diff --git a/src/classes/PStartupHandler.cpp b/src/classes/PStartupHandler.cpp
index 47bb48ca2..7907e0ecf 100644
--- a/src/classes/PStartupHandler.cpp
+++ b/src/classes/PStartupHandler.cpp
@@ -34,13 +34,12 @@
 #include <iostream>
 #include <fstream>
 
-#include <TObjArray.h>
-#include <TObjString.h>
 #include <TColor.h>
 #include <TList.h>
 #include <TXMLAttr.h>
 
 #include "PStartupHandler.h"
+#include "PStringUtils.h"
 
 ClassImpQ(PStartupHandler)
 
@@ -451,8 +450,6 @@ void PStartupHandler::OnEndElement(const Char_t *str)
  */
 void PStartupHandler::OnCharacters(const Char_t *str)
 {
-  TObjArray  *tokens;
-  TObjString *ostr;
   TString    tstr;
   Int_t      color, r, g, b, ival;
 
@@ -481,60 +478,44 @@ void PStartupHandler::OnCharacters(const Char_t *str)
       }
       break;
     case eColor:
-      // check that str is a rbg code
-      tstr = TString(str);
-      tokens = tstr.Tokenize(",");
-      // check that there any tokens
-      if (!tokens) {
-        std::cerr << std::endl << "PStartupHandler **WARNING** '" << str << "' is not a rbg code, will ignore it";
-        std::cerr << std::endl;
-        return;
+      {
+        // check that str is a rbg code
+        std::vector<std::string> rgb = PStringUtils::Split(str, ",");
+        // check there is the right number of tokens
+        if (rgb.size() != 3) {
+          std::cerr << std::endl << "PStartupHandler **WARNING** '" << str << "' is not a rbg code, will ignore it";
+          std::cerr << std::endl;
+          return;
+        }
+        // get r
+        if (PStringUtils::IsInt(rgb[0])) {
+          r = PStringUtils::ToInt(rgb[0]);
+        } else {
+          std::cerr << std::endl << "PStartupHandler **WARNING** r within the rgb code is not a number, will ignore it";
+          std::cerr << std::endl;
+          return;
+        }
+        // get g
+        if (PStringUtils::IsInt(rgb[1])) {
+          g = PStringUtils::ToInt(rgb[1]);
+        } else {
+          std::cerr << std::endl << "PStartupHandler **WARNING** g within the rgb code is not a number, will ignore it";
+          std::cerr << std::endl;
+          return;
+        }
+        // get b
+        if (PStringUtils::IsInt(rgb[2])) {
+          b = PStringUtils::ToInt(rgb[2]);
+        } else {
+          std::cerr << std::endl << "PStartupHandler **WARNING** b within the rgb code is not a number, will ignore it";
+          std::cerr << std::endl;
+          return;
+        }
+        // generate the ROOT color code based on str
+        color = TColor::GetColor(r,g,b);
+        // add the color code to the color list
+        fColorList.push_back(color);
       }
-      // check there is the right number of tokens
-      if (tokens->GetEntries() != 3) {
-        std::cerr << std::endl << "PStartupHandler **WARNING** '" << str << "' is not a rbg code, will ignore it";
-        std::cerr << std::endl;
-        return;
-      }
-      // get r
-      ostr = dynamic_cast<TObjString*>(tokens->At(0));
-      tstr = ostr->GetString();
-      if (tstr.IsDigit()) {
-        r = tstr.Atoi();
-      } else {
-        std::cerr << std::endl << "PStartupHandler **WARNING** r within the rgb code is not a number, will ignore it";
-        std::cerr << std::endl;
-        return;
-      }
-      // get g
-      ostr = dynamic_cast<TObjString*>(tokens->At(1));
-      tstr = ostr->GetString();
-      if (tstr.IsDigit()) {
-        g = tstr.Atoi();
-      } else {
-        std::cerr << std::endl << "PStartupHandler **WARNING** g within the rgb code is not a number, will ignore it";
-        std::cerr << std::endl;
-        return;
-      }
-      // get b
-      ostr = dynamic_cast<TObjString*>(tokens->At(2));
-      tstr = ostr->GetString();
-      if (tstr.IsDigit()) {
-        b = tstr.Atoi();
-      } else {
-        std::cerr << std::endl << "PStartupHandler **WARNING** b within the rgb code is not a number, will ignore it";
-        std::cerr << std::endl;
-        return;
-      }
-      // clean up tokens
-      if (tokens) {
-        delete tokens;
-        tokens = nullptr;
-      }
-      // generate the ROOT color code based on str
-      color = TColor::GetColor(r,g,b);
-      // add the color code to the color list
-      fColorList.push_back(color);
       break;
     case eUnits:
       tstr = TString(str);