype {
                         \x1b\[<     1006\
                         \x1b\[      7CSI\
                         \x1bP       7DCS\
+                        \x90        8DCS\
                         \x9b        8CSI\
                         \x1b\]      7OSC\
                         \x9d        8OSC\
@@ -2836,6 +2837,10 @@ tcl::namespace::eval overtype {
                             #Device Control String  https://invisible-island.net/xterm/ctlseqs/ctlseqs.html#h4-Controls-beginning-with-ESC:ESC-F.C74
                             set codenorm [tcl::string::cat $leadernorm [tcl::string::range $code 2 end]]
                         }
+                        8DCS {
+                            #8-bit Device Control String
+                            set codenorm [tcl::string::cat $leadernorm [tcl::string::range $code 1 end]]
+                        }
                         7ESC {
                             set codenorm [tcl::string::cat $leadernorm [tcl::string::range $code 1 end]]
                         }
@@ -3265,6 +3270,17 @@ tcl::namespace::eval overtype {
                                     puts stderr "overtype::renderline DL -  Delete Line - not implemented [ansistring VIEW -lf 1 -vt 1 -nul 1 $code]"
 
                                 }
+                                T {
+                                    #CSI Pn T - SD Pan Up (empty lines introduced at top)
+                                    #CSI Pn+T - kitty extension (lines at top come from scrollback buffer)
+                                    #Pn new lines appear at top of the display, Pn old lines disappear at the bottom of the display
+                                    if {$param eq "" || $param eq "0"} {set param 1} 
+                                    if {[string index $param end] eq "+"} {
+                                        puts stderr "overtype::renderline CSI Pn + T - kitty Pan Up - not implemented [ansistring VIEW -lf 1 -vt 1 -nul 1 $code]"
+                                    } else {
+                                        puts stderr "overtype::renderline CSI Pn T - SD Pan Up - not implemented [ansistring VIEW -lf 1 -vt 1 -nul 1 $code]"
+                                    }
+                                }
                                 X {
                                     puts stderr "overtype::renderline X ECH ERASE CHARACTER - $param"
                                     #ECH - erase character
@@ -3862,9 +3878,14 @@ tcl::namespace::eval overtype {
                             }
 
                         }
-                        7DCS {
+                        7DCS - 8DCS {
                             puts stderr "overtype::renderline DCS - DEVICE CONTROL STRING command UNIMPLEMENTED. code [ansistring VIEW -lf 1 -vt 1 -nul 1 $code]"
-                            #
+                            #ST (string terminator) \x9c or \x1b\\ 
+                            if {[tcl::string::index $codenorm end] eq "\x9c"} {
+                                set code_content [tcl::string::range $codenorm 4 end-1] ;#ST is 8-bit 0x9c 
+                            } else {
+                                set code_content [tcl::string::range $codenorm 4 end-2] ;#ST is \x1b\\
+                            }
 
                         }
                         7OSC - 8OSC {
@@ -3934,6 +3955,12 @@ tcl::namespace::eval overtype {
                                     #tektronix cursor color
                                     puts stderr "overtype::renderline OSC 18 - set tektronix cursor color unimplemented. code [ansistring VIEW -lf 1 -vt 1 -nul 1 $code]"
                                 }
+                                99 {
+                                    #kitty desktop notifications
+                                    #https://sw.kovidgoyal.net/kitty/desktop-notifications/
+                                    #<OSC> 99 ; metadata ; payload <terminator>
+                                    puts stderr "overtype::renderline OSC 99 kitty desktop notification unimplemented. code [ansistring VIEW -lf 1 -vt 1 -nul 1 $code]"
+                                }
                                 104 {
                                     #reset colour palette
                                     #we want to do it for the current rendering context only (vvt)  - not just pass through to underlying vt
@@ -3942,6 +3969,13 @@ tcl::namespace::eval overtype {
                                     set instruction [list reset_colour_palette]
                                     break
                                 }
+                                1337 {
+                                    #iterm2 graphics and file transfer 
+                                    puts stderr "overtype::renderline OSC 1337 iterm2 graphics/file_transfer unimplemented. 1st 100 chars of code [ansistring VIEW -lf 1 -vt 1 -nul 1 [string range $code 0 99]]"
+                                }
+                                5113 {
+                                    puts stderr "overtype::renderline OSC 5113 kitty file transfer unimplemented. 1st 100 chars of code [ansistring VIEW -lf 1 -vt 1 -nul 1 [string range $code 0 99]]"
+                                }
                                 default {
                                     puts stderr "overtype::renderline OSC - UNIMPLEMENTED. code [ansistring VIEW -lf 1 -vt 1 -nul 1 $code]"
                                 }
diff --git a/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.project-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk-0.1.tm b/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.project-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk-0.1.tm
index 0ca26f39..9440ae9c 100644
--- a/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.project-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk-0.1.tm
+++ b/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.project-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk-0.1.tm
@@ -101,12 +101,15 @@ set punk_testd2 [dict create \
        ] \
 ]
 
-#impolitely cooperative withe punk repl - todo - tone it down.
+#impolitely cooperative with punk repl - todo - tone it down.
 #namespace eval ::punk::repl::codethread {
 #    variable running 0
 #}
-package require punk::lib
+package require punk::lib ;# subdependency punk::args
 package require punk::ansi
+if {![llength [info commands ::ansistring]]} {
+    namespace import punk::ansi::ansistring
+}
 #require aliascore after punk::lib & punk::ansi are loaded
 package require punk::aliascore ;#mostly punk::lib aliases
 punk::aliascore::init
@@ -114,9 +117,6 @@ punk::aliascore::init
 package require punk::repl::codethread 
 package require punk::config
 #package require textblock
-if {![llength [info commands ::ansistring]]} {
-    namespace import punk::ansi::ansistring
-}
 package require punk::console
 package require punk::ns
 package require punk::winpath ;# for windows paths - but has functions that can be called on unix systems
@@ -862,6 +862,8 @@ namespace eval punk {
                     }
                 }
                 #? {
+                    #review - compare to %# ?????
+                    #seems to be unimplemented ?
                     set assigned [string length $leveldata]
                     set already_assigned 1
                 }
@@ -7149,12 +7151,93 @@ namespace eval punk {
         dict filter $result value {?*}
     }
 
-
+    punk::args::definition {
+        *id punk::inspect
+        *proc -name punk::inspect -help\
+            "Function to display values - used pimarily in a punk pipeline.
+        The raw value arguments (not options) are always returned to pass
+        forward in the pipeline.
+        (pipeline data inserted at end of each |...> segment is passed as single item unless
+        inserted with an expanding insertion specifier such as .=>*  )
+        e.g1:
+        .=      list a b c              |v1,/1-end,/0>\\    
+        .=>*    inspect -label i1 --    |>\\    
+        .=v1>   inspect -label i2 --    |>\\   
+                string toupper
+        (3) i1: {a b c} {b c} a
+        (1) i2: a b c
+
+        - A B C
+        "
+        -label -type string -default "" -help\
+            "An optional label to help distinguish output when multiple
+            inspect statements are in a pipeline. This appears after the
+            bracketed count indicating number of values supplied.
+            e.g (2) MYLABEL: val1 val2
+            The label can include ANSI codes.
+            e.g
+            inspect -label [a+ red]mylabel -- val1 val2 val3 
+            "
+        -limit -type int -default 20 -help\
+            "When multiple values are passed to inspect - limit the number
+            of elements displayed in -channel output.
+            When truncation has occured an elipsis indication (...) will be appended.
+            e.g
+            .= lseq 20 to 50 by 3 |> .=>* inspect -limit 4 -- |> .=>* tcl::mathop::+
+            (11) 20 23 26 29...
+
+            - 385
+
+            For no limit - use -limit -1
+            "
+        -channel -type string -default stderr -help\
+            "An existing open channel to write to. If value is any of nul, null, /dev/nul
+            the channel output is disabled. This effectively disables inspect as the args
+            are simply passed through in the return to continue the pipeline.
+            " 
+        -showcount -type boolean -default 1 -help\
+            "Display a leading indicator in brackets showing the number of arg values present."
+        -ansi -type integer -default 1 -nocase 1 -choices {0 1 2 VIEW 3 VIEWCODES 4 VIEWSTYLES} -choicelabels {
+            0 "Strip ANSI codes from display
+        of values. The disply output will 
+        still be colourised if -ansibase has
+        not been set to empty string or 
+        [a+ normal]. The stderr or stdout
+        channels may also have an ansi colour.
+        (see 'colour off' or punk::config)"
+            1 "Leave value as is"
+            2 "Display the ANSI codes and
+        other control characters inline
+        with replacement indicators.
+        e.g esc, newline, space, tab"
+            VIEW "Alias for 2"
+            3 "Display as per 2 but with 
+        colourised ANSI replacement codes."
+            VIEWCODES "Alias for 3"
+            4 "Display ANSI and control
+        chars in default colour, but
+        apply the contained ansi to
+        the text portions so they display
+        as they would for -ansi 1" 
+        VIEWSTYLE "Alias for 4"
+        }
+        -ansibase -type ansistring -default {${[a+ brightgreen]}} -help\
+            "Base ansi code(s) that will apply to output written to the chosen -channel.
+            If there are ansi resets in the displayed values - output will revert to this base.
+            Does not affect return value."
+        -- -type none -help\
+            "End of options marker.
+            It is advisable to use this, as data in a pipeline may often being with -"
+
+        *values -min 0 -max -1
+        arg -type string -optional 1 -multiple 1 -help\
+            "value to display"
+    }
     #pipeline inspect
     #e.g
     #= {a z c} |> inspect -label input_dict |> lsort |> {inspect $data}
     proc inspect {args} {
-        set defaults [list -label "" -limit 20 -channel stderr -showcount 1 -ansi 1]
+        set defaults [list -label "" -limit 20 -channel stderr -showcount 1 -ansi 1 -ansibase [a+ brightgreen]]
         set flags [list]
         set endoptsposn [lsearch $args --] ;#first --  if data expected to contain --, then should always be called with --.  e.g inspect --
         if {$endoptsposn >= 0} {
@@ -7177,24 +7260,28 @@ namespace eval punk {
         }
         foreach {k v} $flags {
             if {$k ni [dict keys $defaults]} {
-                error "inspect: unknown option $k. Known options: [dict keys $defaults].  If data contains flaglike elements, consider calling with end-of-opts marker. e.g inspect --"
+                #error "inspect: unknown option $k. Known options: [dict keys $defaults].  If data contains flaglike elements, consider calling with end-of-opts marker. e.g inspect --"
+                punk::args::get_by_id punk::inspect $args
             }
         }
         set opts [dict merge $defaults $flags]
         # -- --- --- --- ---
-        set label [dict get $opts -label]
-        set channel [dict get $opts -channel]
-        set showcount [dict get $opts -showcount]
+        set label       [dict get $opts -label]
+        set channel     [dict get $opts -channel]
+        set showcount   [dict get $opts -showcount]
         if {[string length $label]} {
             set label "${label}: "
         }
         set limit [dict get $opts -limit]
-        set opt_ansi [dict get $opts -ansi]
+        set opt_ansiraw [dict get $opts -ansi]
+        set opt_ansi [tcl::prefix::match -error "" [list 0 1 2 3 4 view viewcodes viewstyle] [string tolower $opt_ansiraw]]
         switch -- [string tolower $opt_ansi] {
-            0 - 1 - 2 {}
-            view {set opt_ansi 2}
+            0 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 {}
+            view        {set opt_ansi 2}
+            viewcodes   {set opt_ansi 3}
+            viewstyle   {set opt_ansi 4}
             default {
-                error "inspect -ansi 0|1|2|view - received -ansi $opt_ansi"
+                error "inspect -ansi 0|1|2|view|3|viewcodes|4|viewstyle - received -ansi $opt_ansiraw"
             }
         }
         # -- --- --- --- ---
@@ -7248,15 +7335,50 @@ namespace eval punk {
         } else {
             set displaycount ""
         }
-        if {$opt_ansi == 0} {
-            set displayval [punk::ansi::ansistrip $displayval]
-        } elseif {$opt_ansi == 2} {
-            set displayval [ansistring VIEW $displayval]
+
+        set ansibase [dict get $opts -ansibase]
+        if {$ansibase ne ""} {
+            #-ansibase default is hardcoded into punk::args definition 
+            #run a test using any ansi code to see if colour is still enabled
+            if {[a+ red] eq ""} {
+                set ansibase "" ;#colour seems to be disabled
+            }
+        }
+
+        switch -- $opt_ansi {
+            0 {
+                set displayval $ansibase[punk::ansi::ansistrip $displayval]
+            }
+            1 {
+                #val may have ansi - including resets. Pass through ansibase_lines to 
+                if {$ansibase ne ""} {
+                    set displayval [::textblock::ansibase_lines $displayval $ansibase]
+                }
+            }
+            2 {
+                set displayval $ansibase[ansistring VIEW $displayval]
+                if {$ansibase ne ""} {
+                    set displayval [::textblock::ansibase_lines $displayval $ansibase]
+                }
+            }
+            3 {
+                set displayval $ansibase[ansistring VIEWCODE $displayval]
+                if {$ansibase ne ""} {
+                    set displayval [::textblock::ansibase_lines $displayval $ansibase]
+                }
+            }
+            4 {
+                set displayval $ansibase[ansistring VIEWSTYLE $displayval]
+                if {$ansibase ne ""} {
+                    set displayval [::textblock::ansibase_lines $displayval $ansibase]
+                }
+            }
         }
+
         if {![string length $more]} {
-            puts $channel "$displaycount$label[a green bold]$displayval[a]"
+            puts $channel "$displaycount$label$displayval[a]"
         } else {
-            puts $channel "$displaycount$label[a green bold]$displayval[a yellow bold]$more[a]"
+            puts $channel "$displaycount$label$displayval[a yellow bold]$more[a]"
         }
         return $val
     }
diff --git a/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.project-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/ansi-0.1.1.tm b/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.project-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/ansi-0.1.1.tm
index 1e52d3e9..452092e7 100644
--- a/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.project-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/ansi-0.1.1.tm
+++ b/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.project-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/ansi-0.1.1.tm
@@ -167,6 +167,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ansi::class {
                         }
                         default {
                             puts stderr "render_to_input_line unexpected argument '$k' usage: ?-dimensions WxH? ?-minus charcount? x"
+                            punk::args::get_by_id "punk::ansi::class::class_ansi render_to_input_line" $args
                         }
                     }
                 }
@@ -2415,6 +2416,7 @@ Brightblack 100   Brightred 101   Brightgreen 102   Brightyellow 103   Brightblu
         *id punk::ansi::a+
         *proc -name "punk::ansi::a+" -help\
             "Returns an ANSI sgr escape sequence based on the list of supplied codes.
+            Unlike punk::ansi::a - it is not prefixed with an ANSI reset.
             "
         *values -min 0 -max -1
     }   [string map [list <choices> [dict keys $SGR_map]] {
@@ -2432,10 +2434,12 @@ Brightblack 100   Brightred 101   Brightgreen 102   Brightyellow 103   Brightblu
             The acceptable values for <termcolour> and <webcolour> can be queried using
             punk::ansi::a? term
             and
-            punk::ansi::a? web"
-
+            punk::ansi::a? web
+            
+            Example to set foreground red and background cyan followed by a reset:
+            set str \"[a+ red Cyan]sample text[a]\"
+            "
     }]]
-
     proc a+ {args} {
         #*** !doctools
         #[call [fun a+] [opt {ansicode...}]]
@@ -7065,13 +7069,12 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ansi::ansistring {
         }
     }
 
-    #inserting into global namespace like this should be kept to a minimum.. but this is considered a core aspect of punk::ansi
-    #todo - document
-    interp alias {} ansistring {} ::punk::ansi::ansistring
 
     #*** !doctools
     #[list_end] [comment {--- end definitions namespace punk::ansi::ta ---}]
 }
+
+
 tcl::namespace::eval punk::ansi::control {
     proc APC {args} {
         return \x1b_[join $args {;}]\x1b\\
@@ -7393,6 +7396,10 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ansi::internal {
     }
 }
 
+#inserting into global namespace like this should be kept to a minimum.. but this is considered a core aspect of punk::ansi
+#todo - document
+interp alias {} ansistring {} ::punk::ansi::ansistring
+
 if {![info exists ::punk::args::register::NAMESPACES]} {
     namespace eval ::punk::args::register {
         set NAMESPACES [list]
diff --git a/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.project-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/args-0.1.0.tm b/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.project-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/args-0.1.0.tm
index c087ae0b..5a589fe3 100644
--- a/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.project-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/args-0.1.0.tm
+++ b/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.project-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/args-0.1.0.tm
@@ -353,7 +353,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
             }
             set optionspecs [join $normargs \n]
             if {[string first \$\{ $optionspecs] > 0} {
-                set optionspecs [uplevel 1 [list punk::args::lib::tstr -return string -eval 1 $optionspecs]]
+                set optionspecs [uplevel 1 [list punk::args::lib::tstr -return string -eval 1 -allowcommands $optionspecs]]
             }
         } else {
             if {[tcl::dict::exists $argdefcache_unresolved $cache_key]} {
@@ -1262,30 +1262,43 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
         if {$arg_error_isrunning} {
             error "arg_error already running - error in arg_error?\n triggering errmsg: $msg"
         }
-        set arg_error_isrunning 1
 
         if {[llength $args] %2 != 0} {
             error "error in arg_error processing - expected opt/val pairs after msg and spec_dict"
         }
+
+        set arg_error_isrunning 1
+
         set badarg ""
-        set returntype error
+        set returntype table ;#table as string 
+        set as_error 1 ;#usual case is to raise an error
         dict for {k v} $args {
             switch -- $k {
                 -badarg {
                     set badarg $v
                 }
+                -aserror {
+                    if {![string is boolean -strict $v]} {
+                        set arg_error_isrunning 0
+                        error "arg_error invalid value for option -aserror. Received '$v' expected a boolean"
+                    }
+                    set as_error $v
+                }
                 -return {
-                    if {$v ni {error string}} {
-                        error "arg_error invalid value for option -return. Received '$v' expected one of: error string"
+                    if {$v ni {string table tableobject}} {
+                        set arg_error_isrunning 0
+                        error "arg_error invalid value for option -return. Received '$v' expected one of: string table tableobject"
                     }
                     set returntype $v
                 }
                 default {
+                    set arg_error_isrunning 0
                     error "arg_error invalid option $k. Known_options: -badarg -return"
                 }
             }
         }
 
+        set t "" ;#possible oo table object - may be tested for objectiness at the end so needs to exist.
 
         #REVIEW - risk of accidental indefinite recursion if functions used here also use punk::args::get_dict and there is an argument error 
         #e.g list_as_table
@@ -1300,12 +1313,20 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
             #couldn't load textblock package
             #just return the original errmsg without formatting
         }
+        set use_table 0
+        if {$has_textblock && $returntype in {table tableobject}} {
+            set use_table 1
+        }
         set errlines [list] ;#for non-textblock output
         if {[catch  {
-            if {$has_textblock} {
+            if {$use_table} {
                 append errmsg \n
             } else {
-                append errmsg \n "[a+ brightred](layout package textblock is missing)[a]" \n
+                if {($returntype in {table tableobject}) && !$has_textblock} {
+                    append errmsg \n "[a+ brightred](layout package textblock is missing)[a]" \n
+                } else {
+                    append errmsg \n
+                }
             }
             set procname [Dict_getdef $spec_dict proc_info -name ""]
             set prochelp [Dict_getdef $spec_dict proc_info -help ""]
@@ -1333,7 +1354,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
             } else {
                 set docurl_display ""
             }
-            if {$has_textblock} {
+            if {$use_table} {
                 set t [textblock::class::table new [a+ brightyellow]Usage[a]]
                 $t add_column -headers $blank_header_col -minwidth 3 
                 $t add_column -headers $blank_header_col 
@@ -1343,7 +1364,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
             }
             set h 0
             if {$procname ne ""} {
-                if {$has_textblock} {
+                if {$use_table} {
                     $t configure_header $h -colspans {1 4 0 0 0} -values [list PROC/METHOD: $procname_display]
                 } else {
                     lappend errlines "PROC/METHOD: $procname_display"
@@ -1351,7 +1372,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
                 incr h
             }
             if {$prochelp ne ""} {
-                if {$has_textblock} {
+                if {$use_table} {
                     $t configure_header $h -colspans {1 4 0 0 0} -values [list Description: $prochelp_display]
                 } else {
                     lappend errlines "Description: $prochelp_display"
@@ -1362,14 +1383,14 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
                 if {![catch {package require punk::ansi}]} {
                     set docurl [punk::ansi::hyperlink $docurl]
                 }
-                if {$has_textblock} {
+                if {$use_table} {
                     $t configure_header $h -colspans {1 4 0 0 0} -values [list $docname $docurl_display]
                 } else {
                     lappend errlines "$docname $docurl_display"
                 }
                 incr h
             }
-            if {$has_textblock} {
+            if {$use_table} {
                 $t configure_header $h -values {Arg Type Default Multi Help}
             } else {
                 lappend errlines " --ARGUMENTS-- "
@@ -1519,7 +1540,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
                             set numcols [llength $formattedchoices]
                         }
                         if {$numcols > 0} {
-                            if {$has_textblock} {
+                            if {$use_table} {
                                 #risk of recursing 
                                 set choicetable [textblock::list_as_table -show_hseps 1 -show_edge 1 -columns $numcols $formattedchoices]
                                 append help \n[textblock::join -- "    " $choicetable]
@@ -1565,7 +1586,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
                         append typeshow \n "-range [dict get $arginfo -range]"
                     }
 
-                    if {$has_textblock} {
+                    if {$use_table} {
                         $t add_row [list $argshow $typeshow $default $multiple $help]
                         if {$arg eq $badarg} {
                             $t configure_row [expr {[$t row_count]-1}] -ansibase $A_BADARG
@@ -1577,11 +1598,14 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
                 }
             }
 
-            if {$has_textblock} {
+            if {$use_table} {
                 $t configure -show_hseps 0 -show_header 1 -ansibase_body [a+ brightwhite] -ansibase_header [a+ brightyellow] -ansiborder_header [a+ brightyellow] -ansiborder_body [a+ brightyellow]
-                $t configure -maxwidth 80
+                $t configure -maxwidth 80 ;#review
                 append errmsg [$t print]
-                $t destroy
+                if {$returntype ne "tableobject"} {
+                    #returntype of table means just the text of the table
+                    $t destroy
+                }
             } else {
                 append errmsg [join $errlines \n]
             }
@@ -1595,11 +1619,22 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
         }
         set arg_error_isrunning 0
         #add PUNK to the tail end of the more usual -errorcode {TCL WRONGARGS} so we maintain reasonable compat with things looking for TCL WRONGARGS - but also differentiate it. 
-        #Also,we're polite enough in the errorInfo, nothing wrong with a Clint Eastwood style errorCode  ;)
-        if {$returntype eq "error"} {
-            return -code error -errorcode {TCL WRONGARGS PUNK} $errmsg
+        #Also, we're polite enough in the errorInfo, nothing wrong with a Clint Eastwood style errorCode  ;)
+        if {$use_table} {
+            #assert returntype is one of table, tableobject
+            set result $errmsg ;#default if for some reason table couldn't be used
+            if {$returntype eq "tableobject"} {
+                if {[info object isa object $t]} {
+                    set result $t
+                } 
+            }
         } else {
-            return $errmsg
+            set result $errmsg
+        }
+        if {$as_error} {
+            return -code error -errorcode {TCL WRONGARGS PUNK} $result
+        } else {
+            return $result
         }
     }
 
@@ -1609,17 +1644,21 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
         *proc -name punk::args::usage -help\
             "return usage information as a string
             in table form."
+        -return -default table -choices {string table tableobject}
+
         *values -min 0 -max 1
         id  -help\
             "exact id.
             Will usually match the command name"
     }]
-    proc usage {id} {
+    proc usage {args} {
+        lassign [dict values [punk::args::get_by_id punk::args::usage $args]] leaders opts values received
+        set id [dict get $values id]
         set speclist [get_spec $id]
         if {[llength $speclist] == 0} {
             error "punk::args::usage - no such id: $id"
         }
-        arg_error "" [uplevel 1 [list punk::args::definition {*}$speclist]] -return string
+        arg_error "" [uplevel 1 [list punk::args::definition {*}$speclist]] {*}$opts -aserror 0 
     }
 
     lappend PUNKARGS [list {
@@ -2726,7 +2765,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args::lib {
         *id punk::args::lib::tstr
         *proc -name punk::args::lib::tstr -help\
             "A rough equivalent of js template literals"
-        -allowcommands -default -1 -type none -help\
+        -allowcommands -default 0 -type none -help\
             "if -allowcommands is present, placeholder can contain commands e.g {\$\{plaintext0 [lindex $var 0] plaintext2\}}"
         -return        -default list -choices {dict list string args}\
             -choicelabels {
diff --git a/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.project-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/char-0.1.0.tm b/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.project-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/char-0.1.0.tm
index 4a6c9ab1..3024053b 100644
--- a/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.project-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/char-0.1.0.tm
+++ b/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.project-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/char-0.1.0.tm
@@ -600,6 +600,48 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::char {
         puts stdout \n
         puts stdout "cursor position immediately after outputing 3 bytes (xyz): $cursorposn"
     }
+    proc test_zalgo {} {
+        #from: https://github.com/jameslanska/unicode-display-width/blob/5e28d94c75e8c421a87199363b85c90dc37125b8/docs/unicode_background.md
+        #see: https://lingojam.com/ZalgoText
+        puts stdout "44 chars long - 9 graphemes - 9 columns wide"
+
+        set str "Ẓ̌á̲l͔̝̞̄̑͌g̖̘̘̔̔͢͞͝o̪̔T̢̙̫̈̍͞e̬͈͕͌̏͑x̺̍ṭ̓̓ͅ"
+
+    }
+
+    proc test_zalgo2 {} {
+
+        # ------------------------
+
+
+
+        set str "Z̸̢͉̣͔̭̪͙̖̳̘͈͍̤̩̟͈͈͕̯̅̏̆̓̌́́͌̿̕ͅą̷̦̤̫̩͕̥̐̎̓́́̂̀͆́̔̄̈́̏̌́̆͜͜͝͠l̴̩̙̺͚̟͇͖͔͕̹̟͌̈́̄̇́̉̋̕̚͜͠͠g̸͇̩͔̺̝̗̥̖̙̑̈́̈́̿̾̌͌͊̈̀͊̑̇̑͌̍̅̌͊͜͠͝ǫ̴̢̧͎͔̞̤̻̱̮̬͕̗̭͍̣̠̳̆̀̋̓͒̾̄͜͝͠͝T̴̛͉̬̋́̈́̈́̓͗̍̏̔̈̋̀͐̓̎̅̚̕͠͝͝ê̵̖̖̈͊̔̓̔̐̓̃͊̋͋̎͂͋̕x̴̡͎͖̼͎̦͎̲̪̘̺̯̲̬̮̥̼̰͌̃͜ͅt̶̛̘͎̰̔͐͌́̈́͊͗͌̅͂̐̆͌̀͂͘"
+
+
+
+
+        # ------------------------
+    }
+
+    proc test_zalgo3 {} {
+
+        # ------------------------
+
+
+
+
+       set str "Ẕ̸̢̼̺̜̰̣̣̖̭̜͓͖̺̥̼̠͙͙̟̥̟̠̤̫͍̠̤̮͚̝̜̙͈̦̙̩̹̙̜̩̦͔͕̈̃̅̇̈́͂̇̽̈́́́́̎͊̂̑̋͆̔̾͋̚͜ͅã̵̛̪̽̎̃͑̒̇͋͂̽̃̍͊̀̈̊̊̔̊̆̈́͗͑͗̽̄̋͗̄͌̑͊͝͝͠ͅl̵̢͇̖͉͖̝̹̜̞͓͎͍͈̞̱̙͙̦̪͔̱̮͈͉̼͎̭̝̯͇͚̺̟̱͙̳̰̙͚͖̝̫͙̎̅̃͆̈́̋̌̔̋̋͗̈́̔̐͆̈́̓̾̄̀́̏́͒̆̌͒̈́̈́̾̏̀͜͝g̸̖͂͋̊͗̈́̓̆̈̋̒͐̕o̶̧̢͓̲̗̠̘͕̦̤̹̗͉̰͔̯͓̭̹̻͔͇̯̜̙̍̂̃̃̀̓͌̒͊̊̋̒̿̿̌͐̄͗̾̕͝T̶̛̳̜̰͍̹̻̫̠̱̼̼̙̆̑̾̾͛́́̿͋͌̎̀̀̽̆͌̽̂̈̇̅̇̃́̿͗̾͒̎͊̑̾͝͠ȩ̸̢̨̛̛̛̭͔͎͇̫͎͈̲̻̙͕͎̣͈̩̺̗͖͙͇͌͐̒̎͐̓́̉́͐̓̐͌̅̊͋͑̈́͗͑̏̕͜͜͝ͅx̸̧̧̛̖̣̥̘͎͎̳̭̙̦̝͖̝̮̱̹̯̺̙̩̯̮͖̻̰͓̰̩͇̥̑͌̊̐̉̏͆̓̑̎̊̓͒̂̄̆͆̀̊̄̈̽͐͛̏͊̓̌͑́̎̈́̍̈́̊͗̉̋͆̿̊͘͜͜͝͝ͅͅͅt̵̡̨̜̘͎̦͚̠̗̺͉̼̠̲̠͙̺̹̗̲̏̈́̂̚͜͜͝ͅ"
+
+
+
+
+
+        # ------------------------
+
+    }
+
+
+
     proc test_farmer {} {
         #an interesting article re grapheme clustering problems in terminals https://mitchellh.com/writing/grapheme-clusters-in-terminals
         #(similar to the problem with grave accent rendering width that the test_grave proc is written for)
@@ -620,17 +662,29 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::char {
         puts stdout "farmer2 with no joiner          codes: \\U0001f9d1\\U001f33e               : $farmer2"
 
         package require punk::console
+        puts stdout \n
         puts stdout "#2--5---9---C---"
         puts -nonewline stdout \033\[2K\033\[1G ;#2K erase line 1G cursor at col1
-        puts -nonewline "${farmer1}";set cursorposn [punk::console::get_cursor_pos]
-        puts stdout \n
-        puts stdout "cursor position immediately after outputing farmer1 (expecting 1 glyph 2 wide)          : $cursorposn"
+        puts -nonewline "${farmer1}";set cursorposn [punk::console::get_cursor_pos_list]
+        puts stdout "\ncursor position immediately after outputing farmer1 (expecting 1 glyph 2 wide)          : cursor at col [lindex $cursorposn 1]"
+        if {[lindex $cursorposn 1] eq "3"} {
+            puts stdout "[a+ green]OK[a]"
+        } else {
+            puts stdout "[a+ red]ERR - expected cursor position to be 3 after emitting farmer1[a]"
+        }
+        puts stdout "----------------"
         puts stdout "#2--5---9---C---"
-        puts -nonewline "${farmer2}";set cursorposn [punk::console::get_cursor_pos]
-        puts stdout \n
-        puts stdout "cursor position immediately after outputing farmer2 (expecting 2 glyphs 4 wide in total): $cursorposn"
+        puts -nonewline "${farmer2}";set cursorposn [punk::console::get_cursor_pos_list]
+        puts stdout "\ncursor position immediately after outputing farmer2 (expecting 2 glyphs 4 wide in total): cursor at col [lindex $cursorposn 1]"
+        if {[lindex $cursorposn 1] eq "5"} {
+            puts stdout "[a+ green]OK[a]"
+        } else {
+            puts stdout "[a+ red]ERR - expected cursor position to be 5 after emitting farmer2[a]"
+        }
+        puts stdout "----------------"
 
-        return [list $farmer1 $farmer2]
+        puts "returning farmer1 - should be single glyph"
+        return $farmer1
     }
 
     #G0 Sets Sequence   G1 Sets Sequence   Meaning
@@ -1916,6 +1970,172 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::char {
     # - tab/vtab?
     # - compare with wcswidth returning -1 for entire string containing such in python,perl
     proc wcswidth {string} {
+        #faster than textutil::wcswidth (at least for string up to a few K in length)
+        #..but - 'scan' is horrible for 400K+ (Tcl evaluation stack has to be reallocated/copied?) 
+        #Tcl initial evaluation stack size is 2000 (? review)
+        #REVIEW - when we cater for grapheme clusters - we can't just split the string at arbitrary points like this!!
+        set chunksize 2000
+        set chunks_required [expr {int(ceil([tcl::string::length $string] / double($chunksize)))}]
+        set width 0
+        set startidx 0
+        set endidx [expr {$startidx + $chunksize -1}]
+        for {set i 0} {$i < $chunks_required} {incr i} {
+            set chunk [tcl::string::range $string $startidx $endidx] 
+
+            set codes [scan $chunk [tcl::string::repeat %c [tcl::string::length $chunk]]]
+            foreach c $codes {
+                if {$c <= 255 && !($c < 31 || $c == 127)} {
+                    #review - non-printing ascii? why does textutil::wcswidth report 1 ??
+                    #todo - compare with python or other lang wcwidth 
+                    incr width 
+                } elseif {$c < 917504 || $c > 917631} {
+                    #TODO - various other joiners and non-printing chars
+                    set w [textutil::wcswidth_char $c]
+                    if {$w < 0} {
+                        return -1
+                    } else {
+                        incr width $w
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+            incr startidx   $chunksize
+            incr endidx     $chunksize
+        }
+        return $width
+    }
+
+
+
+    # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    #test
+    # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    proc grapheme_split_tk {string} {
+        if {![regexp "\[\uFF-\U10FFFF\]" $string]} {
+            #only ascii - no joiners or unicode
+            return [split $string {}]
+        }
+        package require tk
+        set i 0
+        set graphemes [list]
+        while {$i < [tcl::string::length $string]} {
+            set aftercluster [tk::endOfCluster $string $i]
+            lappend graphemes [string range $string $i $aftercluster-1] 
+            set i $aftercluster
+        }
+        return $graphemes
+    }
+    proc wcswidth_clustered {string} {
+        package require tk
+        set width 0
+        set i 0
+        if {![regexp "\[\uFF-\U10FFFF\]" $string]} {
+            return [punk::char::wcswidth_unclustered $string] ;#still use our wcswidth to account for non-printable ascii
+        }
+        while {$i < [tcl::string::length $string]} {
+            set aftercluster [tk::endOfCluster $string $i]
+            set g [string range $string $i $aftercluster-1]
+            if {$aftercluster > ($i + 1)} {
+                #review - proper way to determine screen width (columns occupied) of a cluster??
+                #according to this:
+                #https://lib.rs/crates/unicode-display-width
+                #for each grapheme - if any of the code points in the cluster have an east asian width of 2,
+                #The entire grapheme width is 2 regardless of how many code points constitute the grapheme
+                set gw 1
+                foreach ch [split $g ""] {
+                    if {[punk::char::wcswidth_single $ch] == 2} {
+                        set gw 2
+                        break
+                    }
+                }
+                incr width $gw
+                
+                #if {[string first \u200d $g] >=0} {
+                #    incr width 2 
+                #} else {
+                #    #other joiners???
+                #    incr width [wcswidth_unclustered $g]
+                #}
+            } else {
+                incr width [wcswidth_unclustered $g] 
+            }
+            set i $aftercluster
+        }
+
+        return $width
+    }
+    proc wcswidth_single {char} {
+        scan $c %c dec
+        if {$c <= 255 && !($c < 31 || $c == 127)} {
+            #review - non-printing ascii? why does textutil::wcswidth report 1 ??
+            #todo - compare with python or other lang wcwidth 
+            return 1 
+        } elseif {$c < 917504 || $c > 917631} {
+            #TODO - various other joiners and non-printing chars
+            return [textutil::wcswidth_char $c]
+            #may return -1 - REVIEW
+        }
+        return 0
+    }
+    proc wcswidth_unclustered1 {string} {
+        set width 0
+        foreach c [split $string {}] {
+            scan $c %c dec
+            if {$c <= 255 && !($c < 31 || $c == 127)} {
+                #review - non-printing ascii? why does textutil::wcswidth report 1 ??
+                #todo - compare with python or other lang wcwidth 
+                incr width 
+            } elseif {$c < 917504 || $c > 917631} {
+                #TODO - various other joiners and non-printing chars
+                set w [textutil::wcswidth_char $c]
+                if {$w < 0} {
+                    return -1
+                } else {
+                    incr width $w
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        return $width
+    }
+    #todo - consider disallowing/erroring out when \r \n in string?
+    # - tab/vtab?
+    # - compare with wcswidth returning -1 for entire string containing such in python,perl
+    proc wcswidth_unclustered {string} {
+        #faster than textutil::wcswidth (at least for string up to a few K in length)
+        #..but - 'scan' is horrible for 400K+ (Tcl evaluation stack has to be reallocated/copied?) 
+        #Tcl initial evaluation stack size is 2000 (? review)
+        #we can only split the string at arbitrary points like this because we are specifically dealing with input that has no clusters!.
+        set chunksize 2000
+        set chunks_required [expr {int(ceil([tcl::string::length $string] / double($chunksize)))}]
+        set width 0
+        set startidx 0
+        set endidx [expr {$startidx + $chunksize -1}]
+        for {set i 0} {$i < $chunks_required} {incr i} {
+            set chunk [tcl::string::range $string $startidx $endidx] 
+
+            set codes [scan $chunk [tcl::string::repeat %c [tcl::string::length $chunk]]]
+            foreach c $codes {
+                if {$c <= 255 && !($c < 31 || $c == 127)} {
+                    #review - non-printing ascii? why does textutil::wcswidth report 1 ??
+                    #todo - compare with python or other lang wcwidth 
+                    incr width 
+                } elseif {$c < 917504 || $c > 917631} {
+                    #TODO - various other joiners and non-printing chars
+                    set w [textutil::wcswidth_char $c]
+                    if {$w < 0} {
+                        return -1
+                    } else {
+                        incr width $w
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+            incr startidx   $chunksize
+            incr endidx     $chunksize
+        }
+        return $width
+    }
+    # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+    proc wcswidth0 {string} {
         #faster than textutil::wcswidth (at least for string up to a few K in length)
         #..but - 'scan' is horrible for 400K+ 
         #TODO 
@@ -1943,20 +2163,6 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::char {
         }
         return $width
     }
-    #faster than textutil::wcswidth (at least for string up to a few K in length)
-    proc wcswidth1 {string} {
-        set codes [scan $string [tcl::string::repeat %c [tcl::string::length $string]]]
-        set width 0
-        foreach c $codes {
-            set w [textutil::wcswidth_char $c]
-            if {$w < 0} {
-                return -1
-            } else {
-                incr width $w
-            }
-        }
-        return $width
-    }
     proc wcswidth2 {string} {
         set codes [scan $string [tcl::string::repeat %c [tcl::string::length $string]]]
         set widths [lmap c $codes {textutil::wcswidth_char $c}]
diff --git a/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.project-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/console-0.1.1.tm b/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.project-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/console-0.1.1.tm
index c4f2bfc4..c27503c3 100644
--- a/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.project-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/console-0.1.1.tm
+++ b/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.project-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/console-0.1.1.tm
@@ -875,6 +875,7 @@ namespace eval punk::console {
         }
     }
 
+    punk::args::set_alias punk::console::code_a+ punk::ansi::a+
     proc code_a+ {args} {
         variable ansi_wanted
         if {$ansi_wanted <= 0} {
diff --git a/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.project-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/lib-0.1.1.tm b/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.project-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/lib-0.1.1.tm
index 9ebd2ca2..6fabbba7 100644
--- a/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.project-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/lib-0.1.1.tm
+++ b/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.project-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/lib-0.1.1.tm
@@ -962,21 +962,6 @@ namespace eval punk::lib {
    
     namespace import ::punk::args::lib::tstr
     
-    #get info about punk nestindex key ie type: list,dict,undetermined
-    proc nestindex_info {args} {
-        set argd [punk::args::get_dict {
-            -parent -default ""
-            nestindex 
-        } $args]
-        set opt_parent      [dict get $argd opts -parent]
-        if {$opt_parent eq ""} {
-            set parent_type undetermined
-        } else {
-            set parent_type [nestindex_info -parent "" $opt_parent] ;#make sure we explicitly set parent of parent to empty so we don't just recurse forever doing nothing  
-        }
-        
-
-    }
 
 
     proc invoke command {
@@ -1127,17 +1112,35 @@ namespace eval punk::lib {
             -keytemplates       -default {\$\{$key\}} -type list -help "list of templates for keys at each level"
             -keysorttype        -default "none" -choices {none dictionary ascii integer real}
             -keysortdirection   -default increasing -choices {increasing decreasing}
+            -debug              -default 0 -type boolean -help\
+                "When enabled, produces some rudimentary debug output on stderr"
             *values -min 1 -max -1
             dictvalue                       -type list -help "dict or list value"
             patterns            -default "*"   -type string -multiple 1 -help "key or key glob pattern"
         }] $args]
+
+        #for punk::lib - we want to reduce pkg dependencies.
+        # - so we won't even use the tcllib debug pkg here 
+        set opt_debug               [dict get $argd opts -debug]
+        if {$opt_debug} {
+            if {[info body debug::showdict] eq ""} {
+                proc ::punk::lib::debug::showdict {args} {
+                    catch {puts stderr "punk::lib::showdict-> [string cat {*}$args]"}
+                }
+            }
+        } else {
+            if {[info body debug::showdict] ne ""} {
+                proc ::punk::lib::debug::showdict {args} {}
+            }
+        }
+
         set opt_sep                 [dict get $argd opts -separator]
         set opt_mismatch_sep        [dict get $argd opts -separator_mismatch]
         set opt_keysorttype         [dict get $argd opts -keysorttype]
         set opt_keysortdirection    [dict get $argd opts -keysortdirection]
         set opt_trimright           [dict get $argd opts -trimright]
         set opt_keytemplates        [dict get $argd opts -keytemplates]
-        puts stderr "---> $opt_keytemplates <---"
+        debug::showdict "keytemplates ---> $opt_keytemplates <---"
         set opt_ansibase_keys       [dict get $argd opts -ansibase_keys]
         set opt_ansibase_values     [dict get $argd opts -ansibase_values]
         set opt_return              [dict get $argd opts -return]
@@ -4112,10 +4115,31 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::lib::system {
         return $incomplete
     }
 
+    #get info about punk nestindex key ie type: list,dict,undetermined
+    # pdict devel 
+    proc nestindex_info {args} {
+        set argd [punk::args::get_dict {
+            -parent -default ""
+            nestindex 
+        } $args]
+        set opt_parent      [dict get $argd opts -parent]
+        if {$opt_parent eq ""} {
+            set parent_type undetermined
+        } else {
+            set parent_type [nestindex_info -parent "" $opt_parent] ;#make sure we explicitly set parent of parent to empty so we don't just recurse forever doing nothing  
+        }
+
+        #??? 
+
+    }
     #*** !doctools
     #[list_end] [comment {--- end definitions namespace punk::lib::system ---}]
 }
 
+tcl::namespace::eval punk::lib::debug {
+    proc showdict {args} {}
+}
+
 if {![info exists ::punk::args::register::NAMESPACES]} {
     namespace eval ::punk::args::register {
         set ::punk::args::register::NAMESPACES [list] ;#use fully qualified so 8.6 doesn't find existing var in global namespace
diff --git a/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.project-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/ns-0.1.0.tm b/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.project-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/ns-0.1.0.tm
index 880dde53..14b8f00d 100644
--- a/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.project-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/ns-0.1.0.tm
+++ b/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.project-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/ns-0.1.0.tm
@@ -1896,6 +1896,10 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ns {
         *id punk::ns::arginfo
         *proc -name punk::ns::arginfo -help\
             "Show usage info for a command"
+        -return -type string -default table -choices {string table tableobject}
+        -- -type none -help\
+            "End of options marker
+            Use this if the command to view begins with a -"
         *values -min 1
         commandpath -help\
             "command (may be alias or ensemble)"
@@ -2050,7 +2054,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ns {
                                     incr i
                                 }
                                 punk::args::definition $argspec
-                                return [punk::args::usage "$origin new"]
+                                return [punk::args::usage {*}$opts "$origin new"]
                             }
                             create {
                                 set constructorinfo [info class constructor $origin]
@@ -2079,7 +2083,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ns {
                                     incr i
                                 }
                                 punk::args::definition $argspec
-                                return [punk::args::usage "$origin create"]
+                                return [punk::args::usage {*}$opts "$origin create"]
                             }
                             destroy {
                                 #review - generally no doc
@@ -2092,7 +2096,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ns {
                                     *values -min 0 -max 0
                                 }]
                                 punk::args::definition $argspec
-                                return [punk::args::usage "$origin destroy"]
+                                return [punk::args::usage {*}$opts "$origin destroy"]
                             }
                             default {
                                 #use info object call <obj> <method> to resolve callchain 
@@ -2112,7 +2116,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ns {
                                                 set id "[string trimleft $origin :] $c1" ;# "<object> <method>"
                                                 if {[info commands ::punk::args::id_exists] ne ""} {
                                                     if {[punk::args::id_exists $id]} {
-                                                        return [uplevel 1 [list punk::args::usage $id]]
+                                                        return [uplevel 1 [list punk::args::usage {*}$opts $id]]
                                                     }
                                                 }
                                                 set def [::info object definition $origin $c1]
@@ -2120,7 +2124,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ns {
                                                 set id "[string trimleft $location :] $c1" ;# "<class> <method>"
                                                 if {[info commands ::punk::args::id_exists] ne ""} {
                                                     if {[punk::args::id_exists $id]} {
-                                                        return [uplevel 1 [list punk::args::usage $id]]
+                                                        return [uplevel 1 [list punk::args::usage {*}$opts $id]]
                                                     }
                                                 }
                                                 set def [::info class definition $location $c1]
@@ -2162,7 +2166,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ns {
                                         incr i
                                     }
                                     punk::args::definition $argspec
-                                    return [punk::args::usage "$location $c1"]
+                                    return [punk::args::usage {*}$opts "$location $c1"]
                                 } else {
                                     return "unable to resolve $origin method $c1"
                                 }
@@ -2216,7 +2220,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ns {
                 }]
                 append argspec \n $vline
                 punk::args::definition $argspec
-                return [punk::args::usage $origin]
+                return [punk::args::usage {*}$opts $origin]
             }
             privateObject {
                 return "Command is a privateObject - no info currently available"
@@ -2327,7 +2331,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ns {
             }]
             append argspec \n $vline
             punk::args::definition $argspec
-            return [punk::args::usage $origin]
+            return [punk::args::usage {*}$opts $origin]
         }
 
         #check for tepam help
@@ -2363,7 +2367,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ns {
         set id [string trimleft $origin :]
         if {[info commands ::punk::args::id_exists] ne ""} {
             if {[punk::args::id_exists $id]} {
-                return [uplevel 1 [list punk::args::usage $id]]
+                return [uplevel 1 [list punk::args::usage {*}$opts $id]]
             }
         }
         set origin_ns [nsprefix $origin]
diff --git a/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.project-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/repl/codethread-0.1.1.tm b/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.project-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/repl/codethread-0.1.1.tm
index d14b626d..b3693f71 100644
--- a/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.project-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/repl/codethread-0.1.1.tm
+++ b/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.project-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/repl/codethread-0.1.1.tm
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::repl::codethread {
                 if {[llength $::codeinterp::run_command_cache] > 2000} {
                     set ::codeinterp::run_command_cache [lrange $::codeinterp::run_command_cache 1750 end][unset ::codeinterp::run_command_cache]
                 }
-                if {[string first ":::" $::punk::ns::ns_current]} {
+                if {[string first ":::" $::punk::ns::ns_current] >= 0} {
                     #support for browsing 'odd' (inadvisable) namespaces
                     #don't use 'namespace exists' - will conflate ::test::x with ::test:::x
                     #if {$::punk::ns::ns_current in [namespace children  [punk::ns::nsprefix $::punk::ns::ns_current]} {
diff --git a/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.project-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/textblock-0.1.2.tm b/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.project-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/textblock-0.1.2.tm
index 1a298b4e..3651c0f0 100644
--- a/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.project-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/textblock-0.1.2.tm
+++ b/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.project-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/textblock-0.1.2.tm
@@ -299,6 +299,9 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
         #It does however affect all ensemble commands - so even 'dict get/set' etc won't be as efficient in a safe interp.
 
         #e.g $t configure -framemap_body [table_edge_map " "]
+
+        # -- --- --- --- ---
+        #unused?
         proc table_edge_map {char} {
             variable table_edge_parts
             set map [list]
@@ -335,6 +338,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
             }
             return $map
         }
+        # -- --- --- --- ---
 
         if {[tcl::info::commands [tcl::namespace::current]::table] eq ""} {
             #*** !doctools
@@ -374,6 +378,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                 variable o_columndefs
                 variable o_columndata
                 variable o_columnstates
+                variable o_headerdefs
                 variable o_headerstates
 
                 variable o_rowdefs
@@ -432,6 +437,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                     set o_columndefs    [tcl::dict::create]
                     set o_columndata    [tcl::dict::create] ;#we store data by column even though it is often added row by row
                     set o_columnstates  [tcl::dict::create] ;#store the maxwidthbodyseen etc as we add rows and maxwidthheaderseen etc as we add headers - it is needed often and expensive to calculate repeatedly
+                    set o_headerdefs    [tcl::dict::create] ;#by header-row
                     set o_headerstates  [tcl::dict::create]
                     set o_rowdefs       [tcl::dict::create] ;#user requested row data e.g -minheight -maxheight
                     set o_rowstates     [tcl::dict::create] ;#actual row data such as -minheight and -maxheight detected from supplied row data
@@ -439,12 +445,14 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                     set TSUB \uF111 ;#should be BMP PUA code to show as either replacement char or nerdfont glyph. See FSUB for comments regarding choices.
                     set o_calculated_column_widths [list]
                     set o_column_width_algorithm "span"
-                    set header_defaults [tcl::dict::create\
+                    set o_opts_header_defaults [tcl::dict::create\
                         -colspans {}\
                         -values {}\
                         -ansibase {}\
+                        -ansireset "\x1b\[m"\
+                        -minheight 1\
+                        -maxheight ""\
                     ]
-                    set o_opts_header_defaults $header_defaults
                 }
 
                 method width_algorithm {{alg ""}} {
@@ -1107,10 +1115,18 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                                 }
                             }
                         }
-                        #args checked - ok to update headerstates  and columndefs and columnstates
+                        #args checked - ok to update headerstates, headerdefs  and columndefs and columnstates
                         tcl::dict::set o_columndefs $cidx $checked_opts
-
                         set o_headerstates $hstates 
+                        dict for {hidx hstate} $hstates {
+                            #configure_header
+                            if {![dict exists $o_headerdefs $hidx]} {
+                                #remove calculated members  -values -colspans
+                                set hdefaults [dict remove $o_opts_header_defaults -values -colspans]
+                                dict set o_headerdefs $hidx $hdefaults 
+                            }
+                        }
+
                         tcl::dict::set o_columnstates $cidx $colstate
 
                         if {$args_got_headers} {
@@ -1267,11 +1283,10 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                     return $hcolspans
                 }
 
-                #should be configure_headerrow ?
                 method configure_header {index_expression args} {
                     #*** !doctools
                     #[call class::table [method configure_header]]
-                    #[para] - undocumented
+                    #[para] - configure header row-wise 
 
                     #the header data being configured or returned here is mostly derived from the column defs and if necessary written to the column defs.
                     #It can also be set column by column - but it is much easier (especially for colspans) to configure them on a header-row basis
@@ -1279,7 +1294,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                     set num_headers [my header_count_calc]
                     set hidx [lindex [tcl::dict::keys $o_headerstates] $index_expression]
                     if {$hidx eq ""} {
-                        error "textblock::table::configure_header - no row defined at index '$hidx'."
+                        error "textblock::table::configure_header - no header row defined at index '$index_expression'."
                     }
                     if {$hidx > $num_headers -1} {
                         #assert - shouldn't happen
@@ -1298,6 +1313,14 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                             lappend header_row_items $relevant_header ;#may be empty string because column had nothing at that index, or may be empty string stored in that column. We don't differentiate. 
                         }
                         tcl::dict::set result -values $header_row_items 
+
+                        #review - ensure always a headerdef record for each header?
+                        if {[tcl::dict::exists $o_headerdefs $hidx]} {
+                            set result [tcl::dict::merge $result [tcl::dict::get $o_headerdefs $hidx]]
+                        } else {
+                            #warn for now
+                            puts stderr "no headerdef record for header $hidx"
+                        }
                         return $result
                     }
                     if {[llength $args] == 1} {
@@ -1328,7 +1351,8 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                                     set colspans_by_header [my header_colspans] 
                                     set result [tcl::dict::create]
                                     set val [tcl::dict::get $colspans_by_header $hidx]
-                                    set returndict [tcl::dict::create option $k value $val ansireset "\x1b\[m"]
+                                    #ansireset not required
+                                    set returndict [tcl::dict::create option $k value $val]
                                 }
                                 -ansibase {
                                     set val ???
@@ -1369,8 +1393,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                                         lappend header_ansibase_items $code
                                     }
                                 }
-                                set header_ansibase [punk::ansi::codetype::sgr_merge_singles $row_ansibase_items]
-                                error "sorry - -ansibase not yet implemented for header rows"
+                                set header_ansibase [punk::ansi::codetype::sgr_merge_singles $header_ansibase_items]
                                 lappend checked_opts $k $header_ansibase
                             }
                             -ansireset {
@@ -1472,6 +1495,10 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                     #safe jumptable test
                     #dict for {k v} $checked_opts {}
                     #foreach {k v} $checked_opts {}
+
+                    # headerdefs excludes -values and -colspans
+                    set update_hdefs [tcl::dict::get $o_headerdefs $hidx]
+
                     tcl::dict::for {k v} $checked_opts {
                         switch -- $k {
                             -values {
@@ -1538,8 +1565,28 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                                     incr c
                                 }
                             }
+                            default {
+                                dict set update_hdefs $k $v
+                            }
                         }
                     }
+                    set opt_minh [tcl::dict::get $update_hdefs -minheight]
+                    set opt_maxh [tcl::dict::get $update_hdefs -maxheight]
+
+                    #todo - allow zero values to hide/collapse
+                    # - see also configure_row
+                    if {![tcl::string::is integer $opt_minh] || ($opt_maxh ne "" && ![tcl::string::is integer -strict $opt_maxh])} {
+                        error "[tcl::namespace::current]::table::configure_header error -minheight '$opt_minh' and -maxheight '$opt_maxh' must be integers greater than or equal to 1 (for now)"
+                    }
+                    if {$opt_minh < 1 || ($opt_maxh ne "" && $opt_maxh < 1)} {
+                        error "[tcl::namespace::current]::table::configure_header error -minheight '$opt_minh' and -maxheight '$opt_maxh' must both be 1 or greater (for now)"
+                    }
+                    if {$opt_maxh ne "" && $opt_maxh < $opt_minh} {
+                        error "[tcl::namespace::current]::table::configure_header error -maxheight '$opt_maxh' must greater than -minheight '$opt_minh'"
+                    }
+
+                    #set o_headerstate $hidx -minheight? -maxheight? ???
+                    tcl::dict::set o_headerdefs $hidx $update_hdefs 
                 }
 
                 method add_row {valuelist args} {
@@ -2050,7 +2097,8 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                         foreach header $header_list {
                             set headerspans [tcl::dict::get $all_colspans $hrow]
                             set this_span [lindex $headerspans $cidx]
-                            set hval $ansibase_header$header ;#no reset
+                            #set hval $ansibase_header$header ;#no reset
+                            set hval $header
                             set rowh [my header_height $hrow]
 
                             if {$hrow == 0} {
@@ -2317,7 +2365,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                                     set h_lines [lrepeat $rowh $bline]
                                     set hcell_blank [::join $h_lines \n]
                                     # -usecache 1 ok
-                                    #frame borders will never display - so use the simplest frametype and don't apply any ansi
+                                    #frame borders will never display - so use the simplest frametype and don't apply any ansi 
                                     #puts "===>zerospan hlims: $hlims"
                                     set header_frame [textblock::frame -checkargs 0 -ellipsis 0 -width [expr {$padwidth+2}] -type ascii\
                                         -boxlimits $hlims -boxmap $framesub_map  $hcell_blank\
@@ -2589,8 +2637,8 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                         }
                     }
 
-                    set ansibase_body   [tcl::dict::get $o_opts_table -ansibase_body]
-                    set ansibase_header [tcl::dict::get $o_opts_table -ansibase_header]
+                    #set ansibase_body   [tcl::dict::get $o_opts_table -ansibase_body]
+                    #set ansibase_header [tcl::dict::get $o_opts_table -ansibase_header]
 
                     #set header_underlay $ansibase_header$cell_line_blank
 
@@ -2613,7 +2661,35 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                     set showing_vseps [my Showing_vseps]
                     for {set hrow 0} {$hrow < $num_header_rows} {incr hrow} {
                         set hdr [lindex $headerlist $hrow]
-                        set header_maxdataheight [my header_height $hrow]  ;#from cached headerstates
+                        #jjj
+                        set header_maxdataheight   [tcl::dict::get $o_headerstates $hrow maxheightseen]
+                        #set header_maxdataheight [my header_height $hrow]  ;#from cached headerstates
+                        set headerdefminh   [tcl::dict::get $o_headerdefs $hrow -minheight]
+                        set headerdefmaxh   [tcl::dict::get $o_headerdefs $hrow -maxheight]
+                        if {"$headerdefminh$headerdefmaxh" ne "" && $headerdefminh eq $headerdefmaxh} {
+                            set headerh $headerdefminh ;#exact height defined for the row
+                        } else {
+                            if {$headerdefminh eq ""} {
+                                if {$headerdefmaxh eq ""} {
+                                    #both defs empty
+                                    set headerh $header_maxdataheight
+                                } else {
+                                    set headerh [expr {min(1,$headerdefmaxh,$header_maxdataheight)}]
+                                }
+                            } else {
+                                if {$headerdefmaxh eq ""} {
+                                    set headerh [expr {max($headerdefminh,$header_maxdataheight)}]
+                                } else {
+                                    if {$header_maxdataheight < $headerdefminh} {
+                                        set headerh $headerdefminh
+                                    } else {
+                                        set headerh [expr {max($headerdefminh,$header_maxdataheight)}]
+                                    }
+                                }
+                            }
+                        }
+
+
                         set headerrow_colspans [tcl::dict::get $all_colspans $hrow]
                         set this_span [lindex $headerrow_colspans $cidx] 
 
@@ -2654,8 +2730,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                         set rowdefminh    [tcl::dict::get $o_rowdefs $r -minheight]
                         set rowdefmaxh    [tcl::dict::get $o_rowdefs $r -maxheight]
                         if {"$rowdefminh$rowdefmaxh" ne "" && $rowdefminh eq $rowdefmaxh} { 
-                            #an exact height is defined for the row
-                            set rowh $rowdefminh
+                            set rowh $rowdefminh ;#an exact height is defined for the row
                         } else {
                             if {$rowdefminh eq ""} {
                                 if {$rowdefmaxh eq ""} {
@@ -2814,6 +2889,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                         $t destroy
                     }
                     puts stdout "columnstates: $o_columnstates"
+                    puts stdout "headerdefs:   $o_headerdefs"
                     puts stdout "headerstates: $o_headerstates"
                     tcl::dict::for {k coldef} $o_columndefs {
                         if {[tcl::dict::exists $o_columndata $k]} {
@@ -4205,6 +4281,68 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
         return $t
     }
 
+    proc bookend_lines {block start {end "\x1b\[m"}} {
+        set out "" 
+        foreach ln [split $block \n] {
+            append out $start $ln $end \n
+        }
+        return [string range $out 0 end-1]
+    }
+    proc ansibase_lines {block {newprefix ""}} {
+        set base "" 
+        set out ""
+        if {$newprefix eq ""} {
+            foreach ln [split $block \n] {
+                set parts [punk::ansi::ta::split_codes $ln]
+                if {[lindex $parts 0] eq ""} {
+                    if {[lindex $parts 1] ne "" && ![punk::ansi::codetype::is_sgr_reset [lindex $parts 1]]} {
+                        set base [lindex $parts 1]
+                        append out $base
+                    } else {
+                        append out $base
+                    }
+                } else {
+                    #leading plaintext - maintain our base
+                    append out $base [lindex $parts 0] [lindex $parts 1]
+                }
+
+                set code_idx 3
+                foreach {pt code} [lrange $parts 2 end] {
+                    if {[punk::ansi::codetype::is_sgr_reset $code]} {
+                        set parts [linsert $parts $code_idx+1 $base] 
+                    }
+                    incr code_idx 2
+                }
+                append out {*}[lrange $parts 2 end] \n
+            }
+            return [string range $out 0 end-1]
+        } else {
+            set base $newprefix
+            foreach ln [split $block \n] {
+                set parts [punk::ansi::ta::split_codes $ln]
+                set code_idx 1
+                set offset 0
+                foreach {pt code} $parts {
+                    if {$code_idx == 1} {
+                        #first pt & code
+                        if {$pt ne ""} {
+                            #leading plaintext
+                            set parts [linsert $parts 0 $base]
+                            incr offset
+                        }
+                    }
+                    if {[punk::ansi::codetype::is_sgr_reset $code]} {
+                        set parts [linsert $parts [expr {$code_idx+1+$offset}] $base]
+                        incr offset
+                    }
+                    incr code_idx 2
+                } 
+                append out {*}$parts \n
+            }
+            return [string range $out 0 end-1]
+        }
+    }
+
     set FRAMETYPES  [textblock::frametypes]
     punk::args::definition [punk::lib::tstr -return string {
         *id textblock::list_as_table
@@ -4606,12 +4744,22 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
         return [punk::char::ansifreestring_width $tl] 
     }
     #uses tcl's tcl::string::length on each line. Length will include chars in ansi codes etc - this is not a 'width' determining function.
-    proc string_length_line_max textblock {
-        tcl::mathfunc::max {*}[lmap v [split $textblock \n] {tcl::string::length $v}]
+    proc string_length_line_max {textblock} {
+        #tcl::mathfunc::max {*}[lmap v [split $textblock \n] {tcl::string::length $v}]
+        set max 0
+        foreach ln [split $textblock \n] {
+            if {[tcl::string::length $ln] > $max} {set max [tcl::string::length $ln]}
+        }
+        return $max
     }
+    #*slightly* slower
+    #proc string_length_line_max {textblock} {
+    #    tcl::mathfunc::max {*}[lmap v [split $textblock \n] {tcl::string::length $v}]
+    #}
     proc string_length_line_min textblock {
         tcl::mathfunc::min {*}[lmap v [split $textblock \n] {tcl::string::length $v}]
     }
+
     proc height {textblock} {
         #This is the height as it will/would-be rendered - not the number of input lines purely in terms of le
         #empty string still has height 1 (at least for left-right/right-left languages) 
@@ -4652,6 +4800,45 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
 
         return [tcl::dict::create width $width height $height] ;#maintain order in 'image processing' standard width then height - caller may use lassign [tcl::dict::values [blocksize <data>]] width height
     }
+    proc size2 {textblock} {
+        if {$textblock eq ""} {
+            return [tcl::dict::create width 0 height 1] ;#no such thing as zero-height block - for consistency with non-empty strings having no line-endings
+        }
+        #strangely - tcl::string::last (windows tcl8.7 anway) is faster than tcl::string::first for large strings when the needle not in the haystack
+        if {[tcl::string::last \t $textblock] >= 0} {
+            if {[tcl::info::exists punk::console::tabwidth]} {
+                set tw $::punk::console::tabwidth
+            } else {
+                set tw 8
+            }
+            set textblock [textutil::tabify::untabify2 $textblock $tw]
+        }
+        #ansistripraw on entire block in one go rather than line by line - result should be the same - review - make tests
+        if {[string length $textblock] > 1 && [punk::ansi::ta::detect $textblock]} {
+            set textblock [punk::ansi::ansistripraw $textblock]
+        }
+        if {[tcl::string::last \n $textblock] >= 0} {
+            #set width [tcl::mathfunc::max {*}[lmap v [punk::lib::lines_as_list -- $textblock] {::punk::char::ansifreestring_width $v}]]
+            set lines [split $textblock \n]
+            set num_le [expr {[llength $lines]-1}]
+            #set width [tcl::mathfunc::max {*}[lmap v $lines {::punk::char::ansifreestring_width $v}]]
+            set width 0
+            foreach ln $lines {
+                set w [::punk::char::ansifreestring_width $ln]
+                if {$w > $width} {
+                    set width $w
+                }
+            }
+        } else {
+            set num_le 0
+            set width [punk::char::ansifreestring_width $textblock] 
+        }
+        #set num_le [expr {[tcl::string::length $textblock]-[tcl::string::length [tcl::string::map [list \n {} \v {}] $textblock]]}] ;#faster than splitting into single-char list
+        #our concept of block-height is likely to be different to other line-counting mechanisms
+        set height [expr {$num_le + 1}] ;# one line if no le - 2 if there is one trailing le even if no data follows le
+
+        return [tcl::dict::create width $width height $height] ;#maintain order in 'image processing' standard width then height - caller may use lassign [tcl::dict::values [blocksize <data>]] width height
+    }
     proc size_as_opts {textblock} {
         set sz [size $textblock]
         return [dict create -width [dict get $sz width] -height [dict get $sz height]]
diff --git a/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.shell-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/overtype-1.6.5.tm b/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.shell-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/overtype-1.6.5.tm
index 3142e1f3..f0e34919 100644
--- a/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.shell-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/overtype-1.6.5.tm
+++ b/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.shell-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/overtype-1.6.5.tm
@@ -729,7 +729,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval overtype {
                                             -width          [tcl::dict::get $vtstate renderwidth]\
                                             -insert_mode    [tcl::dict::get $vtstate insert_mode]\
                                             -autowrap_mode  [tcl::dict::get $vtstate autowrap_mode]\
-                                            -expand_right [tcl::dict::get $opts -opt_expand_right]\
+                                            -expand_right   [tcl::dict::get $opts -expand_right]\
                                             ""\
                                             $overflow_right\
                                         ]
@@ -1366,7 +1366,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval overtype {
 
             if {$overflowlength > 0} {
                 #overlay line wider or equal
-                #review - we still expand_right for centred for now.. possibly should expand_both with ellipsis each end?
+                #review - we still expand_right for centred for now.. possibly should do something like -expand_leftright with ellipsis each end?
                 set rinfo [renderline -info 1 -insert_mode 0 -transparent $opt_transparent -expand_right [tcl::dict::get $opts -overflow] -exposed1 $opt_exposed1 -exposed2 $opt_exposed2 $undertext $overtext]
                 set rendered        [tcl::dict::get $rinfo result]
                 set overflow_right  [tcl::dict::get $rinfo overflow_right]
@@ -1771,7 +1771,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval overtype {
     #-returnextra enables returning of overflow and length
     #review - use punk::ansi::ta::detect to short-circuit processing and do simpler string calcs as an optimisation?
     #review - DECSWL/DECDWL double width line codes - very difficult/impossible to align and compose with other elements
-    #(could render it by faking it with sixels and a lot of work - find/make a sixel font (converter?) and ensure it's exactly 2 cols per char?
+    #(could render it by faking it with sixels and a lot of work - find/make a sixel font and ensure it's exactly 2 cols per char?
     # This would probably be impractical to support for different fonts)
     #todo - review transparency issues with single/double width characters
     #bidi - need a base direction and concept of directional runs for RTL vs LTR - may be best handled at another layer?
@@ -2815,6 +2815,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval overtype {
                         \x1b\[<     1006\
                         \x1b\[      7CSI\
                         \x1bP       7DCS\
+                        \x90        8DCS\
                         \x9b        8CSI\
                         \x1b\]      7OSC\
                         \x9d        8OSC\
@@ -2836,6 +2837,10 @@ tcl::namespace::eval overtype {
                             #Device Control String  https://invisible-island.net/xterm/ctlseqs/ctlseqs.html#h4-Controls-beginning-with-ESC:ESC-F.C74
                             set codenorm [tcl::string::cat $leadernorm [tcl::string::range $code 2 end]]
                         }
+                        8DCS {
+                            #8-bit Device Control String
+                            set codenorm [tcl::string::cat $leadernorm [tcl::string::range $code 1 end]]
+                        }
                         7ESC {
                             set codenorm [tcl::string::cat $leadernorm [tcl::string::range $code 1 end]]
                         }
@@ -3265,6 +3270,17 @@ tcl::namespace::eval overtype {
                                     puts stderr "overtype::renderline DL -  Delete Line - not implemented [ansistring VIEW -lf 1 -vt 1 -nul 1 $code]"
 
                                 }
+                                T {
+                                    #CSI Pn T - SD Pan Up (empty lines introduced at top)
+                                    #CSI Pn+T - kitty extension (lines at top come from scrollback buffer)
+                                    #Pn new lines appear at top of the display, Pn old lines disappear at the bottom of the display
+                                    if {$param eq "" || $param eq "0"} {set param 1} 
+                                    if {[string index $param end] eq "+"} {
+                                        puts stderr "overtype::renderline CSI Pn + T - kitty Pan Up - not implemented [ansistring VIEW -lf 1 -vt 1 -nul 1 $code]"
+                                    } else {
+                                        puts stderr "overtype::renderline CSI Pn T - SD Pan Up - not implemented [ansistring VIEW -lf 1 -vt 1 -nul 1 $code]"
+                                    }
+                                }
                                 X {
                                     puts stderr "overtype::renderline X ECH ERASE CHARACTER - $param"
                                     #ECH - erase character
@@ -3862,9 +3878,14 @@ tcl::namespace::eval overtype {
                             }
 
                         }
-                        7DCS {
+                        7DCS - 8DCS {
                             puts stderr "overtype::renderline DCS - DEVICE CONTROL STRING command UNIMPLEMENTED. code [ansistring VIEW -lf 1 -vt 1 -nul 1 $code]"
-                            #
+                            #ST (string terminator) \x9c or \x1b\\ 
+                            if {[tcl::string::index $codenorm end] eq "\x9c"} {
+                                set code_content [tcl::string::range $codenorm 4 end-1] ;#ST is 8-bit 0x9c 
+                            } else {
+                                set code_content [tcl::string::range $codenorm 4 end-2] ;#ST is \x1b\\
+                            }
 
                         }
                         7OSC - 8OSC {
@@ -3934,6 +3955,12 @@ tcl::namespace::eval overtype {
                                     #tektronix cursor color
                                     puts stderr "overtype::renderline OSC 18 - set tektronix cursor color unimplemented. code [ansistring VIEW -lf 1 -vt 1 -nul 1 $code]"
                                 }
+                                99 {
+                                    #kitty desktop notifications
+                                    #https://sw.kovidgoyal.net/kitty/desktop-notifications/
+                                    #<OSC> 99 ; metadata ; payload <terminator>
+                                    puts stderr "overtype::renderline OSC 99 kitty desktop notification unimplemented. code [ansistring VIEW -lf 1 -vt 1 -nul 1 $code]"
+                                }
                                 104 {
                                     #reset colour palette
                                     #we want to do it for the current rendering context only (vvt)  - not just pass through to underlying vt
@@ -3942,6 +3969,13 @@ tcl::namespace::eval overtype {
                                     set instruction [list reset_colour_palette]
                                     break
                                 }
+                                1337 {
+                                    #iterm2 graphics and file transfer 
+                                    puts stderr "overtype::renderline OSC 1337 iterm2 graphics/file_transfer unimplemented. 1st 100 chars of code [ansistring VIEW -lf 1 -vt 1 -nul 1 [string range $code 0 99]]"
+                                }
+                                5113 {
+                                    puts stderr "overtype::renderline OSC 5113 kitty file transfer unimplemented. 1st 100 chars of code [ansistring VIEW -lf 1 -vt 1 -nul 1 [string range $code 0 99]]"
+                                }
                                 default {
                                     puts stderr "overtype::renderline OSC - UNIMPLEMENTED. code [ansistring VIEW -lf 1 -vt 1 -nul 1 $code]"
                                 }
diff --git a/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.shell-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk-0.1.tm b/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.shell-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk-0.1.tm
index 0ca26f39..9440ae9c 100644
--- a/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.shell-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk-0.1.tm
+++ b/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.shell-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk-0.1.tm
@@ -101,12 +101,15 @@ set punk_testd2 [dict create \
        ] \
 ]
 
-#impolitely cooperative withe punk repl - todo - tone it down.
+#impolitely cooperative with punk repl - todo - tone it down.
 #namespace eval ::punk::repl::codethread {
 #    variable running 0
 #}
-package require punk::lib
+package require punk::lib ;# subdependency punk::args
 package require punk::ansi
+if {![llength [info commands ::ansistring]]} {
+    namespace import punk::ansi::ansistring
+}
 #require aliascore after punk::lib & punk::ansi are loaded
 package require punk::aliascore ;#mostly punk::lib aliases
 punk::aliascore::init
@@ -114,9 +117,6 @@ punk::aliascore::init
 package require punk::repl::codethread 
 package require punk::config
 #package require textblock
-if {![llength [info commands ::ansistring]]} {
-    namespace import punk::ansi::ansistring
-}
 package require punk::console
 package require punk::ns
 package require punk::winpath ;# for windows paths - but has functions that can be called on unix systems
@@ -862,6 +862,8 @@ namespace eval punk {
                     }
                 }
                 #? {
+                    #review - compare to %# ?????
+                    #seems to be unimplemented ?
                     set assigned [string length $leveldata]
                     set already_assigned 1
                 }
@@ -7149,12 +7151,93 @@ namespace eval punk {
         dict filter $result value {?*}
     }
 
-
+    punk::args::definition {
+        *id punk::inspect
+        *proc -name punk::inspect -help\
+            "Function to display values - used pimarily in a punk pipeline.
+        The raw value arguments (not options) are always returned to pass
+        forward in the pipeline.
+        (pipeline data inserted at end of each |...> segment is passed as single item unless
+        inserted with an expanding insertion specifier such as .=>*  )
+        e.g1:
+        .=      list a b c              |v1,/1-end,/0>\\    
+        .=>*    inspect -label i1 --    |>\\    
+        .=v1>   inspect -label i2 --    |>\\   
+                string toupper
+        (3) i1: {a b c} {b c} a
+        (1) i2: a b c
+
+        - A B C
+        "
+        -label -type string -default "" -help\
+            "An optional label to help distinguish output when multiple
+            inspect statements are in a pipeline. This appears after the
+            bracketed count indicating number of values supplied.
+            e.g (2) MYLABEL: val1 val2
+            The label can include ANSI codes.
+            e.g
+            inspect -label [a+ red]mylabel -- val1 val2 val3 
+            "
+        -limit -type int -default 20 -help\
+            "When multiple values are passed to inspect - limit the number
+            of elements displayed in -channel output.
+            When truncation has occured an elipsis indication (...) will be appended.
+            e.g
+            .= lseq 20 to 50 by 3 |> .=>* inspect -limit 4 -- |> .=>* tcl::mathop::+
+            (11) 20 23 26 29...
+
+            - 385
+
+            For no limit - use -limit -1
+            "
+        -channel -type string -default stderr -help\
+            "An existing open channel to write to. If value is any of nul, null, /dev/nul
+            the channel output is disabled. This effectively disables inspect as the args
+            are simply passed through in the return to continue the pipeline.
+            " 
+        -showcount -type boolean -default 1 -help\
+            "Display a leading indicator in brackets showing the number of arg values present."
+        -ansi -type integer -default 1 -nocase 1 -choices {0 1 2 VIEW 3 VIEWCODES 4 VIEWSTYLES} -choicelabels {
+            0 "Strip ANSI codes from display
+        of values. The disply output will 
+        still be colourised if -ansibase has
+        not been set to empty string or 
+        [a+ normal]. The stderr or stdout
+        channels may also have an ansi colour.
+        (see 'colour off' or punk::config)"
+            1 "Leave value as is"
+            2 "Display the ANSI codes and
+        other control characters inline
+        with replacement indicators.
+        e.g esc, newline, space, tab"
+            VIEW "Alias for 2"
+            3 "Display as per 2 but with 
+        colourised ANSI replacement codes."
+            VIEWCODES "Alias for 3"
+            4 "Display ANSI and control
+        chars in default colour, but
+        apply the contained ansi to
+        the text portions so they display
+        as they would for -ansi 1" 
+        VIEWSTYLE "Alias for 4"
+        }
+        -ansibase -type ansistring -default {${[a+ brightgreen]}} -help\
+            "Base ansi code(s) that will apply to output written to the chosen -channel.
+            If there are ansi resets in the displayed values - output will revert to this base.
+            Does not affect return value."
+        -- -type none -help\
+            "End of options marker.
+            It is advisable to use this, as data in a pipeline may often being with -"
+
+        *values -min 0 -max -1
+        arg -type string -optional 1 -multiple 1 -help\
+            "value to display"
+    }
     #pipeline inspect
     #e.g
     #= {a z c} |> inspect -label input_dict |> lsort |> {inspect $data}
     proc inspect {args} {
-        set defaults [list -label "" -limit 20 -channel stderr -showcount 1 -ansi 1]
+        set defaults [list -label "" -limit 20 -channel stderr -showcount 1 -ansi 1 -ansibase [a+ brightgreen]]
         set flags [list]
         set endoptsposn [lsearch $args --] ;#first --  if data expected to contain --, then should always be called with --.  e.g inspect --
         if {$endoptsposn >= 0} {
@@ -7177,24 +7260,28 @@ namespace eval punk {
         }
         foreach {k v} $flags {
             if {$k ni [dict keys $defaults]} {
-                error "inspect: unknown option $k. Known options: [dict keys $defaults].  If data contains flaglike elements, consider calling with end-of-opts marker. e.g inspect --"
+                #error "inspect: unknown option $k. Known options: [dict keys $defaults].  If data contains flaglike elements, consider calling with end-of-opts marker. e.g inspect --"
+                punk::args::get_by_id punk::inspect $args
             }
         }
         set opts [dict merge $defaults $flags]
         # -- --- --- --- ---
-        set label [dict get $opts -label]
-        set channel [dict get $opts -channel]
-        set showcount [dict get $opts -showcount]
+        set label       [dict get $opts -label]
+        set channel     [dict get $opts -channel]
+        set showcount   [dict get $opts -showcount]
         if {[string length $label]} {
             set label "${label}: "
         }
         set limit [dict get $opts -limit]
-        set opt_ansi [dict get $opts -ansi]
+        set opt_ansiraw [dict get $opts -ansi]
+        set opt_ansi [tcl::prefix::match -error "" [list 0 1 2 3 4 view viewcodes viewstyle] [string tolower $opt_ansiraw]]
         switch -- [string tolower $opt_ansi] {
-            0 - 1 - 2 {}
-            view {set opt_ansi 2}
+            0 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 {}
+            view        {set opt_ansi 2}
+            viewcodes   {set opt_ansi 3}
+            viewstyle   {set opt_ansi 4}
             default {
-                error "inspect -ansi 0|1|2|view - received -ansi $opt_ansi"
+                error "inspect -ansi 0|1|2|view|3|viewcodes|4|viewstyle - received -ansi $opt_ansiraw"
             }
         }
         # -- --- --- --- ---
@@ -7248,15 +7335,50 @@ namespace eval punk {
         } else {
             set displaycount ""
         }
-        if {$opt_ansi == 0} {
-            set displayval [punk::ansi::ansistrip $displayval]
-        } elseif {$opt_ansi == 2} {
-            set displayval [ansistring VIEW $displayval]
+
+        set ansibase [dict get $opts -ansibase]
+        if {$ansibase ne ""} {
+            #-ansibase default is hardcoded into punk::args definition 
+            #run a test using any ansi code to see if colour is still enabled
+            if {[a+ red] eq ""} {
+                set ansibase "" ;#colour seems to be disabled
+            }
+        }
+
+        switch -- $opt_ansi {
+            0 {
+                set displayval $ansibase[punk::ansi::ansistrip $displayval]
+            }
+            1 {
+                #val may have ansi - including resets. Pass through ansibase_lines to 
+                if {$ansibase ne ""} {
+                    set displayval [::textblock::ansibase_lines $displayval $ansibase]
+                }
+            }
+            2 {
+                set displayval $ansibase[ansistring VIEW $displayval]
+                if {$ansibase ne ""} {
+                    set displayval [::textblock::ansibase_lines $displayval $ansibase]
+                }
+            }
+            3 {
+                set displayval $ansibase[ansistring VIEWCODE $displayval]
+                if {$ansibase ne ""} {
+                    set displayval [::textblock::ansibase_lines $displayval $ansibase]
+                }
+            }
+            4 {
+                set displayval $ansibase[ansistring VIEWSTYLE $displayval]
+                if {$ansibase ne ""} {
+                    set displayval [::textblock::ansibase_lines $displayval $ansibase]
+                }
+            }
         }
+
         if {![string length $more]} {
-            puts $channel "$displaycount$label[a green bold]$displayval[a]"
+            puts $channel "$displaycount$label$displayval[a]"
         } else {
-            puts $channel "$displaycount$label[a green bold]$displayval[a yellow bold]$more[a]"
+            puts $channel "$displaycount$label$displayval[a yellow bold]$more[a]"
         }
         return $val
     }
diff --git a/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.shell-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/ansi-0.1.1.tm b/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.shell-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/ansi-0.1.1.tm
index 1e52d3e9..452092e7 100644
--- a/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.shell-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/ansi-0.1.1.tm
+++ b/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.shell-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/ansi-0.1.1.tm
@@ -167,6 +167,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ansi::class {
                         }
                         default {
                             puts stderr "render_to_input_line unexpected argument '$k' usage: ?-dimensions WxH? ?-minus charcount? x"
+                            punk::args::get_by_id "punk::ansi::class::class_ansi render_to_input_line" $args
                         }
                     }
                 }
@@ -2415,6 +2416,7 @@ Brightblack 100   Brightred 101   Brightgreen 102   Brightyellow 103   Brightblu
         *id punk::ansi::a+
         *proc -name "punk::ansi::a+" -help\
             "Returns an ANSI sgr escape sequence based on the list of supplied codes.
+            Unlike punk::ansi::a - it is not prefixed with an ANSI reset.
             "
         *values -min 0 -max -1
     }   [string map [list <choices> [dict keys $SGR_map]] {
@@ -2432,10 +2434,12 @@ Brightblack 100   Brightred 101   Brightgreen 102   Brightyellow 103   Brightblu
             The acceptable values for <termcolour> and <webcolour> can be queried using
             punk::ansi::a? term
             and
-            punk::ansi::a? web"
-
+            punk::ansi::a? web
+            
+            Example to set foreground red and background cyan followed by a reset:
+            set str \"[a+ red Cyan]sample text[a]\"
+            "
     }]]
-
     proc a+ {args} {
         #*** !doctools
         #[call [fun a+] [opt {ansicode...}]]
@@ -7065,13 +7069,12 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ansi::ansistring {
         }
     }
 
-    #inserting into global namespace like this should be kept to a minimum.. but this is considered a core aspect of punk::ansi
-    #todo - document
-    interp alias {} ansistring {} ::punk::ansi::ansistring
 
     #*** !doctools
     #[list_end] [comment {--- end definitions namespace punk::ansi::ta ---}]
 }
+
+
 tcl::namespace::eval punk::ansi::control {
     proc APC {args} {
         return \x1b_[join $args {;}]\x1b\\
@@ -7393,6 +7396,10 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ansi::internal {
     }
 }
 
+#inserting into global namespace like this should be kept to a minimum.. but this is considered a core aspect of punk::ansi
+#todo - document
+interp alias {} ansistring {} ::punk::ansi::ansistring
+
 if {![info exists ::punk::args::register::NAMESPACES]} {
     namespace eval ::punk::args::register {
         set NAMESPACES [list]
diff --git a/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.shell-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/args-0.1.0.tm b/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.shell-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/args-0.1.0.tm
index c087ae0b..5a589fe3 100644
--- a/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.shell-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/args-0.1.0.tm
+++ b/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.shell-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/args-0.1.0.tm
@@ -353,7 +353,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
             }
             set optionspecs [join $normargs \n]
             if {[string first \$\{ $optionspecs] > 0} {
-                set optionspecs [uplevel 1 [list punk::args::lib::tstr -return string -eval 1 $optionspecs]]
+                set optionspecs [uplevel 1 [list punk::args::lib::tstr -return string -eval 1 -allowcommands $optionspecs]]
             }
         } else {
             if {[tcl::dict::exists $argdefcache_unresolved $cache_key]} {
@@ -1262,30 +1262,43 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
         if {$arg_error_isrunning} {
             error "arg_error already running - error in arg_error?\n triggering errmsg: $msg"
         }
-        set arg_error_isrunning 1
 
         if {[llength $args] %2 != 0} {
             error "error in arg_error processing - expected opt/val pairs after msg and spec_dict"
         }
+
+        set arg_error_isrunning 1
+
         set badarg ""
-        set returntype error
+        set returntype table ;#table as string 
+        set as_error 1 ;#usual case is to raise an error
         dict for {k v} $args {
             switch -- $k {
                 -badarg {
                     set badarg $v
                 }
+                -aserror {
+                    if {![string is boolean -strict $v]} {
+                        set arg_error_isrunning 0
+                        error "arg_error invalid value for option -aserror. Received '$v' expected a boolean"
+                    }
+                    set as_error $v
+                }
                 -return {
-                    if {$v ni {error string}} {
-                        error "arg_error invalid value for option -return. Received '$v' expected one of: error string"
+                    if {$v ni {string table tableobject}} {
+                        set arg_error_isrunning 0
+                        error "arg_error invalid value for option -return. Received '$v' expected one of: string table tableobject"
                     }
                     set returntype $v
                 }
                 default {
+                    set arg_error_isrunning 0
                     error "arg_error invalid option $k. Known_options: -badarg -return"
                 }
             }
         }
 
+        set t "" ;#possible oo table object - may be tested for objectiness at the end so needs to exist.
 
         #REVIEW - risk of accidental indefinite recursion if functions used here also use punk::args::get_dict and there is an argument error 
         #e.g list_as_table
@@ -1300,12 +1313,20 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
             #couldn't load textblock package
             #just return the original errmsg without formatting
         }
+        set use_table 0
+        if {$has_textblock && $returntype in {table tableobject}} {
+            set use_table 1
+        }
         set errlines [list] ;#for non-textblock output
         if {[catch  {
-            if {$has_textblock} {
+            if {$use_table} {
                 append errmsg \n
             } else {
-                append errmsg \n "[a+ brightred](layout package textblock is missing)[a]" \n
+                if {($returntype in {table tableobject}) && !$has_textblock} {
+                    append errmsg \n "[a+ brightred](layout package textblock is missing)[a]" \n
+                } else {
+                    append errmsg \n
+                }
             }
             set procname [Dict_getdef $spec_dict proc_info -name ""]
             set prochelp [Dict_getdef $spec_dict proc_info -help ""]
@@ -1333,7 +1354,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
             } else {
                 set docurl_display ""
             }
-            if {$has_textblock} {
+            if {$use_table} {
                 set t [textblock::class::table new [a+ brightyellow]Usage[a]]
                 $t add_column -headers $blank_header_col -minwidth 3 
                 $t add_column -headers $blank_header_col 
@@ -1343,7 +1364,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
             }
             set h 0
             if {$procname ne ""} {
-                if {$has_textblock} {
+                if {$use_table} {
                     $t configure_header $h -colspans {1 4 0 0 0} -values [list PROC/METHOD: $procname_display]
                 } else {
                     lappend errlines "PROC/METHOD: $procname_display"
@@ -1351,7 +1372,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
                 incr h
             }
             if {$prochelp ne ""} {
-                if {$has_textblock} {
+                if {$use_table} {
                     $t configure_header $h -colspans {1 4 0 0 0} -values [list Description: $prochelp_display]
                 } else {
                     lappend errlines "Description: $prochelp_display"
@@ -1362,14 +1383,14 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
                 if {![catch {package require punk::ansi}]} {
                     set docurl [punk::ansi::hyperlink $docurl]
                 }
-                if {$has_textblock} {
+                if {$use_table} {
                     $t configure_header $h -colspans {1 4 0 0 0} -values [list $docname $docurl_display]
                 } else {
                     lappend errlines "$docname $docurl_display"
                 }
                 incr h
             }
-            if {$has_textblock} {
+            if {$use_table} {
                 $t configure_header $h -values {Arg Type Default Multi Help}
             } else {
                 lappend errlines " --ARGUMENTS-- "
@@ -1519,7 +1540,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
                             set numcols [llength $formattedchoices]
                         }
                         if {$numcols > 0} {
-                            if {$has_textblock} {
+                            if {$use_table} {
                                 #risk of recursing 
                                 set choicetable [textblock::list_as_table -show_hseps 1 -show_edge 1 -columns $numcols $formattedchoices]
                                 append help \n[textblock::join -- "    " $choicetable]
@@ -1565,7 +1586,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
                         append typeshow \n "-range [dict get $arginfo -range]"
                     }
 
-                    if {$has_textblock} {
+                    if {$use_table} {
                         $t add_row [list $argshow $typeshow $default $multiple $help]
                         if {$arg eq $badarg} {
                             $t configure_row [expr {[$t row_count]-1}] -ansibase $A_BADARG
@@ -1577,11 +1598,14 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
                 }
             }
 
-            if {$has_textblock} {
+            if {$use_table} {
                 $t configure -show_hseps 0 -show_header 1 -ansibase_body [a+ brightwhite] -ansibase_header [a+ brightyellow] -ansiborder_header [a+ brightyellow] -ansiborder_body [a+ brightyellow]
-                $t configure -maxwidth 80
+                $t configure -maxwidth 80 ;#review
                 append errmsg [$t print]
-                $t destroy
+                if {$returntype ne "tableobject"} {
+                    #returntype of table means just the text of the table
+                    $t destroy
+                }
             } else {
                 append errmsg [join $errlines \n]
             }
@@ -1595,11 +1619,22 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
         }
         set arg_error_isrunning 0
         #add PUNK to the tail end of the more usual -errorcode {TCL WRONGARGS} so we maintain reasonable compat with things looking for TCL WRONGARGS - but also differentiate it. 
-        #Also,we're polite enough in the errorInfo, nothing wrong with a Clint Eastwood style errorCode  ;)
-        if {$returntype eq "error"} {
-            return -code error -errorcode {TCL WRONGARGS PUNK} $errmsg
+        #Also, we're polite enough in the errorInfo, nothing wrong with a Clint Eastwood style errorCode  ;)
+        if {$use_table} {
+            #assert returntype is one of table, tableobject
+            set result $errmsg ;#default if for some reason table couldn't be used
+            if {$returntype eq "tableobject"} {
+                if {[info object isa object $t]} {
+                    set result $t
+                } 
+            }
         } else {
-            return $errmsg
+            set result $errmsg
+        }
+        if {$as_error} {
+            return -code error -errorcode {TCL WRONGARGS PUNK} $result
+        } else {
+            return $result
         }
     }
 
@@ -1609,17 +1644,21 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
         *proc -name punk::args::usage -help\
             "return usage information as a string
             in table form."
+        -return -default table -choices {string table tableobject}
+
         *values -min 0 -max 1
         id  -help\
             "exact id.
             Will usually match the command name"
     }]
-    proc usage {id} {
+    proc usage {args} {
+        lassign [dict values [punk::args::get_by_id punk::args::usage $args]] leaders opts values received
+        set id [dict get $values id]
         set speclist [get_spec $id]
         if {[llength $speclist] == 0} {
             error "punk::args::usage - no such id: $id"
         }
-        arg_error "" [uplevel 1 [list punk::args::definition {*}$speclist]] -return string
+        arg_error "" [uplevel 1 [list punk::args::definition {*}$speclist]] {*}$opts -aserror 0 
     }
 
     lappend PUNKARGS [list {
@@ -2726,7 +2765,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args::lib {
         *id punk::args::lib::tstr
         *proc -name punk::args::lib::tstr -help\
             "A rough equivalent of js template literals"
-        -allowcommands -default -1 -type none -help\
+        -allowcommands -default 0 -type none -help\
             "if -allowcommands is present, placeholder can contain commands e.g {\$\{plaintext0 [lindex $var 0] plaintext2\}}"
         -return        -default list -choices {dict list string args}\
             -choicelabels {
diff --git a/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.shell-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/char-0.1.0.tm b/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.shell-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/char-0.1.0.tm
index 4a6c9ab1..3024053b 100644
--- a/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.shell-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/char-0.1.0.tm
+++ b/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.shell-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/char-0.1.0.tm
@@ -600,6 +600,48 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::char {
         puts stdout \n
         puts stdout "cursor position immediately after outputing 3 bytes (xyz): $cursorposn"
     }
+    proc test_zalgo {} {
+        #from: https://github.com/jameslanska/unicode-display-width/blob/5e28d94c75e8c421a87199363b85c90dc37125b8/docs/unicode_background.md
+        #see: https://lingojam.com/ZalgoText
+        puts stdout "44 chars long - 9 graphemes - 9 columns wide"
+
+        set str "Ẓ̌á̲l͔̝̞̄̑͌g̖̘̘̔̔͢͞͝o̪̔T̢̙̫̈̍͞e̬͈͕͌̏͑x̺̍ṭ̓̓ͅ"
+
+    }
+
+    proc test_zalgo2 {} {
+
+        # ------------------------
+
+
+
+        set str "Z̸̢͉̣͔̭̪͙̖̳̘͈͍̤̩̟͈͈͕̯̅̏̆̓̌́́͌̿̕ͅą̷̦̤̫̩͕̥̐̎̓́́̂̀͆́̔̄̈́̏̌́̆͜͜͝͠l̴̩̙̺͚̟͇͖͔͕̹̟͌̈́̄̇́̉̋̕̚͜͠͠g̸͇̩͔̺̝̗̥̖̙̑̈́̈́̿̾̌͌͊̈̀͊̑̇̑͌̍̅̌͊͜͠͝ǫ̴̢̧͎͔̞̤̻̱̮̬͕̗̭͍̣̠̳̆̀̋̓͒̾̄͜͝͠͝T̴̛͉̬̋́̈́̈́̓͗̍̏̔̈̋̀͐̓̎̅̚̕͠͝͝ê̵̖̖̈͊̔̓̔̐̓̃͊̋͋̎͂͋̕x̴̡͎͖̼͎̦͎̲̪̘̺̯̲̬̮̥̼̰͌̃͜ͅt̶̛̘͎̰̔͐͌́̈́͊͗͌̅͂̐̆͌̀͂͘"
+
+
+
+
+        # ------------------------
+    }
+
+    proc test_zalgo3 {} {
+
+        # ------------------------
+
+
+
+
+       set str "Ẕ̸̢̼̺̜̰̣̣̖̭̜͓͖̺̥̼̠͙͙̟̥̟̠̤̫͍̠̤̮͚̝̜̙͈̦̙̩̹̙̜̩̦͔͕̈̃̅̇̈́͂̇̽̈́́́́̎͊̂̑̋͆̔̾͋̚͜ͅã̵̛̪̽̎̃͑̒̇͋͂̽̃̍͊̀̈̊̊̔̊̆̈́͗͑͗̽̄̋͗̄͌̑͊͝͝͠ͅl̵̢͇̖͉͖̝̹̜̞͓͎͍͈̞̱̙͙̦̪͔̱̮͈͉̼͎̭̝̯͇͚̺̟̱͙̳̰̙͚͖̝̫͙̎̅̃͆̈́̋̌̔̋̋͗̈́̔̐͆̈́̓̾̄̀́̏́͒̆̌͒̈́̈́̾̏̀͜͝g̸̖͂͋̊͗̈́̓̆̈̋̒͐̕o̶̧̢͓̲̗̠̘͕̦̤̹̗͉̰͔̯͓̭̹̻͔͇̯̜̙̍̂̃̃̀̓͌̒͊̊̋̒̿̿̌͐̄͗̾̕͝T̶̛̳̜̰͍̹̻̫̠̱̼̼̙̆̑̾̾͛́́̿͋͌̎̀̀̽̆͌̽̂̈̇̅̇̃́̿͗̾͒̎͊̑̾͝͠ȩ̸̢̨̛̛̛̭͔͎͇̫͎͈̲̻̙͕͎̣͈̩̺̗͖͙͇͌͐̒̎͐̓́̉́͐̓̐͌̅̊͋͑̈́͗͑̏̕͜͜͝ͅx̸̧̧̛̖̣̥̘͎͎̳̭̙̦̝͖̝̮̱̹̯̺̙̩̯̮͖̻̰͓̰̩͇̥̑͌̊̐̉̏͆̓̑̎̊̓͒̂̄̆͆̀̊̄̈̽͐͛̏͊̓̌͑́̎̈́̍̈́̊͗̉̋͆̿̊͘͜͜͝͝ͅͅͅt̵̡̨̜̘͎̦͚̠̗̺͉̼̠̲̠͙̺̹̗̲̏̈́̂̚͜͜͝ͅ"
+
+
+
+
+
+        # ------------------------
+
+    }
+
+
+
     proc test_farmer {} {
         #an interesting article re grapheme clustering problems in terminals https://mitchellh.com/writing/grapheme-clusters-in-terminals
         #(similar to the problem with grave accent rendering width that the test_grave proc is written for)
@@ -620,17 +662,29 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::char {
         puts stdout "farmer2 with no joiner          codes: \\U0001f9d1\\U001f33e               : $farmer2"
 
         package require punk::console
+        puts stdout \n
         puts stdout "#2--5---9---C---"
         puts -nonewline stdout \033\[2K\033\[1G ;#2K erase line 1G cursor at col1
-        puts -nonewline "${farmer1}";set cursorposn [punk::console::get_cursor_pos]
-        puts stdout \n
-        puts stdout "cursor position immediately after outputing farmer1 (expecting 1 glyph 2 wide)          : $cursorposn"
+        puts -nonewline "${farmer1}";set cursorposn [punk::console::get_cursor_pos_list]
+        puts stdout "\ncursor position immediately after outputing farmer1 (expecting 1 glyph 2 wide)          : cursor at col [lindex $cursorposn 1]"
+        if {[lindex $cursorposn 1] eq "3"} {
+            puts stdout "[a+ green]OK[a]"
+        } else {
+            puts stdout "[a+ red]ERR - expected cursor position to be 3 after emitting farmer1[a]"
+        }
+        puts stdout "----------------"
         puts stdout "#2--5---9---C---"
-        puts -nonewline "${farmer2}";set cursorposn [punk::console::get_cursor_pos]
-        puts stdout \n
-        puts stdout "cursor position immediately after outputing farmer2 (expecting 2 glyphs 4 wide in total): $cursorposn"
+        puts -nonewline "${farmer2}";set cursorposn [punk::console::get_cursor_pos_list]
+        puts stdout "\ncursor position immediately after outputing farmer2 (expecting 2 glyphs 4 wide in total): cursor at col [lindex $cursorposn 1]"
+        if {[lindex $cursorposn 1] eq "5"} {
+            puts stdout "[a+ green]OK[a]"
+        } else {
+            puts stdout "[a+ red]ERR - expected cursor position to be 5 after emitting farmer2[a]"
+        }
+        puts stdout "----------------"
 
-        return [list $farmer1 $farmer2]
+        puts "returning farmer1 - should be single glyph"
+        return $farmer1
     }
 
     #G0 Sets Sequence   G1 Sets Sequence   Meaning
@@ -1916,6 +1970,172 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::char {
     # - tab/vtab?
     # - compare with wcswidth returning -1 for entire string containing such in python,perl
     proc wcswidth {string} {
+        #faster than textutil::wcswidth (at least for string up to a few K in length)
+        #..but - 'scan' is horrible for 400K+ (Tcl evaluation stack has to be reallocated/copied?) 
+        #Tcl initial evaluation stack size is 2000 (? review)
+        #REVIEW - when we cater for grapheme clusters - we can't just split the string at arbitrary points like this!!
+        set chunksize 2000
+        set chunks_required [expr {int(ceil([tcl::string::length $string] / double($chunksize)))}]
+        set width 0
+        set startidx 0
+        set endidx [expr {$startidx + $chunksize -1}]
+        for {set i 0} {$i < $chunks_required} {incr i} {
+            set chunk [tcl::string::range $string $startidx $endidx] 
+
+            set codes [scan $chunk [tcl::string::repeat %c [tcl::string::length $chunk]]]
+            foreach c $codes {
+                if {$c <= 255 && !($c < 31 || $c == 127)} {
+                    #review - non-printing ascii? why does textutil::wcswidth report 1 ??
+                    #todo - compare with python or other lang wcwidth 
+                    incr width 
+                } elseif {$c < 917504 || $c > 917631} {
+                    #TODO - various other joiners and non-printing chars
+                    set w [textutil::wcswidth_char $c]
+                    if {$w < 0} {
+                        return -1
+                    } else {
+                        incr width $w
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+            incr startidx   $chunksize
+            incr endidx     $chunksize
+        }
+        return $width
+    }
+
+
+
+    # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    #test
+    # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    proc grapheme_split_tk {string} {
+        if {![regexp "\[\uFF-\U10FFFF\]" $string]} {
+            #only ascii - no joiners or unicode
+            return [split $string {}]
+        }
+        package require tk
+        set i 0
+        set graphemes [list]
+        while {$i < [tcl::string::length $string]} {
+            set aftercluster [tk::endOfCluster $string $i]
+            lappend graphemes [string range $string $i $aftercluster-1] 
+            set i $aftercluster
+        }
+        return $graphemes
+    }
+    proc wcswidth_clustered {string} {
+        package require tk
+        set width 0
+        set i 0
+        if {![regexp "\[\uFF-\U10FFFF\]" $string]} {
+            return [punk::char::wcswidth_unclustered $string] ;#still use our wcswidth to account for non-printable ascii
+        }
+        while {$i < [tcl::string::length $string]} {
+            set aftercluster [tk::endOfCluster $string $i]
+            set g [string range $string $i $aftercluster-1]
+            if {$aftercluster > ($i + 1)} {
+                #review - proper way to determine screen width (columns occupied) of a cluster??
+                #according to this:
+                #https://lib.rs/crates/unicode-display-width
+                #for each grapheme - if any of the code points in the cluster have an east asian width of 2,
+                #The entire grapheme width is 2 regardless of how many code points constitute the grapheme
+                set gw 1
+                foreach ch [split $g ""] {
+                    if {[punk::char::wcswidth_single $ch] == 2} {
+                        set gw 2
+                        break
+                    }
+                }
+                incr width $gw
+                
+                #if {[string first \u200d $g] >=0} {
+                #    incr width 2 
+                #} else {
+                #    #other joiners???
+                #    incr width [wcswidth_unclustered $g]
+                #}
+            } else {
+                incr width [wcswidth_unclustered $g] 
+            }
+            set i $aftercluster
+        }
+
+        return $width
+    }
+    proc wcswidth_single {char} {
+        scan $c %c dec
+        if {$c <= 255 && !($c < 31 || $c == 127)} {
+            #review - non-printing ascii? why does textutil::wcswidth report 1 ??
+            #todo - compare with python or other lang wcwidth 
+            return 1 
+        } elseif {$c < 917504 || $c > 917631} {
+            #TODO - various other joiners and non-printing chars
+            return [textutil::wcswidth_char $c]
+            #may return -1 - REVIEW
+        }
+        return 0
+    }
+    proc wcswidth_unclustered1 {string} {
+        set width 0
+        foreach c [split $string {}] {
+            scan $c %c dec
+            if {$c <= 255 && !($c < 31 || $c == 127)} {
+                #review - non-printing ascii? why does textutil::wcswidth report 1 ??
+                #todo - compare with python or other lang wcwidth 
+                incr width 
+            } elseif {$c < 917504 || $c > 917631} {
+                #TODO - various other joiners and non-printing chars
+                set w [textutil::wcswidth_char $c]
+                if {$w < 0} {
+                    return -1
+                } else {
+                    incr width $w
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        return $width
+    }
+    #todo - consider disallowing/erroring out when \r \n in string?
+    # - tab/vtab?
+    # - compare with wcswidth returning -1 for entire string containing such in python,perl
+    proc wcswidth_unclustered {string} {
+        #faster than textutil::wcswidth (at least for string up to a few K in length)
+        #..but - 'scan' is horrible for 400K+ (Tcl evaluation stack has to be reallocated/copied?) 
+        #Tcl initial evaluation stack size is 2000 (? review)
+        #we can only split the string at arbitrary points like this because we are specifically dealing with input that has no clusters!.
+        set chunksize 2000
+        set chunks_required [expr {int(ceil([tcl::string::length $string] / double($chunksize)))}]
+        set width 0
+        set startidx 0
+        set endidx [expr {$startidx + $chunksize -1}]
+        for {set i 0} {$i < $chunks_required} {incr i} {
+            set chunk [tcl::string::range $string $startidx $endidx] 
+
+            set codes [scan $chunk [tcl::string::repeat %c [tcl::string::length $chunk]]]
+            foreach c $codes {
+                if {$c <= 255 && !($c < 31 || $c == 127)} {
+                    #review - non-printing ascii? why does textutil::wcswidth report 1 ??
+                    #todo - compare with python or other lang wcwidth 
+                    incr width 
+                } elseif {$c < 917504 || $c > 917631} {
+                    #TODO - various other joiners and non-printing chars
+                    set w [textutil::wcswidth_char $c]
+                    if {$w < 0} {
+                        return -1
+                    } else {
+                        incr width $w
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+            incr startidx   $chunksize
+            incr endidx     $chunksize
+        }
+        return $width
+    }
+    # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+    proc wcswidth0 {string} {
         #faster than textutil::wcswidth (at least for string up to a few K in length)
         #..but - 'scan' is horrible for 400K+ 
         #TODO 
@@ -1943,20 +2163,6 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::char {
         }
         return $width
     }
-    #faster than textutil::wcswidth (at least for string up to a few K in length)
-    proc wcswidth1 {string} {
-        set codes [scan $string [tcl::string::repeat %c [tcl::string::length $string]]]
-        set width 0
-        foreach c $codes {
-            set w [textutil::wcswidth_char $c]
-            if {$w < 0} {
-                return -1
-            } else {
-                incr width $w
-            }
-        }
-        return $width
-    }
     proc wcswidth2 {string} {
         set codes [scan $string [tcl::string::repeat %c [tcl::string::length $string]]]
         set widths [lmap c $codes {textutil::wcswidth_char $c}]
diff --git a/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.shell-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/console-0.1.1.tm b/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.shell-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/console-0.1.1.tm
index c4f2bfc4..c27503c3 100644
--- a/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.shell-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/console-0.1.1.tm
+++ b/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.shell-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/console-0.1.1.tm
@@ -875,6 +875,7 @@ namespace eval punk::console {
         }
     }
 
+    punk::args::set_alias punk::console::code_a+ punk::ansi::a+
     proc code_a+ {args} {
         variable ansi_wanted
         if {$ansi_wanted <= 0} {
diff --git a/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.shell-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/lib-0.1.1.tm b/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.shell-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/lib-0.1.1.tm
index 9ebd2ca2..6fabbba7 100644
--- a/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.shell-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/lib-0.1.1.tm
+++ b/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.shell-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/lib-0.1.1.tm
@@ -962,21 +962,6 @@ namespace eval punk::lib {
    
     namespace import ::punk::args::lib::tstr
     
-    #get info about punk nestindex key ie type: list,dict,undetermined
-    proc nestindex_info {args} {
-        set argd [punk::args::get_dict {
-            -parent -default ""
-            nestindex 
-        } $args]
-        set opt_parent      [dict get $argd opts -parent]
-        if {$opt_parent eq ""} {
-            set parent_type undetermined
-        } else {
-            set parent_type [nestindex_info -parent "" $opt_parent] ;#make sure we explicitly set parent of parent to empty so we don't just recurse forever doing nothing  
-        }
-        
-
-    }
 
 
     proc invoke command {
@@ -1127,17 +1112,35 @@ namespace eval punk::lib {
             -keytemplates       -default {\$\{$key\}} -type list -help "list of templates for keys at each level"
             -keysorttype        -default "none" -choices {none dictionary ascii integer real}
             -keysortdirection   -default increasing -choices {increasing decreasing}
+            -debug              -default 0 -type boolean -help\
+                "When enabled, produces some rudimentary debug output on stderr"
             *values -min 1 -max -1
             dictvalue                       -type list -help "dict or list value"
             patterns            -default "*"   -type string -multiple 1 -help "key or key glob pattern"
         }] $args]
+
+        #for punk::lib - we want to reduce pkg dependencies.
+        # - so we won't even use the tcllib debug pkg here 
+        set opt_debug               [dict get $argd opts -debug]
+        if {$opt_debug} {
+            if {[info body debug::showdict] eq ""} {
+                proc ::punk::lib::debug::showdict {args} {
+                    catch {puts stderr "punk::lib::showdict-> [string cat {*}$args]"}
+                }
+            }
+        } else {
+            if {[info body debug::showdict] ne ""} {
+                proc ::punk::lib::debug::showdict {args} {}
+            }
+        }
+
         set opt_sep                 [dict get $argd opts -separator]
         set opt_mismatch_sep        [dict get $argd opts -separator_mismatch]
         set opt_keysorttype         [dict get $argd opts -keysorttype]
         set opt_keysortdirection    [dict get $argd opts -keysortdirection]
         set opt_trimright           [dict get $argd opts -trimright]
         set opt_keytemplates        [dict get $argd opts -keytemplates]
-        puts stderr "---> $opt_keytemplates <---"
+        debug::showdict "keytemplates ---> $opt_keytemplates <---"
         set opt_ansibase_keys       [dict get $argd opts -ansibase_keys]
         set opt_ansibase_values     [dict get $argd opts -ansibase_values]
         set opt_return              [dict get $argd opts -return]
@@ -4112,10 +4115,31 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::lib::system {
         return $incomplete
     }
 
+    #get info about punk nestindex key ie type: list,dict,undetermined
+    # pdict devel 
+    proc nestindex_info {args} {
+        set argd [punk::args::get_dict {
+            -parent -default ""
+            nestindex 
+        } $args]
+        set opt_parent      [dict get $argd opts -parent]
+        if {$opt_parent eq ""} {
+            set parent_type undetermined
+        } else {
+            set parent_type [nestindex_info -parent "" $opt_parent] ;#make sure we explicitly set parent of parent to empty so we don't just recurse forever doing nothing  
+        }
+
+        #??? 
+
+    }
     #*** !doctools
     #[list_end] [comment {--- end definitions namespace punk::lib::system ---}]
 }
 
+tcl::namespace::eval punk::lib::debug {
+    proc showdict {args} {}
+}
+
 if {![info exists ::punk::args::register::NAMESPACES]} {
     namespace eval ::punk::args::register {
         set ::punk::args::register::NAMESPACES [list] ;#use fully qualified so 8.6 doesn't find existing var in global namespace
diff --git a/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.shell-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/ns-0.1.0.tm b/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.shell-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/ns-0.1.0.tm
index 880dde53..14b8f00d 100644
--- a/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.shell-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/ns-0.1.0.tm
+++ b/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.shell-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/ns-0.1.0.tm
@@ -1896,6 +1896,10 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ns {
         *id punk::ns::arginfo
         *proc -name punk::ns::arginfo -help\
             "Show usage info for a command"
+        -return -type string -default table -choices {string table tableobject}
+        -- -type none -help\
+            "End of options marker
+            Use this if the command to view begins with a -"
         *values -min 1
         commandpath -help\
             "command (may be alias or ensemble)"
@@ -2050,7 +2054,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ns {
                                     incr i
                                 }
                                 punk::args::definition $argspec
-                                return [punk::args::usage "$origin new"]
+                                return [punk::args::usage {*}$opts "$origin new"]
                             }
                             create {
                                 set constructorinfo [info class constructor $origin]
@@ -2079,7 +2083,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ns {
                                     incr i
                                 }
                                 punk::args::definition $argspec
-                                return [punk::args::usage "$origin create"]
+                                return [punk::args::usage {*}$opts "$origin create"]
                             }
                             destroy {
                                 #review - generally no doc
@@ -2092,7 +2096,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ns {
                                     *values -min 0 -max 0
                                 }]
                                 punk::args::definition $argspec
-                                return [punk::args::usage "$origin destroy"]
+                                return [punk::args::usage {*}$opts "$origin destroy"]
                             }
                             default {
                                 #use info object call <obj> <method> to resolve callchain 
@@ -2112,7 +2116,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ns {
                                                 set id "[string trimleft $origin :] $c1" ;# "<object> <method>"
                                                 if {[info commands ::punk::args::id_exists] ne ""} {
                                                     if {[punk::args::id_exists $id]} {
-                                                        return [uplevel 1 [list punk::args::usage $id]]
+                                                        return [uplevel 1 [list punk::args::usage {*}$opts $id]]
                                                     }
                                                 }
                                                 set def [::info object definition $origin $c1]
@@ -2120,7 +2124,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ns {
                                                 set id "[string trimleft $location :] $c1" ;# "<class> <method>"
                                                 if {[info commands ::punk::args::id_exists] ne ""} {
                                                     if {[punk::args::id_exists $id]} {
-                                                        return [uplevel 1 [list punk::args::usage $id]]
+                                                        return [uplevel 1 [list punk::args::usage {*}$opts $id]]
                                                     }
                                                 }
                                                 set def [::info class definition $location $c1]
@@ -2162,7 +2166,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ns {
                                         incr i
                                     }
                                     punk::args::definition $argspec
-                                    return [punk::args::usage "$location $c1"]
+                                    return [punk::args::usage {*}$opts "$location $c1"]
                                 } else {
                                     return "unable to resolve $origin method $c1"
                                 }
@@ -2216,7 +2220,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ns {
                 }]
                 append argspec \n $vline
                 punk::args::definition $argspec
-                return [punk::args::usage $origin]
+                return [punk::args::usage {*}$opts $origin]
             }
             privateObject {
                 return "Command is a privateObject - no info currently available"
@@ -2327,7 +2331,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ns {
             }]
             append argspec \n $vline
             punk::args::definition $argspec
-            return [punk::args::usage $origin]
+            return [punk::args::usage {*}$opts $origin]
         }
 
         #check for tepam help
@@ -2363,7 +2367,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ns {
         set id [string trimleft $origin :]
         if {[info commands ::punk::args::id_exists] ne ""} {
             if {[punk::args::id_exists $id]} {
-                return [uplevel 1 [list punk::args::usage $id]]
+                return [uplevel 1 [list punk::args::usage {*}$opts $id]]
             }
         }
         set origin_ns [nsprefix $origin]
diff --git a/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.shell-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/repl/codethread-0.1.1.tm b/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.shell-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/repl/codethread-0.1.1.tm
index d14b626d..b3693f71 100644
--- a/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.shell-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/repl/codethread-0.1.1.tm
+++ b/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.shell-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/punk/repl/codethread-0.1.1.tm
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::repl::codethread {
                 if {[llength $::codeinterp::run_command_cache] > 2000} {
                     set ::codeinterp::run_command_cache [lrange $::codeinterp::run_command_cache 1750 end][unset ::codeinterp::run_command_cache]
                 }
-                if {[string first ":::" $::punk::ns::ns_current]} {
+                if {[string first ":::" $::punk::ns::ns_current] >= 0} {
                     #support for browsing 'odd' (inadvisable) namespaces
                     #don't use 'namespace exists' - will conflate ::test::x with ::test:::x
                     #if {$::punk::ns::ns_current in [namespace children  [punk::ns::nsprefix $::punk::ns::ns_current]} {
diff --git a/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.shell-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/textblock-0.1.2.tm b/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.shell-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/textblock-0.1.2.tm
index 1a298b4e..3651c0f0 100644
--- a/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.shell-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/textblock-0.1.2.tm
+++ b/src/project_layouts/custom/_project/punk.shell-0.1/src/bootsupport/modules/textblock-0.1.2.tm
@@ -299,6 +299,9 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
         #It does however affect all ensemble commands - so even 'dict get/set' etc won't be as efficient in a safe interp.
 
         #e.g $t configure -framemap_body [table_edge_map " "]
+
+        # -- --- --- --- ---
+        #unused?
         proc table_edge_map {char} {
             variable table_edge_parts
             set map [list]
@@ -335,6 +338,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
             }
             return $map
         }
+        # -- --- --- --- ---
 
         if {[tcl::info::commands [tcl::namespace::current]::table] eq ""} {
             #*** !doctools
@@ -374,6 +378,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                 variable o_columndefs
                 variable o_columndata
                 variable o_columnstates
+                variable o_headerdefs
                 variable o_headerstates
 
                 variable o_rowdefs
@@ -432,6 +437,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                     set o_columndefs    [tcl::dict::create]
                     set o_columndata    [tcl::dict::create] ;#we store data by column even though it is often added row by row
                     set o_columnstates  [tcl::dict::create] ;#store the maxwidthbodyseen etc as we add rows and maxwidthheaderseen etc as we add headers - it is needed often and expensive to calculate repeatedly
+                    set o_headerdefs    [tcl::dict::create] ;#by header-row
                     set o_headerstates  [tcl::dict::create]
                     set o_rowdefs       [tcl::dict::create] ;#user requested row data e.g -minheight -maxheight
                     set o_rowstates     [tcl::dict::create] ;#actual row data such as -minheight and -maxheight detected from supplied row data
@@ -439,12 +445,14 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                     set TSUB \uF111 ;#should be BMP PUA code to show as either replacement char or nerdfont glyph. See FSUB for comments regarding choices.
                     set o_calculated_column_widths [list]
                     set o_column_width_algorithm "span"
-                    set header_defaults [tcl::dict::create\
+                    set o_opts_header_defaults [tcl::dict::create\
                         -colspans {}\
                         -values {}\
                         -ansibase {}\
+                        -ansireset "\x1b\[m"\
+                        -minheight 1\
+                        -maxheight ""\
                     ]
-                    set o_opts_header_defaults $header_defaults
                 }
 
                 method width_algorithm {{alg ""}} {
@@ -1107,10 +1115,18 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                                 }
                             }
                         }
-                        #args checked - ok to update headerstates  and columndefs and columnstates
+                        #args checked - ok to update headerstates, headerdefs  and columndefs and columnstates
                         tcl::dict::set o_columndefs $cidx $checked_opts
-
                         set o_headerstates $hstates 
+                        dict for {hidx hstate} $hstates {
+                            #configure_header
+                            if {![dict exists $o_headerdefs $hidx]} {
+                                #remove calculated members  -values -colspans
+                                set hdefaults [dict remove $o_opts_header_defaults -values -colspans]
+                                dict set o_headerdefs $hidx $hdefaults 
+                            }
+                        }
+
                         tcl::dict::set o_columnstates $cidx $colstate
 
                         if {$args_got_headers} {
@@ -1267,11 +1283,10 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                     return $hcolspans
                 }
 
-                #should be configure_headerrow ?
                 method configure_header {index_expression args} {
                     #*** !doctools
                     #[call class::table [method configure_header]]
-                    #[para] - undocumented
+                    #[para] - configure header row-wise 
 
                     #the header data being configured or returned here is mostly derived from the column defs and if necessary written to the column defs.
                     #It can also be set column by column - but it is much easier (especially for colspans) to configure them on a header-row basis
@@ -1279,7 +1294,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                     set num_headers [my header_count_calc]
                     set hidx [lindex [tcl::dict::keys $o_headerstates] $index_expression]
                     if {$hidx eq ""} {
-                        error "textblock::table::configure_header - no row defined at index '$hidx'."
+                        error "textblock::table::configure_header - no header row defined at index '$index_expression'."
                     }
                     if {$hidx > $num_headers -1} {
                         #assert - shouldn't happen
@@ -1298,6 +1313,14 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                             lappend header_row_items $relevant_header ;#may be empty string because column had nothing at that index, or may be empty string stored in that column. We don't differentiate. 
                         }
                         tcl::dict::set result -values $header_row_items 
+
+                        #review - ensure always a headerdef record for each header?
+                        if {[tcl::dict::exists $o_headerdefs $hidx]} {
+                            set result [tcl::dict::merge $result [tcl::dict::get $o_headerdefs $hidx]]
+                        } else {
+                            #warn for now
+                            puts stderr "no headerdef record for header $hidx"
+                        }
                         return $result
                     }
                     if {[llength $args] == 1} {
@@ -1328,7 +1351,8 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                                     set colspans_by_header [my header_colspans] 
                                     set result [tcl::dict::create]
                                     set val [tcl::dict::get $colspans_by_header $hidx]
-                                    set returndict [tcl::dict::create option $k value $val ansireset "\x1b\[m"]
+                                    #ansireset not required
+                                    set returndict [tcl::dict::create option $k value $val]
                                 }
                                 -ansibase {
                                     set val ???
@@ -1369,8 +1393,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                                         lappend header_ansibase_items $code
                                     }
                                 }
-                                set header_ansibase [punk::ansi::codetype::sgr_merge_singles $row_ansibase_items]
-                                error "sorry - -ansibase not yet implemented for header rows"
+                                set header_ansibase [punk::ansi::codetype::sgr_merge_singles $header_ansibase_items]
                                 lappend checked_opts $k $header_ansibase
                             }
                             -ansireset {
@@ -1472,6 +1495,10 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                     #safe jumptable test
                     #dict for {k v} $checked_opts {}
                     #foreach {k v} $checked_opts {}
+
+                    # headerdefs excludes -values and -colspans
+                    set update_hdefs [tcl::dict::get $o_headerdefs $hidx]
+
                     tcl::dict::for {k v} $checked_opts {
                         switch -- $k {
                             -values {
@@ -1538,8 +1565,28 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                                     incr c
                                 }
                             }
+                            default {
+                                dict set update_hdefs $k $v
+                            }
                         }
                     }
+                    set opt_minh [tcl::dict::get $update_hdefs -minheight]
+                    set opt_maxh [tcl::dict::get $update_hdefs -maxheight]
+
+                    #todo - allow zero values to hide/collapse
+                    # - see also configure_row
+                    if {![tcl::string::is integer $opt_minh] || ($opt_maxh ne "" && ![tcl::string::is integer -strict $opt_maxh])} {
+                        error "[tcl::namespace::current]::table::configure_header error -minheight '$opt_minh' and -maxheight '$opt_maxh' must be integers greater than or equal to 1 (for now)"
+                    }
+                    if {$opt_minh < 1 || ($opt_maxh ne "" && $opt_maxh < 1)} {
+                        error "[tcl::namespace::current]::table::configure_header error -minheight '$opt_minh' and -maxheight '$opt_maxh' must both be 1 or greater (for now)"
+                    }
+                    if {$opt_maxh ne "" && $opt_maxh < $opt_minh} {
+                        error "[tcl::namespace::current]::table::configure_header error -maxheight '$opt_maxh' must greater than -minheight '$opt_minh'"
+                    }
+
+                    #set o_headerstate $hidx -minheight? -maxheight? ???
+                    tcl::dict::set o_headerdefs $hidx $update_hdefs 
                 }
 
                 method add_row {valuelist args} {
@@ -2050,7 +2097,8 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                         foreach header $header_list {
                             set headerspans [tcl::dict::get $all_colspans $hrow]
                             set this_span [lindex $headerspans $cidx]
-                            set hval $ansibase_header$header ;#no reset
+                            #set hval $ansibase_header$header ;#no reset
+                            set hval $header
                             set rowh [my header_height $hrow]
 
                             if {$hrow == 0} {
@@ -2317,7 +2365,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                                     set h_lines [lrepeat $rowh $bline]
                                     set hcell_blank [::join $h_lines \n]
                                     # -usecache 1 ok
-                                    #frame borders will never display - so use the simplest frametype and don't apply any ansi
+                                    #frame borders will never display - so use the simplest frametype and don't apply any ansi 
                                     #puts "===>zerospan hlims: $hlims"
                                     set header_frame [textblock::frame -checkargs 0 -ellipsis 0 -width [expr {$padwidth+2}] -type ascii\
                                         -boxlimits $hlims -boxmap $framesub_map  $hcell_blank\
@@ -2589,8 +2637,8 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                         }
                     }
 
-                    set ansibase_body   [tcl::dict::get $o_opts_table -ansibase_body]
-                    set ansibase_header [tcl::dict::get $o_opts_table -ansibase_header]
+                    #set ansibase_body   [tcl::dict::get $o_opts_table -ansibase_body]
+                    #set ansibase_header [tcl::dict::get $o_opts_table -ansibase_header]
 
                     #set header_underlay $ansibase_header$cell_line_blank
 
@@ -2613,7 +2661,35 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                     set showing_vseps [my Showing_vseps]
                     for {set hrow 0} {$hrow < $num_header_rows} {incr hrow} {
                         set hdr [lindex $headerlist $hrow]
-                        set header_maxdataheight [my header_height $hrow]  ;#from cached headerstates
+                        #jjj
+                        set header_maxdataheight   [tcl::dict::get $o_headerstates $hrow maxheightseen]
+                        #set header_maxdataheight [my header_height $hrow]  ;#from cached headerstates
+                        set headerdefminh   [tcl::dict::get $o_headerdefs $hrow -minheight]
+                        set headerdefmaxh   [tcl::dict::get $o_headerdefs $hrow -maxheight]
+                        if {"$headerdefminh$headerdefmaxh" ne "" && $headerdefminh eq $headerdefmaxh} {
+                            set headerh $headerdefminh ;#exact height defined for the row
+                        } else {
+                            if {$headerdefminh eq ""} {
+                                if {$headerdefmaxh eq ""} {
+                                    #both defs empty
+                                    set headerh $header_maxdataheight
+                                } else {
+                                    set headerh [expr {min(1,$headerdefmaxh,$header_maxdataheight)}]
+                                }
+                            } else {
+                                if {$headerdefmaxh eq ""} {
+                                    set headerh [expr {max($headerdefminh,$header_maxdataheight)}]
+                                } else {
+                                    if {$header_maxdataheight < $headerdefminh} {
+                                        set headerh $headerdefminh
+                                    } else {
+                                        set headerh [expr {max($headerdefminh,$header_maxdataheight)}]
+                                    }
+                                }
+                            }
+                        }
+
+
                         set headerrow_colspans [tcl::dict::get $all_colspans $hrow]
                         set this_span [lindex $headerrow_colspans $cidx] 
 
@@ -2654,8 +2730,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                         set rowdefminh    [tcl::dict::get $o_rowdefs $r -minheight]
                         set rowdefmaxh    [tcl::dict::get $o_rowdefs $r -maxheight]
                         if {"$rowdefminh$rowdefmaxh" ne "" && $rowdefminh eq $rowdefmaxh} { 
-                            #an exact height is defined for the row
-                            set rowh $rowdefminh
+                            set rowh $rowdefminh ;#an exact height is defined for the row
                         } else {
                             if {$rowdefminh eq ""} {
                                 if {$rowdefmaxh eq ""} {
@@ -2814,6 +2889,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                         $t destroy
                     }
                     puts stdout "columnstates: $o_columnstates"
+                    puts stdout "headerdefs:   $o_headerdefs"
                     puts stdout "headerstates: $o_headerstates"
                     tcl::dict::for {k coldef} $o_columndefs {
                         if {[tcl::dict::exists $o_columndata $k]} {
@@ -4205,6 +4281,68 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
         return $t
     }
 
+    proc bookend_lines {block start {end "\x1b\[m"}} {
+        set out "" 
+        foreach ln [split $block \n] {
+            append out $start $ln $end \n
+        }
+        return [string range $out 0 end-1]
+    }
+    proc ansibase_lines {block {newprefix ""}} {
+        set base "" 
+        set out ""
+        if {$newprefix eq ""} {
+            foreach ln [split $block \n] {
+                set parts [punk::ansi::ta::split_codes $ln]
+                if {[lindex $parts 0] eq ""} {
+                    if {[lindex $parts 1] ne "" && ![punk::ansi::codetype::is_sgr_reset [lindex $parts 1]]} {
+                        set base [lindex $parts 1]
+                        append out $base
+                    } else {
+                        append out $base
+                    }
+                } else {
+                    #leading plaintext - maintain our base
+                    append out $base [lindex $parts 0] [lindex $parts 1]
+                }
+
+                set code_idx 3
+                foreach {pt code} [lrange $parts 2 end] {
+                    if {[punk::ansi::codetype::is_sgr_reset $code]} {
+                        set parts [linsert $parts $code_idx+1 $base] 
+                    }
+                    incr code_idx 2
+                }
+                append out {*}[lrange $parts 2 end] \n
+            }
+            return [string range $out 0 end-1]
+        } else {
+            set base $newprefix
+            foreach ln [split $block \n] {
+                set parts [punk::ansi::ta::split_codes $ln]
+                set code_idx 1
+                set offset 0
+                foreach {pt code} $parts {
+                    if {$code_idx == 1} {
+                        #first pt & code
+                        if {$pt ne ""} {
+                            #leading plaintext
+                            set parts [linsert $parts 0 $base]
+                            incr offset
+                        }
+                    }
+                    if {[punk::ansi::codetype::is_sgr_reset $code]} {
+                        set parts [linsert $parts [expr {$code_idx+1+$offset}] $base]
+                        incr offset
+                    }
+                    incr code_idx 2
+                } 
+                append out {*}$parts \n
+            }
+            return [string range $out 0 end-1]
+        }
+    }
+
     set FRAMETYPES  [textblock::frametypes]
     punk::args::definition [punk::lib::tstr -return string {
         *id textblock::list_as_table
@@ -4606,12 +4744,22 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
         return [punk::char::ansifreestring_width $tl] 
     }
     #uses tcl's tcl::string::length on each line. Length will include chars in ansi codes etc - this is not a 'width' determining function.
-    proc string_length_line_max textblock {
-        tcl::mathfunc::max {*}[lmap v [split $textblock \n] {tcl::string::length $v}]
+    proc string_length_line_max {textblock} {
+        #tcl::mathfunc::max {*}[lmap v [split $textblock \n] {tcl::string::length $v}]
+        set max 0
+        foreach ln [split $textblock \n] {
+            if {[tcl::string::length $ln] > $max} {set max [tcl::string::length $ln]}
+        }
+        return $max
     }
+    #*slightly* slower
+    #proc string_length_line_max {textblock} {
+    #    tcl::mathfunc::max {*}[lmap v [split $textblock \n] {tcl::string::length $v}]
+    #}
     proc string_length_line_min textblock {
         tcl::mathfunc::min {*}[lmap v [split $textblock \n] {tcl::string::length $v}]
     }
+
     proc height {textblock} {
         #This is the height as it will/would-be rendered - not the number of input lines purely in terms of le
         #empty string still has height 1 (at least for left-right/right-left languages) 
@@ -4652,6 +4800,45 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
 
         return [tcl::dict::create width $width height $height] ;#maintain order in 'image processing' standard width then height - caller may use lassign [tcl::dict::values [blocksize <data>]] width height
     }
+    proc size2 {textblock} {
+        if {$textblock eq ""} {
+            return [tcl::dict::create width 0 height 1] ;#no such thing as zero-height block - for consistency with non-empty strings having no line-endings
+        }
+        #strangely - tcl::string::last (windows tcl8.7 anway) is faster than tcl::string::first for large strings when the needle not in the haystack
+        if {[tcl::string::last \t $textblock] >= 0} {
+            if {[tcl::info::exists punk::console::tabwidth]} {
+                set tw $::punk::console::tabwidth
+            } else {
+                set tw 8
+            }
+            set textblock [textutil::tabify::untabify2 $textblock $tw]
+        }
+        #ansistripraw on entire block in one go rather than line by line - result should be the same - review - make tests
+        if {[string length $textblock] > 1 && [punk::ansi::ta::detect $textblock]} {
+            set textblock [punk::ansi::ansistripraw $textblock]
+        }
+        if {[tcl::string::last \n $textblock] >= 0} {
+            #set width [tcl::mathfunc::max {*}[lmap v [punk::lib::lines_as_list -- $textblock] {::punk::char::ansifreestring_width $v}]]
+            set lines [split $textblock \n]
+            set num_le [expr {[llength $lines]-1}]
+            #set width [tcl::mathfunc::max {*}[lmap v $lines {::punk::char::ansifreestring_width $v}]]
+            set width 0
+            foreach ln $lines {
+                set w [::punk::char::ansifreestring_width $ln]
+                if {$w > $width} {
+                    set width $w
+                }
+            }
+        } else {
+            set num_le 0
+            set width [punk::char::ansifreestring_width $textblock] 
+        }
+        #set num_le [expr {[tcl::string::length $textblock]-[tcl::string::length [tcl::string::map [list \n {} \v {}] $textblock]]}] ;#faster than splitting into single-char list
+        #our concept of block-height is likely to be different to other line-counting mechanisms
+        set height [expr {$num_le + 1}] ;# one line if no le - 2 if there is one trailing le even if no data follows le
+
+        return [tcl::dict::create width $width height $height] ;#maintain order in 'image processing' standard width then height - caller may use lassign [tcl::dict::values [blocksize <data>]] width height
+    }
     proc size_as_opts {textblock} {
         set sz [size $textblock]
         return [dict create -width [dict get $sz width] -height [dict get $sz height]]
diff --git a/src/vendormodules/overtype-1.6.5.tm b/src/vendormodules/overtype-1.6.5.tm
index e78727d0..f0e34919 100644
--- a/src/vendormodules/overtype-1.6.5.tm
+++ b/src/vendormodules/overtype-1.6.5.tm
@@ -729,7 +729,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval overtype {
                                             -width          [tcl::dict::get $vtstate renderwidth]\
                                             -insert_mode    [tcl::dict::get $vtstate insert_mode]\
                                             -autowrap_mode  [tcl::dict::get $vtstate autowrap_mode]\
-                                            -expand_right [tcl::dict::get $opts -opt_expand_right]\
+                                            -expand_right   [tcl::dict::get $opts -expand_right]\
                                             ""\
                                             $overflow_right\
                                         ]
@@ -1366,7 +1366,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval overtype {
 
             if {$overflowlength > 0} {
                 #overlay line wider or equal
-                #review - we still expand_right for centred for now.. possibly should expand_both with ellipsis each end?
+                #review - we still expand_right for centred for now.. possibly should do something like -expand_leftright with ellipsis each end?
                 set rinfo [renderline -info 1 -insert_mode 0 -transparent $opt_transparent -expand_right [tcl::dict::get $opts -overflow] -exposed1 $opt_exposed1 -exposed2 $opt_exposed2 $undertext $overtext]
                 set rendered        [tcl::dict::get $rinfo result]
                 set overflow_right  [tcl::dict::get $rinfo overflow_right]
@@ -2815,6 +2815,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval overtype {
                         \x1b\[<     1006\
                         \x1b\[      7CSI\
                         \x1bP       7DCS\
+                        \x90        8DCS\
                         \x9b        8CSI\
                         \x1b\]      7OSC\
                         \x9d        8OSC\
@@ -2836,6 +2837,10 @@ tcl::namespace::eval overtype {
                             #Device Control String  https://invisible-island.net/xterm/ctlseqs/ctlseqs.html#h4-Controls-beginning-with-ESC:ESC-F.C74
                             set codenorm [tcl::string::cat $leadernorm [tcl::string::range $code 2 end]]
                         }
+                        8DCS {
+                            #8-bit Device Control String
+                            set codenorm [tcl::string::cat $leadernorm [tcl::string::range $code 1 end]]
+                        }
                         7ESC {
                             set codenorm [tcl::string::cat $leadernorm [tcl::string::range $code 1 end]]
                         }
@@ -3265,6 +3270,17 @@ tcl::namespace::eval overtype {
                                     puts stderr "overtype::renderline DL -  Delete Line - not implemented [ansistring VIEW -lf 1 -vt 1 -nul 1 $code]"
 
                                 }
+                                T {
+                                    #CSI Pn T - SD Pan Up (empty lines introduced at top)
+                                    #CSI Pn+T - kitty extension (lines at top come from scrollback buffer)
+                                    #Pn new lines appear at top of the display, Pn old lines disappear at the bottom of the display
+                                    if {$param eq "" || $param eq "0"} {set param 1} 
+                                    if {[string index $param end] eq "+"} {
+                                        puts stderr "overtype::renderline CSI Pn + T - kitty Pan Up - not implemented [ansistring VIEW -lf 1 -vt 1 -nul 1 $code]"
+                                    } else {
+                                        puts stderr "overtype::renderline CSI Pn T - SD Pan Up - not implemented [ansistring VIEW -lf 1 -vt 1 -nul 1 $code]"
+                                    }
+                                }
                                 X {
                                     puts stderr "overtype::renderline X ECH ERASE CHARACTER - $param"
                                     #ECH - erase character
@@ -3862,9 +3878,14 @@ tcl::namespace::eval overtype {
                             }
 
                         }
-                        7DCS {
+                        7DCS - 8DCS {
                             puts stderr "overtype::renderline DCS - DEVICE CONTROL STRING command UNIMPLEMENTED. code [ansistring VIEW -lf 1 -vt 1 -nul 1 $code]"
-                            #
+                            #ST (string terminator) \x9c or \x1b\\ 
+                            if {[tcl::string::index $codenorm end] eq "\x9c"} {
+                                set code_content [tcl::string::range $codenorm 4 end-1] ;#ST is 8-bit 0x9c 
+                            } else {
+                                set code_content [tcl::string::range $codenorm 4 end-2] ;#ST is \x1b\\
+                            }
 
                         }
                         7OSC - 8OSC {
@@ -3934,6 +3955,12 @@ tcl::namespace::eval overtype {
                                     #tektronix cursor color
                                     puts stderr "overtype::renderline OSC 18 - set tektronix cursor color unimplemented. code [ansistring VIEW -lf 1 -vt 1 -nul 1 $code]"
                                 }
+                                99 {
+                                    #kitty desktop notifications
+                                    #https://sw.kovidgoyal.net/kitty/desktop-notifications/
+                                    #<OSC> 99 ; metadata ; payload <terminator>
+                                    puts stderr "overtype::renderline OSC 99 kitty desktop notification unimplemented. code [ansistring VIEW -lf 1 -vt 1 -nul 1 $code]"
+                                }
                                 104 {
                                     #reset colour palette
                                     #we want to do it for the current rendering context only (vvt)  - not just pass through to underlying vt
@@ -3942,6 +3969,13 @@ tcl::namespace::eval overtype {
                                     set instruction [list reset_colour_palette]
                                     break
                                 }
+                                1337 {
+                                    #iterm2 graphics and file transfer 
+                                    puts stderr "overtype::renderline OSC 1337 iterm2 graphics/file_transfer unimplemented. 1st 100 chars of code [ansistring VIEW -lf 1 -vt 1 -nul 1 [string range $code 0 99]]"
+                                }
+                                5113 {
+                                    puts stderr "overtype::renderline OSC 5113 kitty file transfer unimplemented. 1st 100 chars of code [ansistring VIEW -lf 1 -vt 1 -nul 1 [string range $code 0 99]]"
+                                }
                                 default {
                                     puts stderr "overtype::renderline OSC - UNIMPLEMENTED. code [ansistring VIEW -lf 1 -vt 1 -nul 1 $code]"
                                 }
diff --git a/src/vfs/_vfscommon.vfs/modules/overtype-1.6.5.tm b/src/vfs/_vfscommon.vfs/modules/overtype-1.6.5.tm
index e78727d0..f0e34919 100644
--- a/src/vfs/_vfscommon.vfs/modules/overtype-1.6.5.tm
+++ b/src/vfs/_vfscommon.vfs/modules/overtype-1.6.5.tm
@@ -729,7 +729,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval overtype {
                                             -width          [tcl::dict::get $vtstate renderwidth]\
                                             -insert_mode    [tcl::dict::get $vtstate insert_mode]\
                                             -autowrap_mode  [tcl::dict::get $vtstate autowrap_mode]\
-                                            -expand_right [tcl::dict::get $opts -opt_expand_right]\
+                                            -expand_right   [tcl::dict::get $opts -expand_right]\
                                             ""\
                                             $overflow_right\
                                         ]
@@ -1366,7 +1366,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval overtype {
 
             if {$overflowlength > 0} {
                 #overlay line wider or equal
-                #review - we still expand_right for centred for now.. possibly should expand_both with ellipsis each end?
+                #review - we still expand_right for centred for now.. possibly should do something like -expand_leftright with ellipsis each end?
                 set rinfo [renderline -info 1 -insert_mode 0 -transparent $opt_transparent -expand_right [tcl::dict::get $opts -overflow] -exposed1 $opt_exposed1 -exposed2 $opt_exposed2 $undertext $overtext]
                 set rendered        [tcl::dict::get $rinfo result]
                 set overflow_right  [tcl::dict::get $rinfo overflow_right]
@@ -2815,6 +2815,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval overtype {
                         \x1b\[<     1006\
                         \x1b\[      7CSI\
                         \x1bP       7DCS\
+                        \x90        8DCS\
                         \x9b        8CSI\
                         \x1b\]      7OSC\
                         \x9d        8OSC\
@@ -2836,6 +2837,10 @@ tcl::namespace::eval overtype {
                             #Device Control String  https://invisible-island.net/xterm/ctlseqs/ctlseqs.html#h4-Controls-beginning-with-ESC:ESC-F.C74
                             set codenorm [tcl::string::cat $leadernorm [tcl::string::range $code 2 end]]
                         }
+                        8DCS {
+                            #8-bit Device Control String
+                            set codenorm [tcl::string::cat $leadernorm [tcl::string::range $code 1 end]]
+                        }
                         7ESC {
                             set codenorm [tcl::string::cat $leadernorm [tcl::string::range $code 1 end]]
                         }
@@ -3265,6 +3270,17 @@ tcl::namespace::eval overtype {
                                     puts stderr "overtype::renderline DL -  Delete Line - not implemented [ansistring VIEW -lf 1 -vt 1 -nul 1 $code]"
 
                                 }
+                                T {
+                                    #CSI Pn T - SD Pan Up (empty lines introduced at top)
+                                    #CSI Pn+T - kitty extension (lines at top come from scrollback buffer)
+                                    #Pn new lines appear at top of the display, Pn old lines disappear at the bottom of the display
+                                    if {$param eq "" || $param eq "0"} {set param 1} 
+                                    if {[string index $param end] eq "+"} {
+                                        puts stderr "overtype::renderline CSI Pn + T - kitty Pan Up - not implemented [ansistring VIEW -lf 1 -vt 1 -nul 1 $code]"
+                                    } else {
+                                        puts stderr "overtype::renderline CSI Pn T - SD Pan Up - not implemented [ansistring VIEW -lf 1 -vt 1 -nul 1 $code]"
+                                    }
+                                }
                                 X {
                                     puts stderr "overtype::renderline X ECH ERASE CHARACTER - $param"
                                     #ECH - erase character
@@ -3862,9 +3878,14 @@ tcl::namespace::eval overtype {
                             }
 
                         }
-                        7DCS {
+                        7DCS - 8DCS {
                             puts stderr "overtype::renderline DCS - DEVICE CONTROL STRING command UNIMPLEMENTED. code [ansistring VIEW -lf 1 -vt 1 -nul 1 $code]"
-                            #
+                            #ST (string terminator) \x9c or \x1b\\ 
+                            if {[tcl::string::index $codenorm end] eq "\x9c"} {
+                                set code_content [tcl::string::range $codenorm 4 end-1] ;#ST is 8-bit 0x9c 
+                            } else {
+                                set code_content [tcl::string::range $codenorm 4 end-2] ;#ST is \x1b\\
+                            }
 
                         }
                         7OSC - 8OSC {
@@ -3934,6 +3955,12 @@ tcl::namespace::eval overtype {
                                     #tektronix cursor color
                                     puts stderr "overtype::renderline OSC 18 - set tektronix cursor color unimplemented. code [ansistring VIEW -lf 1 -vt 1 -nul 1 $code]"
                                 }
+                                99 {
+                                    #kitty desktop notifications
+                                    #https://sw.kovidgoyal.net/kitty/desktop-notifications/
+                                    #<OSC> 99 ; metadata ; payload <terminator>
+                                    puts stderr "overtype::renderline OSC 99 kitty desktop notification unimplemented. code [ansistring VIEW -lf 1 -vt 1 -nul 1 $code]"
+                                }
                                 104 {
                                     #reset colour palette
                                     #we want to do it for the current rendering context only (vvt)  - not just pass through to underlying vt
@@ -3942,6 +3969,13 @@ tcl::namespace::eval overtype {
                                     set instruction [list reset_colour_palette]
                                     break
                                 }
+                                1337 {
+                                    #iterm2 graphics and file transfer 
+                                    puts stderr "overtype::renderline OSC 1337 iterm2 graphics/file_transfer unimplemented. 1st 100 chars of code [ansistring VIEW -lf 1 -vt 1 -nul 1 [string range $code 0 99]]"
+                                }
+                                5113 {
+                                    puts stderr "overtype::renderline OSC 5113 kitty file transfer unimplemented. 1st 100 chars of code [ansistring VIEW -lf 1 -vt 1 -nul 1 [string range $code 0 99]]"
+                                }
                                 default {
                                     puts stderr "overtype::renderline OSC - UNIMPLEMENTED. code [ansistring VIEW -lf 1 -vt 1 -nul 1 $code]"
                                 }
diff --git a/src/vfs/_vfscommon.vfs/modules/punk-0.1.tm b/src/vfs/_vfscommon.vfs/modules/punk-0.1.tm
index 0ca26f39..9440ae9c 100644
--- a/src/vfs/_vfscommon.vfs/modules/punk-0.1.tm
+++ b/src/vfs/_vfscommon.vfs/modules/punk-0.1.tm
@@ -101,12 +101,15 @@ set punk_testd2 [dict create \
        ] \
 ]
 
-#impolitely cooperative withe punk repl - todo - tone it down.
+#impolitely cooperative with punk repl - todo - tone it down.
 #namespace eval ::punk::repl::codethread {
 #    variable running 0
 #}
-package require punk::lib
+package require punk::lib ;# subdependency punk::args
 package require punk::ansi
+if {![llength [info commands ::ansistring]]} {
+    namespace import punk::ansi::ansistring
+}
 #require aliascore after punk::lib & punk::ansi are loaded
 package require punk::aliascore ;#mostly punk::lib aliases
 punk::aliascore::init
@@ -114,9 +117,6 @@ punk::aliascore::init
 package require punk::repl::codethread 
 package require punk::config
 #package require textblock
-if {![llength [info commands ::ansistring]]} {
-    namespace import punk::ansi::ansistring
-}
 package require punk::console
 package require punk::ns
 package require punk::winpath ;# for windows paths - but has functions that can be called on unix systems
@@ -862,6 +862,8 @@ namespace eval punk {
                     }
                 }
                 #? {
+                    #review - compare to %# ?????
+                    #seems to be unimplemented ?
                     set assigned [string length $leveldata]
                     set already_assigned 1
                 }
@@ -7149,12 +7151,93 @@ namespace eval punk {
         dict filter $result value {?*}
     }
 
-
+    punk::args::definition {
+        *id punk::inspect
+        *proc -name punk::inspect -help\
+            "Function to display values - used pimarily in a punk pipeline.
+        The raw value arguments (not options) are always returned to pass
+        forward in the pipeline.
+        (pipeline data inserted at end of each |...> segment is passed as single item unless
+        inserted with an expanding insertion specifier such as .=>*  )
+        e.g1:
+        .=      list a b c              |v1,/1-end,/0>\\    
+        .=>*    inspect -label i1 --    |>\\    
+        .=v1>   inspect -label i2 --    |>\\   
+                string toupper
+        (3) i1: {a b c} {b c} a
+        (1) i2: a b c
+
+        - A B C
+        "
+        -label -type string -default "" -help\
+            "An optional label to help distinguish output when multiple
+            inspect statements are in a pipeline. This appears after the
+            bracketed count indicating number of values supplied.
+            e.g (2) MYLABEL: val1 val2
+            The label can include ANSI codes.
+            e.g
+            inspect -label [a+ red]mylabel -- val1 val2 val3 
+            "
+        -limit -type int -default 20 -help\
+            "When multiple values are passed to inspect - limit the number
+            of elements displayed in -channel output.
+            When truncation has occured an elipsis indication (...) will be appended.
+            e.g
+            .= lseq 20 to 50 by 3 |> .=>* inspect -limit 4 -- |> .=>* tcl::mathop::+
+            (11) 20 23 26 29...
+
+            - 385
+
+            For no limit - use -limit -1
+            "
+        -channel -type string -default stderr -help\
+            "An existing open channel to write to. If value is any of nul, null, /dev/nul
+            the channel output is disabled. This effectively disables inspect as the args
+            are simply passed through in the return to continue the pipeline.
+            " 
+        -showcount -type boolean -default 1 -help\
+            "Display a leading indicator in brackets showing the number of arg values present."
+        -ansi -type integer -default 1 -nocase 1 -choices {0 1 2 VIEW 3 VIEWCODES 4 VIEWSTYLES} -choicelabels {
+            0 "Strip ANSI codes from display
+        of values. The disply output will 
+        still be colourised if -ansibase has
+        not been set to empty string or 
+        [a+ normal]. The stderr or stdout
+        channels may also have an ansi colour.
+        (see 'colour off' or punk::config)"
+            1 "Leave value as is"
+            2 "Display the ANSI codes and
+        other control characters inline
+        with replacement indicators.
+        e.g esc, newline, space, tab"
+            VIEW "Alias for 2"
+            3 "Display as per 2 but with 
+        colourised ANSI replacement codes."
+            VIEWCODES "Alias for 3"
+            4 "Display ANSI and control
+        chars in default colour, but
+        apply the contained ansi to
+        the text portions so they display
+        as they would for -ansi 1" 
+        VIEWSTYLE "Alias for 4"
+        }
+        -ansibase -type ansistring -default {${[a+ brightgreen]}} -help\
+            "Base ansi code(s) that will apply to output written to the chosen -channel.
+            If there are ansi resets in the displayed values - output will revert to this base.
+            Does not affect return value."
+        -- -type none -help\
+            "End of options marker.
+            It is advisable to use this, as data in a pipeline may often being with -"
+
+        *values -min 0 -max -1
+        arg -type string -optional 1 -multiple 1 -help\
+            "value to display"
+    }
     #pipeline inspect
     #e.g
     #= {a z c} |> inspect -label input_dict |> lsort |> {inspect $data}
     proc inspect {args} {
-        set defaults [list -label "" -limit 20 -channel stderr -showcount 1 -ansi 1]
+        set defaults [list -label "" -limit 20 -channel stderr -showcount 1 -ansi 1 -ansibase [a+ brightgreen]]
         set flags [list]
         set endoptsposn [lsearch $args --] ;#first --  if data expected to contain --, then should always be called with --.  e.g inspect --
         if {$endoptsposn >= 0} {
@@ -7177,24 +7260,28 @@ namespace eval punk {
         }
         foreach {k v} $flags {
             if {$k ni [dict keys $defaults]} {
-                error "inspect: unknown option $k. Known options: [dict keys $defaults].  If data contains flaglike elements, consider calling with end-of-opts marker. e.g inspect --"
+                #error "inspect: unknown option $k. Known options: [dict keys $defaults].  If data contains flaglike elements, consider calling with end-of-opts marker. e.g inspect --"
+                punk::args::get_by_id punk::inspect $args
             }
         }
         set opts [dict merge $defaults $flags]
         # -- --- --- --- ---
-        set label [dict get $opts -label]
-        set channel [dict get $opts -channel]
-        set showcount [dict get $opts -showcount]
+        set label       [dict get $opts -label]
+        set channel     [dict get $opts -channel]
+        set showcount   [dict get $opts -showcount]
         if {[string length $label]} {
             set label "${label}: "
         }
         set limit [dict get $opts -limit]
-        set opt_ansi [dict get $opts -ansi]
+        set opt_ansiraw [dict get $opts -ansi]
+        set opt_ansi [tcl::prefix::match -error "" [list 0 1 2 3 4 view viewcodes viewstyle] [string tolower $opt_ansiraw]]
         switch -- [string tolower $opt_ansi] {
-            0 - 1 - 2 {}
-            view {set opt_ansi 2}
+            0 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 {}
+            view        {set opt_ansi 2}
+            viewcodes   {set opt_ansi 3}
+            viewstyle   {set opt_ansi 4}
             default {
-                error "inspect -ansi 0|1|2|view - received -ansi $opt_ansi"
+                error "inspect -ansi 0|1|2|view|3|viewcodes|4|viewstyle - received -ansi $opt_ansiraw"
             }
         }
         # -- --- --- --- ---
@@ -7248,15 +7335,50 @@ namespace eval punk {
         } else {
             set displaycount ""
         }
-        if {$opt_ansi == 0} {
-            set displayval [punk::ansi::ansistrip $displayval]
-        } elseif {$opt_ansi == 2} {
-            set displayval [ansistring VIEW $displayval]
+
+        set ansibase [dict get $opts -ansibase]
+        if {$ansibase ne ""} {
+            #-ansibase default is hardcoded into punk::args definition 
+            #run a test using any ansi code to see if colour is still enabled
+            if {[a+ red] eq ""} {
+                set ansibase "" ;#colour seems to be disabled
+            }
+        }
+
+        switch -- $opt_ansi {
+            0 {
+                set displayval $ansibase[punk::ansi::ansistrip $displayval]
+            }
+            1 {
+                #val may have ansi - including resets. Pass through ansibase_lines to 
+                if {$ansibase ne ""} {
+                    set displayval [::textblock::ansibase_lines $displayval $ansibase]
+                }
+            }
+            2 {
+                set displayval $ansibase[ansistring VIEW $displayval]
+                if {$ansibase ne ""} {
+                    set displayval [::textblock::ansibase_lines $displayval $ansibase]
+                }
+            }
+            3 {
+                set displayval $ansibase[ansistring VIEWCODE $displayval]
+                if {$ansibase ne ""} {
+                    set displayval [::textblock::ansibase_lines $displayval $ansibase]
+                }
+            }
+            4 {
+                set displayval $ansibase[ansistring VIEWSTYLE $displayval]
+                if {$ansibase ne ""} {
+                    set displayval [::textblock::ansibase_lines $displayval $ansibase]
+                }
+            }
         }
+
         if {![string length $more]} {
-            puts $channel "$displaycount$label[a green bold]$displayval[a]"
+            puts $channel "$displaycount$label$displayval[a]"
         } else {
-            puts $channel "$displaycount$label[a green bold]$displayval[a yellow bold]$more[a]"
+            puts $channel "$displaycount$label$displayval[a yellow bold]$more[a]"
         }
         return $val
     }
diff --git a/src/vfs/_vfscommon.vfs/modules/punk/ansi-0.1.1.tm b/src/vfs/_vfscommon.vfs/modules/punk/ansi-0.1.1.tm
index 1e52d3e9..452092e7 100644
--- a/src/vfs/_vfscommon.vfs/modules/punk/ansi-0.1.1.tm
+++ b/src/vfs/_vfscommon.vfs/modules/punk/ansi-0.1.1.tm
@@ -167,6 +167,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ansi::class {
                         }
                         default {
                             puts stderr "render_to_input_line unexpected argument '$k' usage: ?-dimensions WxH? ?-minus charcount? x"
+                            punk::args::get_by_id "punk::ansi::class::class_ansi render_to_input_line" $args
                         }
                     }
                 }
@@ -2415,6 +2416,7 @@ Brightblack 100   Brightred 101   Brightgreen 102   Brightyellow 103   Brightblu
         *id punk::ansi::a+
         *proc -name "punk::ansi::a+" -help\
             "Returns an ANSI sgr escape sequence based on the list of supplied codes.
+            Unlike punk::ansi::a - it is not prefixed with an ANSI reset.
             "
         *values -min 0 -max -1
     }   [string map [list <choices> [dict keys $SGR_map]] {
@@ -2432,10 +2434,12 @@ Brightblack 100   Brightred 101   Brightgreen 102   Brightyellow 103   Brightblu
             The acceptable values for <termcolour> and <webcolour> can be queried using
             punk::ansi::a? term
             and
-            punk::ansi::a? web"
-
+            punk::ansi::a? web
+            
+            Example to set foreground red and background cyan followed by a reset:
+            set str \"[a+ red Cyan]sample text[a]\"
+            "
     }]]
-
     proc a+ {args} {
         #*** !doctools
         #[call [fun a+] [opt {ansicode...}]]
@@ -7065,13 +7069,12 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ansi::ansistring {
         }
     }
 
-    #inserting into global namespace like this should be kept to a minimum.. but this is considered a core aspect of punk::ansi
-    #todo - document
-    interp alias {} ansistring {} ::punk::ansi::ansistring
 
     #*** !doctools
     #[list_end] [comment {--- end definitions namespace punk::ansi::ta ---}]
 }
+
+
 tcl::namespace::eval punk::ansi::control {
     proc APC {args} {
         return \x1b_[join $args {;}]\x1b\\
@@ -7393,6 +7396,10 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ansi::internal {
     }
 }
 
+#inserting into global namespace like this should be kept to a minimum.. but this is considered a core aspect of punk::ansi
+#todo - document
+interp alias {} ansistring {} ::punk::ansi::ansistring
+
 if {![info exists ::punk::args::register::NAMESPACES]} {
     namespace eval ::punk::args::register {
         set NAMESPACES [list]
diff --git a/src/vfs/_vfscommon.vfs/modules/punk/args-0.1.0.tm b/src/vfs/_vfscommon.vfs/modules/punk/args-0.1.0.tm
index c087ae0b..5a589fe3 100644
--- a/src/vfs/_vfscommon.vfs/modules/punk/args-0.1.0.tm
+++ b/src/vfs/_vfscommon.vfs/modules/punk/args-0.1.0.tm
@@ -353,7 +353,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
             }
             set optionspecs [join $normargs \n]
             if {[string first \$\{ $optionspecs] > 0} {
-                set optionspecs [uplevel 1 [list punk::args::lib::tstr -return string -eval 1 $optionspecs]]
+                set optionspecs [uplevel 1 [list punk::args::lib::tstr -return string -eval 1 -allowcommands $optionspecs]]
             }
         } else {
             if {[tcl::dict::exists $argdefcache_unresolved $cache_key]} {
@@ -1262,30 +1262,43 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
         if {$arg_error_isrunning} {
             error "arg_error already running - error in arg_error?\n triggering errmsg: $msg"
         }
-        set arg_error_isrunning 1
 
         if {[llength $args] %2 != 0} {
             error "error in arg_error processing - expected opt/val pairs after msg and spec_dict"
         }
+
+        set arg_error_isrunning 1
+
         set badarg ""
-        set returntype error
+        set returntype table ;#table as string 
+        set as_error 1 ;#usual case is to raise an error
         dict for {k v} $args {
             switch -- $k {
                 -badarg {
                     set badarg $v
                 }
+                -aserror {
+                    if {![string is boolean -strict $v]} {
+                        set arg_error_isrunning 0
+                        error "arg_error invalid value for option -aserror. Received '$v' expected a boolean"
+                    }
+                    set as_error $v
+                }
                 -return {
-                    if {$v ni {error string}} {
-                        error "arg_error invalid value for option -return. Received '$v' expected one of: error string"
+                    if {$v ni {string table tableobject}} {
+                        set arg_error_isrunning 0
+                        error "arg_error invalid value for option -return. Received '$v' expected one of: string table tableobject"
                     }
                     set returntype $v
                 }
                 default {
+                    set arg_error_isrunning 0
                     error "arg_error invalid option $k. Known_options: -badarg -return"
                 }
             }
         }
 
+        set t "" ;#possible oo table object - may be tested for objectiness at the end so needs to exist.
 
         #REVIEW - risk of accidental indefinite recursion if functions used here also use punk::args::get_dict and there is an argument error 
         #e.g list_as_table
@@ -1300,12 +1313,20 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
             #couldn't load textblock package
             #just return the original errmsg without formatting
         }
+        set use_table 0
+        if {$has_textblock && $returntype in {table tableobject}} {
+            set use_table 1
+        }
         set errlines [list] ;#for non-textblock output
         if {[catch  {
-            if {$has_textblock} {
+            if {$use_table} {
                 append errmsg \n
             } else {
-                append errmsg \n "[a+ brightred](layout package textblock is missing)[a]" \n
+                if {($returntype in {table tableobject}) && !$has_textblock} {
+                    append errmsg \n "[a+ brightred](layout package textblock is missing)[a]" \n
+                } else {
+                    append errmsg \n
+                }
             }
             set procname [Dict_getdef $spec_dict proc_info -name ""]
             set prochelp [Dict_getdef $spec_dict proc_info -help ""]
@@ -1333,7 +1354,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
             } else {
                 set docurl_display ""
             }
-            if {$has_textblock} {
+            if {$use_table} {
                 set t [textblock::class::table new [a+ brightyellow]Usage[a]]
                 $t add_column -headers $blank_header_col -minwidth 3 
                 $t add_column -headers $blank_header_col 
@@ -1343,7 +1364,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
             }
             set h 0
             if {$procname ne ""} {
-                if {$has_textblock} {
+                if {$use_table} {
                     $t configure_header $h -colspans {1 4 0 0 0} -values [list PROC/METHOD: $procname_display]
                 } else {
                     lappend errlines "PROC/METHOD: $procname_display"
@@ -1351,7 +1372,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
                 incr h
             }
             if {$prochelp ne ""} {
-                if {$has_textblock} {
+                if {$use_table} {
                     $t configure_header $h -colspans {1 4 0 0 0} -values [list Description: $prochelp_display]
                 } else {
                     lappend errlines "Description: $prochelp_display"
@@ -1362,14 +1383,14 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
                 if {![catch {package require punk::ansi}]} {
                     set docurl [punk::ansi::hyperlink $docurl]
                 }
-                if {$has_textblock} {
+                if {$use_table} {
                     $t configure_header $h -colspans {1 4 0 0 0} -values [list $docname $docurl_display]
                 } else {
                     lappend errlines "$docname $docurl_display"
                 }
                 incr h
             }
-            if {$has_textblock} {
+            if {$use_table} {
                 $t configure_header $h -values {Arg Type Default Multi Help}
             } else {
                 lappend errlines " --ARGUMENTS-- "
@@ -1519,7 +1540,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
                             set numcols [llength $formattedchoices]
                         }
                         if {$numcols > 0} {
-                            if {$has_textblock} {
+                            if {$use_table} {
                                 #risk of recursing 
                                 set choicetable [textblock::list_as_table -show_hseps 1 -show_edge 1 -columns $numcols $formattedchoices]
                                 append help \n[textblock::join -- "    " $choicetable]
@@ -1565,7 +1586,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
                         append typeshow \n "-range [dict get $arginfo -range]"
                     }
 
-                    if {$has_textblock} {
+                    if {$use_table} {
                         $t add_row [list $argshow $typeshow $default $multiple $help]
                         if {$arg eq $badarg} {
                             $t configure_row [expr {[$t row_count]-1}] -ansibase $A_BADARG
@@ -1577,11 +1598,14 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
                 }
             }
 
-            if {$has_textblock} {
+            if {$use_table} {
                 $t configure -show_hseps 0 -show_header 1 -ansibase_body [a+ brightwhite] -ansibase_header [a+ brightyellow] -ansiborder_header [a+ brightyellow] -ansiborder_body [a+ brightyellow]
-                $t configure -maxwidth 80
+                $t configure -maxwidth 80 ;#review
                 append errmsg [$t print]
-                $t destroy
+                if {$returntype ne "tableobject"} {
+                    #returntype of table means just the text of the table
+                    $t destroy
+                }
             } else {
                 append errmsg [join $errlines \n]
             }
@@ -1595,11 +1619,22 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
         }
         set arg_error_isrunning 0
         #add PUNK to the tail end of the more usual -errorcode {TCL WRONGARGS} so we maintain reasonable compat with things looking for TCL WRONGARGS - but also differentiate it. 
-        #Also,we're polite enough in the errorInfo, nothing wrong with a Clint Eastwood style errorCode  ;)
-        if {$returntype eq "error"} {
-            return -code error -errorcode {TCL WRONGARGS PUNK} $errmsg
+        #Also, we're polite enough in the errorInfo, nothing wrong with a Clint Eastwood style errorCode  ;)
+        if {$use_table} {
+            #assert returntype is one of table, tableobject
+            set result $errmsg ;#default if for some reason table couldn't be used
+            if {$returntype eq "tableobject"} {
+                if {[info object isa object $t]} {
+                    set result $t
+                } 
+            }
         } else {
-            return $errmsg
+            set result $errmsg
+        }
+        if {$as_error} {
+            return -code error -errorcode {TCL WRONGARGS PUNK} $result
+        } else {
+            return $result
         }
     }
 
@@ -1609,17 +1644,21 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args {
         *proc -name punk::args::usage -help\
             "return usage information as a string
             in table form."
+        -return -default table -choices {string table tableobject}
+
         *values -min 0 -max 1
         id  -help\
             "exact id.
             Will usually match the command name"
     }]
-    proc usage {id} {
+    proc usage {args} {
+        lassign [dict values [punk::args::get_by_id punk::args::usage $args]] leaders opts values received
+        set id [dict get $values id]
         set speclist [get_spec $id]
         if {[llength $speclist] == 0} {
             error "punk::args::usage - no such id: $id"
         }
-        arg_error "" [uplevel 1 [list punk::args::definition {*}$speclist]] -return string
+        arg_error "" [uplevel 1 [list punk::args::definition {*}$speclist]] {*}$opts -aserror 0 
     }
 
     lappend PUNKARGS [list {
@@ -2726,7 +2765,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args::lib {
         *id punk::args::lib::tstr
         *proc -name punk::args::lib::tstr -help\
             "A rough equivalent of js template literals"
-        -allowcommands -default -1 -type none -help\
+        -allowcommands -default 0 -type none -help\
             "if -allowcommands is present, placeholder can contain commands e.g {\$\{plaintext0 [lindex $var 0] plaintext2\}}"
         -return        -default list -choices {dict list string args}\
             -choicelabels {
diff --git a/src/vfs/_vfscommon.vfs/modules/punk/args/tclcore-0.1.0.tm b/src/vfs/_vfscommon.vfs/modules/punk/args/tclcore-0.1.0.tm
index 018f1d0d..3ae7850b 100644
--- a/src/vfs/_vfscommon.vfs/modules/punk/args/tclcore-0.1.0.tm
+++ b/src/vfs/_vfscommon.vfs/modules/punk/args/tclcore-0.1.0.tm
@@ -198,12 +198,58 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args::tclcore {
             The handler is invoked when a command called from within the namespace cannot
             be found in the current namespace, the namespace's path nor in the global
             namespace.
-            "
+            When the handler is invoiked, the full invocation line will be appended to
+            the script and the result evaluated in the context of the namespace.
+            The default handler for all namespaces is [a+ italic]::unknown[a].
+            If no argument is given, it returns the handler for the current namespace."
         *values -min 0 -max 1
         script -type script -optional 1 -help\
-            "A well formed list representing a command name and "
+            "A well formed list representing a command name and optional arguments."
     } "*doc -name Manpage: -url [manpage_tcl namespace]" ]
 
+    set I [a+ italic]
+    set NI [a+ noitalic]
+    lappend PUNKARGS [list {
+        *id tcl::process::status
+        *proc -name "Builtin: tcl::process::status" -help\
+            "Returns a dictionary mapping subprocess PIDs to their respective status.
+            if ${$I}pids${$NI} is specified as a list of PIDs then the command
+            only returns the status of the matching subprocesses if they exist, and
+            raises an error otherwise.
+            For active processes, the status is an empty value. For terminated 
+            processes, the status is a list with the following format:
+            {code ?msg errorCode?} 
+            where:
+                ${$I}code${$NI}
+                    is a standard Tcl return code, ie.,
+                    0 for TCL_OK and 1 for TCL_ERROR,
+                ${$I}msg${$NI}
+                    is the human readable error message,
+                ${$I}errorCode${$NI}
+                    uses the same format as the errorCode global variable
+                    Note that msg and errorCode are only present for abnormally 
+                    terminated processes (i.e. those where the code is nonzero).
+                    Under the hood this command calls Tcl_WaitPid with the
+                    WNOHANG flag set for non-blocking behaviour, unless the -wait
+                    switch is set (see below).
+                    
+            "
+        -wait -type none -optional 1 -help\
+            "By default the command returns immediately (the underlying Tcl_WaitPid
+            is called with the WNOHANG flag set) unless this switch is set. if pids
+            is specified as a list of PIDS then the command waits until the status
+            of the matching subprocesses are avaliable. If pids was not specified,
+            this command will wait for all known subprocesses."
+        -- -type none -optional 1 -help\
+            "Marks the end of switches. The argument following this one will be
+            treated as the first arg even if it starts with a -."
+        *values -min 0 -max 1
+        pids -type list -optional 1 -help\
+            "A list of PIDs"
+    } "*doc -name Manpage: -url [manpage_tcl namespace]" ]
+
+
+
     lappend PUNKARGS [list {
         *id lappend
         *proc -name "builtin: lappend" -help\
@@ -613,13 +659,6 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args::tclcore {
         string -type string -optional 0
     }] "*doc -name Manpage: -url [manpage_tcl string]"
 
-    if {![info exists ::punk::args::register::NAMESPACES]} {
-        namespace eval ::punk::args::register {
-            set ::punk::args::register::NAMESPACES [list] ;#use fully qualified so 8.6 doesn't find existing var in global namespace
-        }
-    }
-    lappend ::punk::args::register::NAMESPACES ::punk::args::tclcore
-
     #*** !doctools
     #[subsection {Namespace punk::args::tclcore}]
     #[para] Core API functions for punk::args::tclcore 
@@ -687,6 +726,14 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::args::tclcore::lib {
 
 #}
 # ++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++
+
+if {![info exists ::punk::args::register::NAMESPACES]} {
+    namespace eval ::punk::args::register {
+        set ::punk::args::register::NAMESPACES [list] ;#use fully qualified so 8.6 doesn't find existing var in global namespace
+    }
+}
+lappend ::punk::args::register::NAMESPACES ::punk::args::tclcore
+
 ##  Ready   
 package provide punk::args::tclcore [tcl::namespace::eval punk::args::tclcore {
     variable pkg punk::args::tclcore
diff --git a/src/vfs/_vfscommon.vfs/modules/punk/char-0.1.0.tm b/src/vfs/_vfscommon.vfs/modules/punk/char-0.1.0.tm
index 4a6c9ab1..3024053b 100644
--- a/src/vfs/_vfscommon.vfs/modules/punk/char-0.1.0.tm
+++ b/src/vfs/_vfscommon.vfs/modules/punk/char-0.1.0.tm
@@ -600,6 +600,48 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::char {
         puts stdout \n
         puts stdout "cursor position immediately after outputing 3 bytes (xyz): $cursorposn"
     }
+    proc test_zalgo {} {
+        #from: https://github.com/jameslanska/unicode-display-width/blob/5e28d94c75e8c421a87199363b85c90dc37125b8/docs/unicode_background.md
+        #see: https://lingojam.com/ZalgoText
+        puts stdout "44 chars long - 9 graphemes - 9 columns wide"
+
+        set str "Ẓ̌á̲l͔̝̞̄̑͌g̖̘̘̔̔͢͞͝o̪̔T̢̙̫̈̍͞e̬͈͕͌̏͑x̺̍ṭ̓̓ͅ"
+
+    }
+
+    proc test_zalgo2 {} {
+
+        # ------------------------
+
+
+
+        set str "Z̸̢͉̣͔̭̪͙̖̳̘͈͍̤̩̟͈͈͕̯̅̏̆̓̌́́͌̿̕ͅą̷̦̤̫̩͕̥̐̎̓́́̂̀͆́̔̄̈́̏̌́̆͜͜͝͠l̴̩̙̺͚̟͇͖͔͕̹̟͌̈́̄̇́̉̋̕̚͜͠͠g̸͇̩͔̺̝̗̥̖̙̑̈́̈́̿̾̌͌͊̈̀͊̑̇̑͌̍̅̌͊͜͠͝ǫ̴̢̧͎͔̞̤̻̱̮̬͕̗̭͍̣̠̳̆̀̋̓͒̾̄͜͝͠͝T̴̛͉̬̋́̈́̈́̓͗̍̏̔̈̋̀͐̓̎̅̚̕͠͝͝ê̵̖̖̈͊̔̓̔̐̓̃͊̋͋̎͂͋̕x̴̡͎͖̼͎̦͎̲̪̘̺̯̲̬̮̥̼̰͌̃͜ͅt̶̛̘͎̰̔͐͌́̈́͊͗͌̅͂̐̆͌̀͂͘"
+
+
+
+
+        # ------------------------
+    }
+
+    proc test_zalgo3 {} {
+
+        # ------------------------
+
+
+
+
+       set str "Ẕ̸̢̼̺̜̰̣̣̖̭̜͓͖̺̥̼̠͙͙̟̥̟̠̤̫͍̠̤̮͚̝̜̙͈̦̙̩̹̙̜̩̦͔͕̈̃̅̇̈́͂̇̽̈́́́́̎͊̂̑̋͆̔̾͋̚͜ͅã̵̛̪̽̎̃͑̒̇͋͂̽̃̍͊̀̈̊̊̔̊̆̈́͗͑͗̽̄̋͗̄͌̑͊͝͝͠ͅl̵̢͇̖͉͖̝̹̜̞͓͎͍͈̞̱̙͙̦̪͔̱̮͈͉̼͎̭̝̯͇͚̺̟̱͙̳̰̙͚͖̝̫͙̎̅̃͆̈́̋̌̔̋̋͗̈́̔̐͆̈́̓̾̄̀́̏́͒̆̌͒̈́̈́̾̏̀͜͝g̸̖͂͋̊͗̈́̓̆̈̋̒͐̕o̶̧̢͓̲̗̠̘͕̦̤̹̗͉̰͔̯͓̭̹̻͔͇̯̜̙̍̂̃̃̀̓͌̒͊̊̋̒̿̿̌͐̄͗̾̕͝T̶̛̳̜̰͍̹̻̫̠̱̼̼̙̆̑̾̾͛́́̿͋͌̎̀̀̽̆͌̽̂̈̇̅̇̃́̿͗̾͒̎͊̑̾͝͠ȩ̸̢̨̛̛̛̭͔͎͇̫͎͈̲̻̙͕͎̣͈̩̺̗͖͙͇͌͐̒̎͐̓́̉́͐̓̐͌̅̊͋͑̈́͗͑̏̕͜͜͝ͅx̸̧̧̛̖̣̥̘͎͎̳̭̙̦̝͖̝̮̱̹̯̺̙̩̯̮͖̻̰͓̰̩͇̥̑͌̊̐̉̏͆̓̑̎̊̓͒̂̄̆͆̀̊̄̈̽͐͛̏͊̓̌͑́̎̈́̍̈́̊͗̉̋͆̿̊͘͜͜͝͝ͅͅͅt̵̡̨̜̘͎̦͚̠̗̺͉̼̠̲̠͙̺̹̗̲̏̈́̂̚͜͜͝ͅ"
+
+
+
+
+
+        # ------------------------
+
+    }
+
+
+
     proc test_farmer {} {
         #an interesting article re grapheme clustering problems in terminals https://mitchellh.com/writing/grapheme-clusters-in-terminals
         #(similar to the problem with grave accent rendering width that the test_grave proc is written for)
@@ -620,17 +662,29 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::char {
         puts stdout "farmer2 with no joiner          codes: \\U0001f9d1\\U001f33e               : $farmer2"
 
         package require punk::console
+        puts stdout \n
         puts stdout "#2--5---9---C---"
         puts -nonewline stdout \033\[2K\033\[1G ;#2K erase line 1G cursor at col1
-        puts -nonewline "${farmer1}";set cursorposn [punk::console::get_cursor_pos]
-        puts stdout \n
-        puts stdout "cursor position immediately after outputing farmer1 (expecting 1 glyph 2 wide)          : $cursorposn"
+        puts -nonewline "${farmer1}";set cursorposn [punk::console::get_cursor_pos_list]
+        puts stdout "\ncursor position immediately after outputing farmer1 (expecting 1 glyph 2 wide)          : cursor at col [lindex $cursorposn 1]"
+        if {[lindex $cursorposn 1] eq "3"} {
+            puts stdout "[a+ green]OK[a]"
+        } else {
+            puts stdout "[a+ red]ERR - expected cursor position to be 3 after emitting farmer1[a]"
+        }
+        puts stdout "----------------"
         puts stdout "#2--5---9---C---"
-        puts -nonewline "${farmer2}";set cursorposn [punk::console::get_cursor_pos]
-        puts stdout \n
-        puts stdout "cursor position immediately after outputing farmer2 (expecting 2 glyphs 4 wide in total): $cursorposn"
+        puts -nonewline "${farmer2}";set cursorposn [punk::console::get_cursor_pos_list]
+        puts stdout "\ncursor position immediately after outputing farmer2 (expecting 2 glyphs 4 wide in total): cursor at col [lindex $cursorposn 1]"
+        if {[lindex $cursorposn 1] eq "5"} {
+            puts stdout "[a+ green]OK[a]"
+        } else {
+            puts stdout "[a+ red]ERR - expected cursor position to be 5 after emitting farmer2[a]"
+        }
+        puts stdout "----------------"
 
-        return [list $farmer1 $farmer2]
+        puts "returning farmer1 - should be single glyph"
+        return $farmer1
     }
 
     #G0 Sets Sequence   G1 Sets Sequence   Meaning
@@ -1916,6 +1970,172 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::char {
     # - tab/vtab?
     # - compare with wcswidth returning -1 for entire string containing such in python,perl
     proc wcswidth {string} {
+        #faster than textutil::wcswidth (at least for string up to a few K in length)
+        #..but - 'scan' is horrible for 400K+ (Tcl evaluation stack has to be reallocated/copied?) 
+        #Tcl initial evaluation stack size is 2000 (? review)
+        #REVIEW - when we cater for grapheme clusters - we can't just split the string at arbitrary points like this!!
+        set chunksize 2000
+        set chunks_required [expr {int(ceil([tcl::string::length $string] / double($chunksize)))}]
+        set width 0
+        set startidx 0
+        set endidx [expr {$startidx + $chunksize -1}]
+        for {set i 0} {$i < $chunks_required} {incr i} {
+            set chunk [tcl::string::range $string $startidx $endidx] 
+
+            set codes [scan $chunk [tcl::string::repeat %c [tcl::string::length $chunk]]]
+            foreach c $codes {
+                if {$c <= 255 && !($c < 31 || $c == 127)} {
+                    #review - non-printing ascii? why does textutil::wcswidth report 1 ??
+                    #todo - compare with python or other lang wcwidth 
+                    incr width 
+                } elseif {$c < 917504 || $c > 917631} {
+                    #TODO - various other joiners and non-printing chars
+                    set w [textutil::wcswidth_char $c]
+                    if {$w < 0} {
+                        return -1
+                    } else {
+                        incr width $w
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+            incr startidx   $chunksize
+            incr endidx     $chunksize
+        }
+        return $width
+    }
+
+
+
+    # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    #test
+    # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+    proc grapheme_split_tk {string} {
+        if {![regexp "\[\uFF-\U10FFFF\]" $string]} {
+            #only ascii - no joiners or unicode
+            return [split $string {}]
+        }
+        package require tk
+        set i 0
+        set graphemes [list]
+        while {$i < [tcl::string::length $string]} {
+            set aftercluster [tk::endOfCluster $string $i]
+            lappend graphemes [string range $string $i $aftercluster-1] 
+            set i $aftercluster
+        }
+        return $graphemes
+    }
+    proc wcswidth_clustered {string} {
+        package require tk
+        set width 0
+        set i 0
+        if {![regexp "\[\uFF-\U10FFFF\]" $string]} {
+            return [punk::char::wcswidth_unclustered $string] ;#still use our wcswidth to account for non-printable ascii
+        }
+        while {$i < [tcl::string::length $string]} {
+            set aftercluster [tk::endOfCluster $string $i]
+            set g [string range $string $i $aftercluster-1]
+            if {$aftercluster > ($i + 1)} {
+                #review - proper way to determine screen width (columns occupied) of a cluster??
+                #according to this:
+                #https://lib.rs/crates/unicode-display-width
+                #for each grapheme - if any of the code points in the cluster have an east asian width of 2,
+                #The entire grapheme width is 2 regardless of how many code points constitute the grapheme
+                set gw 1
+                foreach ch [split $g ""] {
+                    if {[punk::char::wcswidth_single $ch] == 2} {
+                        set gw 2
+                        break
+                    }
+                }
+                incr width $gw
+                
+                #if {[string first \u200d $g] >=0} {
+                #    incr width 2 
+                #} else {
+                #    #other joiners???
+                #    incr width [wcswidth_unclustered $g]
+                #}
+            } else {
+                incr width [wcswidth_unclustered $g] 
+            }
+            set i $aftercluster
+        }
+
+        return $width
+    }
+    proc wcswidth_single {char} {
+        scan $c %c dec
+        if {$c <= 255 && !($c < 31 || $c == 127)} {
+            #review - non-printing ascii? why does textutil::wcswidth report 1 ??
+            #todo - compare with python or other lang wcwidth 
+            return 1 
+        } elseif {$c < 917504 || $c > 917631} {
+            #TODO - various other joiners and non-printing chars
+            return [textutil::wcswidth_char $c]
+            #may return -1 - REVIEW
+        }
+        return 0
+    }
+    proc wcswidth_unclustered1 {string} {
+        set width 0
+        foreach c [split $string {}] {
+            scan $c %c dec
+            if {$c <= 255 && !($c < 31 || $c == 127)} {
+                #review - non-printing ascii? why does textutil::wcswidth report 1 ??
+                #todo - compare with python or other lang wcwidth 
+                incr width 
+            } elseif {$c < 917504 || $c > 917631} {
+                #TODO - various other joiners and non-printing chars
+                set w [textutil::wcswidth_char $c]
+                if {$w < 0} {
+                    return -1
+                } else {
+                    incr width $w
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        return $width
+    }
+    #todo - consider disallowing/erroring out when \r \n in string?
+    # - tab/vtab?
+    # - compare with wcswidth returning -1 for entire string containing such in python,perl
+    proc wcswidth_unclustered {string} {
+        #faster than textutil::wcswidth (at least for string up to a few K in length)
+        #..but - 'scan' is horrible for 400K+ (Tcl evaluation stack has to be reallocated/copied?) 
+        #Tcl initial evaluation stack size is 2000 (? review)
+        #we can only split the string at arbitrary points like this because we are specifically dealing with input that has no clusters!.
+        set chunksize 2000
+        set chunks_required [expr {int(ceil([tcl::string::length $string] / double($chunksize)))}]
+        set width 0
+        set startidx 0
+        set endidx [expr {$startidx + $chunksize -1}]
+        for {set i 0} {$i < $chunks_required} {incr i} {
+            set chunk [tcl::string::range $string $startidx $endidx] 
+
+            set codes [scan $chunk [tcl::string::repeat %c [tcl::string::length $chunk]]]
+            foreach c $codes {
+                if {$c <= 255 && !($c < 31 || $c == 127)} {
+                    #review - non-printing ascii? why does textutil::wcswidth report 1 ??
+                    #todo - compare with python or other lang wcwidth 
+                    incr width 
+                } elseif {$c < 917504 || $c > 917631} {
+                    #TODO - various other joiners and non-printing chars
+                    set w [textutil::wcswidth_char $c]
+                    if {$w < 0} {
+                        return -1
+                    } else {
+                        incr width $w
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+            incr startidx   $chunksize
+            incr endidx     $chunksize
+        }
+        return $width
+    }
+    # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+    proc wcswidth0 {string} {
         #faster than textutil::wcswidth (at least for string up to a few K in length)
         #..but - 'scan' is horrible for 400K+ 
         #TODO 
@@ -1943,20 +2163,6 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::char {
         }
         return $width
     }
-    #faster than textutil::wcswidth (at least for string up to a few K in length)
-    proc wcswidth1 {string} {
-        set codes [scan $string [tcl::string::repeat %c [tcl::string::length $string]]]
-        set width 0
-        foreach c $codes {
-            set w [textutil::wcswidth_char $c]
-            if {$w < 0} {
-                return -1
-            } else {
-                incr width $w
-            }
-        }
-        return $width
-    }
     proc wcswidth2 {string} {
         set codes [scan $string [tcl::string::repeat %c [tcl::string::length $string]]]
         set widths [lmap c $codes {textutil::wcswidth_char $c}]
diff --git a/src/vfs/_vfscommon.vfs/modules/punk/console-0.1.1.tm b/src/vfs/_vfscommon.vfs/modules/punk/console-0.1.1.tm
index c4f2bfc4..c27503c3 100644
--- a/src/vfs/_vfscommon.vfs/modules/punk/console-0.1.1.tm
+++ b/src/vfs/_vfscommon.vfs/modules/punk/console-0.1.1.tm
@@ -875,6 +875,7 @@ namespace eval punk::console {
         }
     }
 
+    punk::args::set_alias punk::console::code_a+ punk::ansi::a+
     proc code_a+ {args} {
         variable ansi_wanted
         if {$ansi_wanted <= 0} {
diff --git a/src/vfs/_vfscommon.vfs/modules/punk/lib-0.1.1.tm b/src/vfs/_vfscommon.vfs/modules/punk/lib-0.1.1.tm
index 9ebd2ca2..6fabbba7 100644
--- a/src/vfs/_vfscommon.vfs/modules/punk/lib-0.1.1.tm
+++ b/src/vfs/_vfscommon.vfs/modules/punk/lib-0.1.1.tm
@@ -962,21 +962,6 @@ namespace eval punk::lib {
    
     namespace import ::punk::args::lib::tstr
     
-    #get info about punk nestindex key ie type: list,dict,undetermined
-    proc nestindex_info {args} {
-        set argd [punk::args::get_dict {
-            -parent -default ""
-            nestindex 
-        } $args]
-        set opt_parent      [dict get $argd opts -parent]
-        if {$opt_parent eq ""} {
-            set parent_type undetermined
-        } else {
-            set parent_type [nestindex_info -parent "" $opt_parent] ;#make sure we explicitly set parent of parent to empty so we don't just recurse forever doing nothing  
-        }
-        
-
-    }
 
 
     proc invoke command {
@@ -1127,17 +1112,35 @@ namespace eval punk::lib {
             -keytemplates       -default {\$\{$key\}} -type list -help "list of templates for keys at each level"
             -keysorttype        -default "none" -choices {none dictionary ascii integer real}
             -keysortdirection   -default increasing -choices {increasing decreasing}
+            -debug              -default 0 -type boolean -help\
+                "When enabled, produces some rudimentary debug output on stderr"
             *values -min 1 -max -1
             dictvalue                       -type list -help "dict or list value"
             patterns            -default "*"   -type string -multiple 1 -help "key or key glob pattern"
         }] $args]
+
+        #for punk::lib - we want to reduce pkg dependencies.
+        # - so we won't even use the tcllib debug pkg here 
+        set opt_debug               [dict get $argd opts -debug]
+        if {$opt_debug} {
+            if {[info body debug::showdict] eq ""} {
+                proc ::punk::lib::debug::showdict {args} {
+                    catch {puts stderr "punk::lib::showdict-> [string cat {*}$args]"}
+                }
+            }
+        } else {
+            if {[info body debug::showdict] ne ""} {
+                proc ::punk::lib::debug::showdict {args} {}
+            }
+        }
+
         set opt_sep                 [dict get $argd opts -separator]
         set opt_mismatch_sep        [dict get $argd opts -separator_mismatch]
         set opt_keysorttype         [dict get $argd opts -keysorttype]
         set opt_keysortdirection    [dict get $argd opts -keysortdirection]
         set opt_trimright           [dict get $argd opts -trimright]
         set opt_keytemplates        [dict get $argd opts -keytemplates]
-        puts stderr "---> $opt_keytemplates <---"
+        debug::showdict "keytemplates ---> $opt_keytemplates <---"
         set opt_ansibase_keys       [dict get $argd opts -ansibase_keys]
         set opt_ansibase_values     [dict get $argd opts -ansibase_values]
         set opt_return              [dict get $argd opts -return]
@@ -4112,10 +4115,31 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::lib::system {
         return $incomplete
     }
 
+    #get info about punk nestindex key ie type: list,dict,undetermined
+    # pdict devel 
+    proc nestindex_info {args} {
+        set argd [punk::args::get_dict {
+            -parent -default ""
+            nestindex 
+        } $args]
+        set opt_parent      [dict get $argd opts -parent]
+        if {$opt_parent eq ""} {
+            set parent_type undetermined
+        } else {
+            set parent_type [nestindex_info -parent "" $opt_parent] ;#make sure we explicitly set parent of parent to empty so we don't just recurse forever doing nothing  
+        }
+
+        #??? 
+
+    }
     #*** !doctools
     #[list_end] [comment {--- end definitions namespace punk::lib::system ---}]
 }
 
+tcl::namespace::eval punk::lib::debug {
+    proc showdict {args} {}
+}
+
 if {![info exists ::punk::args::register::NAMESPACES]} {
     namespace eval ::punk::args::register {
         set ::punk::args::register::NAMESPACES [list] ;#use fully qualified so 8.6 doesn't find existing var in global namespace
diff --git a/src/vfs/_vfscommon.vfs/modules/punk/ns-0.1.0.tm b/src/vfs/_vfscommon.vfs/modules/punk/ns-0.1.0.tm
index 880dde53..14b8f00d 100644
--- a/src/vfs/_vfscommon.vfs/modules/punk/ns-0.1.0.tm
+++ b/src/vfs/_vfscommon.vfs/modules/punk/ns-0.1.0.tm
@@ -1896,6 +1896,10 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ns {
         *id punk::ns::arginfo
         *proc -name punk::ns::arginfo -help\
             "Show usage info for a command"
+        -return -type string -default table -choices {string table tableobject}
+        -- -type none -help\
+            "End of options marker
+            Use this if the command to view begins with a -"
         *values -min 1
         commandpath -help\
             "command (may be alias or ensemble)"
@@ -2050,7 +2054,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ns {
                                     incr i
                                 }
                                 punk::args::definition $argspec
-                                return [punk::args::usage "$origin new"]
+                                return [punk::args::usage {*}$opts "$origin new"]
                             }
                             create {
                                 set constructorinfo [info class constructor $origin]
@@ -2079,7 +2083,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ns {
                                     incr i
                                 }
                                 punk::args::definition $argspec
-                                return [punk::args::usage "$origin create"]
+                                return [punk::args::usage {*}$opts "$origin create"]
                             }
                             destroy {
                                 #review - generally no doc
@@ -2092,7 +2096,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ns {
                                     *values -min 0 -max 0
                                 }]
                                 punk::args::definition $argspec
-                                return [punk::args::usage "$origin destroy"]
+                                return [punk::args::usage {*}$opts "$origin destroy"]
                             }
                             default {
                                 #use info object call <obj> <method> to resolve callchain 
@@ -2112,7 +2116,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ns {
                                                 set id "[string trimleft $origin :] $c1" ;# "<object> <method>"
                                                 if {[info commands ::punk::args::id_exists] ne ""} {
                                                     if {[punk::args::id_exists $id]} {
-                                                        return [uplevel 1 [list punk::args::usage $id]]
+                                                        return [uplevel 1 [list punk::args::usage {*}$opts $id]]
                                                     }
                                                 }
                                                 set def [::info object definition $origin $c1]
@@ -2120,7 +2124,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ns {
                                                 set id "[string trimleft $location :] $c1" ;# "<class> <method>"
                                                 if {[info commands ::punk::args::id_exists] ne ""} {
                                                     if {[punk::args::id_exists $id]} {
-                                                        return [uplevel 1 [list punk::args::usage $id]]
+                                                        return [uplevel 1 [list punk::args::usage {*}$opts $id]]
                                                     }
                                                 }
                                                 set def [::info class definition $location $c1]
@@ -2162,7 +2166,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ns {
                                         incr i
                                     }
                                     punk::args::definition $argspec
-                                    return [punk::args::usage "$location $c1"]
+                                    return [punk::args::usage {*}$opts "$location $c1"]
                                 } else {
                                     return "unable to resolve $origin method $c1"
                                 }
@@ -2216,7 +2220,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ns {
                 }]
                 append argspec \n $vline
                 punk::args::definition $argspec
-                return [punk::args::usage $origin]
+                return [punk::args::usage {*}$opts $origin]
             }
             privateObject {
                 return "Command is a privateObject - no info currently available"
@@ -2327,7 +2331,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ns {
             }]
             append argspec \n $vline
             punk::args::definition $argspec
-            return [punk::args::usage $origin]
+            return [punk::args::usage {*}$opts $origin]
         }
 
         #check for tepam help
@@ -2363,7 +2367,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::ns {
         set id [string trimleft $origin :]
         if {[info commands ::punk::args::id_exists] ne ""} {
             if {[punk::args::id_exists $id]} {
-                return [uplevel 1 [list punk::args::usage $id]]
+                return [uplevel 1 [list punk::args::usage {*}$opts $id]]
             }
         }
         set origin_ns [nsprefix $origin]
diff --git a/src/vfs/_vfscommon.vfs/modules/punk/repl-0.1.tm b/src/vfs/_vfscommon.vfs/modules/punk/repl-0.1.tm
index 6ffc6842..70c34c4a 100644
--- a/src/vfs/_vfscommon.vfs/modules/punk/repl-0.1.tm
+++ b/src/vfs/_vfscommon.vfs/modules/punk/repl-0.1.tm
@@ -2584,7 +2584,8 @@ namespace eval repl {
         set codethread_cond [thread::cond create] ;#repl::codethread_cond held by parent(repl) vs punk::repl::codethread::replthread_cond held by child(codethread)
         set codethread_mutex [thread::mutex create]
 
-        thread::send $codethread [string map [list   %args%         [list $opts]\
+
+        set init_script [string map [list   %args%         [list $opts]\
                                                      %argv0%        [list $::argv0]\
                                                      %argv%         [list $::argv]\
                                                      %argc%         [list $::argc]\
@@ -3097,8 +3098,20 @@ namespace eval repl {
             #puts stderr "returning threadid"
             #puts stderr [thread::id]
 
-            return [thread::id]
+            thread::id
         }]
+
+        #thread::send $codethread $init_script
+        if {![catch {
+            thread::send $codethread $init_script result ;#use a result var when wrapping in a catch - without it we can get a return code of 2 (TCL_RETURN)
+        } errMsg]} {
+            return $result
+        } else {
+            puts stderr "repl::init Failed during thread::send"
+            puts stderr "$::errorInfo"
+            thread::release $codethread
+            error $errMsg
+        }
     }
     #init - don't auto init - require init with possible options e.g -safe 
 }
diff --git a/src/vfs/_vfscommon.vfs/modules/punk/repl/codethread-0.1.1.tm b/src/vfs/_vfscommon.vfs/modules/punk/repl/codethread-0.1.1.tm
index d14b626d..b3693f71 100644
--- a/src/vfs/_vfscommon.vfs/modules/punk/repl/codethread-0.1.1.tm
+++ b/src/vfs/_vfscommon.vfs/modules/punk/repl/codethread-0.1.1.tm
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval punk::repl::codethread {
                 if {[llength $::codeinterp::run_command_cache] > 2000} {
                     set ::codeinterp::run_command_cache [lrange $::codeinterp::run_command_cache 1750 end][unset ::codeinterp::run_command_cache]
                 }
-                if {[string first ":::" $::punk::ns::ns_current]} {
+                if {[string first ":::" $::punk::ns::ns_current] >= 0} {
                     #support for browsing 'odd' (inadvisable) namespaces
                     #don't use 'namespace exists' - will conflate ::test::x with ::test:::x
                     #if {$::punk::ns::ns_current in [namespace children  [punk::ns::nsprefix $::punk::ns::ns_current]} {
diff --git a/src/vfs/_vfscommon.vfs/modules/textblock-0.1.2.tm b/src/vfs/_vfscommon.vfs/modules/textblock-0.1.2.tm
index 1a298b4e..3651c0f0 100644
--- a/src/vfs/_vfscommon.vfs/modules/textblock-0.1.2.tm
+++ b/src/vfs/_vfscommon.vfs/modules/textblock-0.1.2.tm
@@ -299,6 +299,9 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
         #It does however affect all ensemble commands - so even 'dict get/set' etc won't be as efficient in a safe interp.
 
         #e.g $t configure -framemap_body [table_edge_map " "]
+
+        # -- --- --- --- ---
+        #unused?
         proc table_edge_map {char} {
             variable table_edge_parts
             set map [list]
@@ -335,6 +338,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
             }
             return $map
         }
+        # -- --- --- --- ---
 
         if {[tcl::info::commands [tcl::namespace::current]::table] eq ""} {
             #*** !doctools
@@ -374,6 +378,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                 variable o_columndefs
                 variable o_columndata
                 variable o_columnstates
+                variable o_headerdefs
                 variable o_headerstates
 
                 variable o_rowdefs
@@ -432,6 +437,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                     set o_columndefs    [tcl::dict::create]
                     set o_columndata    [tcl::dict::create] ;#we store data by column even though it is often added row by row
                     set o_columnstates  [tcl::dict::create] ;#store the maxwidthbodyseen etc as we add rows and maxwidthheaderseen etc as we add headers - it is needed often and expensive to calculate repeatedly
+                    set o_headerdefs    [tcl::dict::create] ;#by header-row
                     set o_headerstates  [tcl::dict::create]
                     set o_rowdefs       [tcl::dict::create] ;#user requested row data e.g -minheight -maxheight
                     set o_rowstates     [tcl::dict::create] ;#actual row data such as -minheight and -maxheight detected from supplied row data
@@ -439,12 +445,14 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                     set TSUB \uF111 ;#should be BMP PUA code to show as either replacement char or nerdfont glyph. See FSUB for comments regarding choices.
                     set o_calculated_column_widths [list]
                     set o_column_width_algorithm "span"
-                    set header_defaults [tcl::dict::create\
+                    set o_opts_header_defaults [tcl::dict::create\
                         -colspans {}\
                         -values {}\
                         -ansibase {}\
+                        -ansireset "\x1b\[m"\
+                        -minheight 1\
+                        -maxheight ""\
                     ]
-                    set o_opts_header_defaults $header_defaults
                 }
 
                 method width_algorithm {{alg ""}} {
@@ -1107,10 +1115,18 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                                 }
                             }
                         }
-                        #args checked - ok to update headerstates  and columndefs and columnstates
+                        #args checked - ok to update headerstates, headerdefs  and columndefs and columnstates
                         tcl::dict::set o_columndefs $cidx $checked_opts
-
                         set o_headerstates $hstates 
+                        dict for {hidx hstate} $hstates {
+                            #configure_header
+                            if {![dict exists $o_headerdefs $hidx]} {
+                                #remove calculated members  -values -colspans
+                                set hdefaults [dict remove $o_opts_header_defaults -values -colspans]
+                                dict set o_headerdefs $hidx $hdefaults 
+                            }
+                        }
+
                         tcl::dict::set o_columnstates $cidx $colstate
 
                         if {$args_got_headers} {
@@ -1267,11 +1283,10 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                     return $hcolspans
                 }
 
-                #should be configure_headerrow ?
                 method configure_header {index_expression args} {
                     #*** !doctools
                     #[call class::table [method configure_header]]
-                    #[para] - undocumented
+                    #[para] - configure header row-wise 
 
                     #the header data being configured or returned here is mostly derived from the column defs and if necessary written to the column defs.
                     #It can also be set column by column - but it is much easier (especially for colspans) to configure them on a header-row basis
@@ -1279,7 +1294,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                     set num_headers [my header_count_calc]
                     set hidx [lindex [tcl::dict::keys $o_headerstates] $index_expression]
                     if {$hidx eq ""} {
-                        error "textblock::table::configure_header - no row defined at index '$hidx'."
+                        error "textblock::table::configure_header - no header row defined at index '$index_expression'."
                     }
                     if {$hidx > $num_headers -1} {
                         #assert - shouldn't happen
@@ -1298,6 +1313,14 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                             lappend header_row_items $relevant_header ;#may be empty string because column had nothing at that index, or may be empty string stored in that column. We don't differentiate. 
                         }
                         tcl::dict::set result -values $header_row_items 
+
+                        #review - ensure always a headerdef record for each header?
+                        if {[tcl::dict::exists $o_headerdefs $hidx]} {
+                            set result [tcl::dict::merge $result [tcl::dict::get $o_headerdefs $hidx]]
+                        } else {
+                            #warn for now
+                            puts stderr "no headerdef record for header $hidx"
+                        }
                         return $result
                     }
                     if {[llength $args] == 1} {
@@ -1328,7 +1351,8 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                                     set colspans_by_header [my header_colspans] 
                                     set result [tcl::dict::create]
                                     set val [tcl::dict::get $colspans_by_header $hidx]
-                                    set returndict [tcl::dict::create option $k value $val ansireset "\x1b\[m"]
+                                    #ansireset not required
+                                    set returndict [tcl::dict::create option $k value $val]
                                 }
                                 -ansibase {
                                     set val ???
@@ -1369,8 +1393,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                                         lappend header_ansibase_items $code
                                     }
                                 }
-                                set header_ansibase [punk::ansi::codetype::sgr_merge_singles $row_ansibase_items]
-                                error "sorry - -ansibase not yet implemented for header rows"
+                                set header_ansibase [punk::ansi::codetype::sgr_merge_singles $header_ansibase_items]
                                 lappend checked_opts $k $header_ansibase
                             }
                             -ansireset {
@@ -1472,6 +1495,10 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                     #safe jumptable test
                     #dict for {k v} $checked_opts {}
                     #foreach {k v} $checked_opts {}
+
+                    # headerdefs excludes -values and -colspans
+                    set update_hdefs [tcl::dict::get $o_headerdefs $hidx]
+
                     tcl::dict::for {k v} $checked_opts {
                         switch -- $k {
                             -values {
@@ -1538,8 +1565,28 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                                     incr c
                                 }
                             }
+                            default {
+                                dict set update_hdefs $k $v
+                            }
                         }
                     }
+                    set opt_minh [tcl::dict::get $update_hdefs -minheight]
+                    set opt_maxh [tcl::dict::get $update_hdefs -maxheight]
+
+                    #todo - allow zero values to hide/collapse
+                    # - see also configure_row
+                    if {![tcl::string::is integer $opt_minh] || ($opt_maxh ne "" && ![tcl::string::is integer -strict $opt_maxh])} {
+                        error "[tcl::namespace::current]::table::configure_header error -minheight '$opt_minh' and -maxheight '$opt_maxh' must be integers greater than or equal to 1 (for now)"
+                    }
+                    if {$opt_minh < 1 || ($opt_maxh ne "" && $opt_maxh < 1)} {
+                        error "[tcl::namespace::current]::table::configure_header error -minheight '$opt_minh' and -maxheight '$opt_maxh' must both be 1 or greater (for now)"
+                    }
+                    if {$opt_maxh ne "" && $opt_maxh < $opt_minh} {
+                        error "[tcl::namespace::current]::table::configure_header error -maxheight '$opt_maxh' must greater than -minheight '$opt_minh'"
+                    }
+
+                    #set o_headerstate $hidx -minheight? -maxheight? ???
+                    tcl::dict::set o_headerdefs $hidx $update_hdefs 
                 }
 
                 method add_row {valuelist args} {
@@ -2050,7 +2097,8 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                         foreach header $header_list {
                             set headerspans [tcl::dict::get $all_colspans $hrow]
                             set this_span [lindex $headerspans $cidx]
-                            set hval $ansibase_header$header ;#no reset
+                            #set hval $ansibase_header$header ;#no reset
+                            set hval $header
                             set rowh [my header_height $hrow]
 
                             if {$hrow == 0} {
@@ -2317,7 +2365,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                                     set h_lines [lrepeat $rowh $bline]
                                     set hcell_blank [::join $h_lines \n]
                                     # -usecache 1 ok
-                                    #frame borders will never display - so use the simplest frametype and don't apply any ansi
+                                    #frame borders will never display - so use the simplest frametype and don't apply any ansi 
                                     #puts "===>zerospan hlims: $hlims"
                                     set header_frame [textblock::frame -checkargs 0 -ellipsis 0 -width [expr {$padwidth+2}] -type ascii\
                                         -boxlimits $hlims -boxmap $framesub_map  $hcell_blank\
@@ -2589,8 +2637,8 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                         }
                     }
 
-                    set ansibase_body   [tcl::dict::get $o_opts_table -ansibase_body]
-                    set ansibase_header [tcl::dict::get $o_opts_table -ansibase_header]
+                    #set ansibase_body   [tcl::dict::get $o_opts_table -ansibase_body]
+                    #set ansibase_header [tcl::dict::get $o_opts_table -ansibase_header]
 
                     #set header_underlay $ansibase_header$cell_line_blank
 
@@ -2613,7 +2661,35 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                     set showing_vseps [my Showing_vseps]
                     for {set hrow 0} {$hrow < $num_header_rows} {incr hrow} {
                         set hdr [lindex $headerlist $hrow]
-                        set header_maxdataheight [my header_height $hrow]  ;#from cached headerstates
+                        #jjj
+                        set header_maxdataheight   [tcl::dict::get $o_headerstates $hrow maxheightseen]
+                        #set header_maxdataheight [my header_height $hrow]  ;#from cached headerstates
+                        set headerdefminh   [tcl::dict::get $o_headerdefs $hrow -minheight]
+                        set headerdefmaxh   [tcl::dict::get $o_headerdefs $hrow -maxheight]
+                        if {"$headerdefminh$headerdefmaxh" ne "" && $headerdefminh eq $headerdefmaxh} {
+                            set headerh $headerdefminh ;#exact height defined for the row
+                        } else {
+                            if {$headerdefminh eq ""} {
+                                if {$headerdefmaxh eq ""} {
+                                    #both defs empty
+                                    set headerh $header_maxdataheight
+                                } else {
+                                    set headerh [expr {min(1,$headerdefmaxh,$header_maxdataheight)}]
+                                }
+                            } else {
+                                if {$headerdefmaxh eq ""} {
+                                    set headerh [expr {max($headerdefminh,$header_maxdataheight)}]
+                                } else {
+                                    if {$header_maxdataheight < $headerdefminh} {
+                                        set headerh $headerdefminh
+                                    } else {
+                                        set headerh [expr {max($headerdefminh,$header_maxdataheight)}]
+                                    }
+                                }
+                            }
+                        }
+
+
                         set headerrow_colspans [tcl::dict::get $all_colspans $hrow]
                         set this_span [lindex $headerrow_colspans $cidx] 
 
@@ -2654,8 +2730,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                         set rowdefminh    [tcl::dict::get $o_rowdefs $r -minheight]
                         set rowdefmaxh    [tcl::dict::get $o_rowdefs $r -maxheight]
                         if {"$rowdefminh$rowdefmaxh" ne "" && $rowdefminh eq $rowdefmaxh} { 
-                            #an exact height is defined for the row
-                            set rowh $rowdefminh
+                            set rowh $rowdefminh ;#an exact height is defined for the row
                         } else {
                             if {$rowdefminh eq ""} {
                                 if {$rowdefmaxh eq ""} {
@@ -2814,6 +2889,7 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
                         $t destroy
                     }
                     puts stdout "columnstates: $o_columnstates"
+                    puts stdout "headerdefs:   $o_headerdefs"
                     puts stdout "headerstates: $o_headerstates"
                     tcl::dict::for {k coldef} $o_columndefs {
                         if {[tcl::dict::exists $o_columndata $k]} {
@@ -4205,6 +4281,68 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
         return $t
     }
 
+    proc bookend_lines {block start {end "\x1b\[m"}} {
+        set out "" 
+        foreach ln [split $block \n] {
+            append out $start $ln $end \n
+        }
+        return [string range $out 0 end-1]
+    }
+    proc ansibase_lines {block {newprefix ""}} {
+        set base "" 
+        set out ""
+        if {$newprefix eq ""} {
+            foreach ln [split $block \n] {
+                set parts [punk::ansi::ta::split_codes $ln]
+                if {[lindex $parts 0] eq ""} {
+                    if {[lindex $parts 1] ne "" && ![punk::ansi::codetype::is_sgr_reset [lindex $parts 1]]} {
+                        set base [lindex $parts 1]
+                        append out $base
+                    } else {
+                        append out $base
+                    }
+                } else {
+                    #leading plaintext - maintain our base
+                    append out $base [lindex $parts 0] [lindex $parts 1]
+                }
+
+                set code_idx 3
+                foreach {pt code} [lrange $parts 2 end] {
+                    if {[punk::ansi::codetype::is_sgr_reset $code]} {
+                        set parts [linsert $parts $code_idx+1 $base] 
+                    }
+                    incr code_idx 2
+                }
+                append out {*}[lrange $parts 2 end] \n
+            }
+            return [string range $out 0 end-1]
+        } else {
+            set base $newprefix
+            foreach ln [split $block \n] {
+                set parts [punk::ansi::ta::split_codes $ln]
+                set code_idx 1
+                set offset 0
+                foreach {pt code} $parts {
+                    if {$code_idx == 1} {
+                        #first pt & code
+                        if {$pt ne ""} {
+                            #leading plaintext
+                            set parts [linsert $parts 0 $base]
+                            incr offset
+                        }
+                    }
+                    if {[punk::ansi::codetype::is_sgr_reset $code]} {
+                        set parts [linsert $parts [expr {$code_idx+1+$offset}] $base]
+                        incr offset
+                    }
+                    incr code_idx 2
+                } 
+                append out {*}$parts \n
+            }
+            return [string range $out 0 end-1]
+        }
+    }
+
     set FRAMETYPES  [textblock::frametypes]
     punk::args::definition [punk::lib::tstr -return string {
         *id textblock::list_as_table
@@ -4606,12 +4744,22 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
         return [punk::char::ansifreestring_width $tl] 
     }
     #uses tcl's tcl::string::length on each line. Length will include chars in ansi codes etc - this is not a 'width' determining function.
-    proc string_length_line_max textblock {
-        tcl::mathfunc::max {*}[lmap v [split $textblock \n] {tcl::string::length $v}]
+    proc string_length_line_max {textblock} {
+        #tcl::mathfunc::max {*}[lmap v [split $textblock \n] {tcl::string::length $v}]
+        set max 0
+        foreach ln [split $textblock \n] {
+            if {[tcl::string::length $ln] > $max} {set max [tcl::string::length $ln]}
+        }
+        return $max
     }
+    #*slightly* slower
+    #proc string_length_line_max {textblock} {
+    #    tcl::mathfunc::max {*}[lmap v [split $textblock \n] {tcl::string::length $v}]
+    #}
     proc string_length_line_min textblock {
         tcl::mathfunc::min {*}[lmap v [split $textblock \n] {tcl::string::length $v}]
     }
+
     proc height {textblock} {
         #This is the height as it will/would-be rendered - not the number of input lines purely in terms of le
         #empty string still has height 1 (at least for left-right/right-left languages) 
@@ -4652,6 +4800,45 @@ tcl::namespace::eval textblock {
 
         return [tcl::dict::create width $width height $height] ;#maintain order in 'image processing' standard width then height - caller may use lassign [tcl::dict::values [blocksize <data>]] width height
     }
+    proc size2 {textblock} {
+        if {$textblock eq ""} {
+            return [tcl::dict::create width 0 height 1] ;#no such thing as zero-height block - for consistency with non-empty strings having no line-endings
+        }
+        #strangely - tcl::string::last (windows tcl8.7 anway) is faster than tcl::string::first for large strings when the needle not in the haystack
+        if {[tcl::string::last \t $textblock] >= 0} {
+            if {[tcl::info::exists punk::console::tabwidth]} {
+                set tw $::punk::console::tabwidth
+            } else {
+                set tw 8
+            }
+            set textblock [textutil::tabify::untabify2 $textblock $tw]
+        }
+        #ansistripraw on entire block in one go rather than line by line - result should be the same - review - make tests
+        if {[string length $textblock] > 1 && [punk::ansi::ta::detect $textblock]} {
+            set textblock [punk::ansi::ansistripraw $textblock]
+        }
+        if {[tcl::string::last \n $textblock] >= 0} {
+            #set width [tcl::mathfunc::max {*}[lmap v [punk::lib::lines_as_list -- $textblock] {::punk::char::ansifreestring_width $v}]]
+            set lines [split $textblock \n]
+            set num_le [expr {[llength $lines]-1}]
+            #set width [tcl::mathfunc::max {*}[lmap v $lines {::punk::char::ansifreestring_width $v}]]
+            set width 0
+            foreach ln $lines {
+                set w [::punk::char::ansifreestring_width $ln]
+                if {$w > $width} {
+                    set width $w
+                }
+            }
+        } else {
+            set num_le 0
+            set width [punk::char::ansifreestring_width $textblock] 
+        }
+        #set num_le [expr {[tcl::string::length $textblock]-[tcl::string::length [tcl::string::map [list \n {} \v {}] $textblock]]}] ;#faster than splitting into single-char list
+        #our concept of block-height is likely to be different to other line-counting mechanisms
+        set height [expr {$num_le + 1}] ;# one line if no le - 2 if there is one trailing le even if no data follows le
+
+        return [tcl::dict::create width $width height $height] ;#maintain order in 'image processing' standard width then height - caller may use lassign [tcl::dict::values [blocksize <data>]] width height
+    }
     proc size_as_opts {textblock} {
         set sz [size $textblock]
         return [dict create -width [dict get $sz width] -height [dict get $sz height]]