diff --git a/src/evhelper.cpp b/src/evhelper.cpp
index 335a9e9..21dc010 100644
--- a/src/evhelper.cpp
+++ b/src/evhelper.cpp
@@ -337,6 +337,7 @@ bool EvOutBuf::refill(size_t more)
 bool EvInBuf::refill(size_t more)
 {
     if(err) return false;
+    size_t len = size(); // unconsumed before request
 
     if(base && evbuffer_drain(backing, pos-base))
         throw std::bad_alloc();
@@ -344,8 +345,13 @@ bool EvInBuf::refill(size_t more)
     limit = base = pos = nullptr;
 
     if(more) {
+        // ensure new segment contains at least the requested size (one element)
+        // (we hope this is mostly a no-op)
+        (void)evbuffer_pullup(backing, len+more);
+
         evbuffer_iovec vec;
 
+        // peek at the next segment
         auto n = evbuffer_peek(backing, -1, nullptr, &vec, 1);
         if(n<=0) { // current (2.1) impl never returns negative
             return false;
@@ -353,6 +359,10 @@ bool EvInBuf::refill(size_t more)
 
         base = pos = (uint8_t*)vec.iov_base;
         limit = base+vec.iov_len;
+
+        if(size() < len+more) {
+            return false; // pullup didn't work.
+        }
     }
     return true;
 }
diff --git a/src/pvaproto.h b/src/pvaproto.h
index 91731fc..8fcf2b0 100644
--- a/src/pvaproto.h
+++ b/src/pvaproto.h
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ public:
             pos = limit;
             i -= size();
         } while(static_cast<Subclass*>(this)->refill(i));
+        fault();
     }
 
     EPICS_ALWAYS_INLINE bool empty() const { return limit==pos; }
@@ -305,7 +306,7 @@ inline void _to_wire(Buf& buf, const uint8_t *mem, bool reverse)
  * @param buf output buffer.  buf[0] through buf[sizeof(T)-1] must be valid.
  * @param val input variable
  */
-template<typename T, typename Buf, typename std::enable_if<std::is_scalar<T>::value, int>::type =0>
+template<typename T, typename Buf, typename std::enable_if<sizeof(T)>=2 && std::is_scalar<T>{} && !std::is_pointer<T>{}, int>::type =0>
 inline void to_wire(Buf& buf, const T& val)
 {
     union {
@@ -316,6 +317,16 @@ inline void to_wire(Buf& buf, const T& val)
     _to_wire<sizeof(T)>(buf, pun.b, buf.be ^ (EPICS_BYTE_ORDER==EPICS_ENDIAN_BIG));
 }
 
+template<typename T, typename Buf, typename std::enable_if<sizeof(T)==1 && std::is_scalar<T>{}, int>::type =0>
+inline void to_wire(Buf& buf, const T& val)
+{
+    if(!buf.ensure(1)) {
+        buf.fault();
+    } else {
+        buf.push(val);
+    }
+}
+
 template<typename Buf>
 void to_wire(Buf& buf, const Size& size)
 {
@@ -349,6 +360,12 @@ void to_wire(Buf& buf, const char *s)
 
 }
 
+template<typename Buf>
+inline void to_wire(Buf& buf, const std::string& s)
+{
+    to_wire(buf, s.c_str());
+}
+
 template<typename Buf>
 void to_wire(Buf& buf, std::initializer_list<uint8_t> bytes)
 {
diff --git a/src/pvxs/unittest.h b/src/pvxs/unittest.h
index 1daae32..33ca6a8 100644
--- a/src/pvxs/unittest.h
+++ b/src/pvxs/unittest.h
@@ -13,7 +13,9 @@
  */
 
 #include <sstream>
+#include <vector>
 #include <functional>
+#include <type_traits>
 
 #include <pvxs/version.h>
 #include <pvxs/util.h>
@@ -57,7 +59,7 @@ public:
 namespace detail {
 
 // control how testEq() and testNotEq() print things
-template<typename T>
+template<typename T, typename Enable=void>
 struct test_print {
     template<class C>
     static inline void op(C& strm, const T& v) {
@@ -78,6 +80,13 @@ struct test_print<const char*> {
         strm<<'"'<<escape(v)<<'"';
     }
 };
+template<typename E>
+struct test_print<std::vector<E>, typename std::enable_if<sizeof(E)==1>::type> {
+    template<class C>
+    static inline void op(C& strm, const std::vector<E>& v) {
+        strm<<'"'<<escape((const char*)v.data(), v.size())<<'"';
+    }
+};
 
 template<typename LHS, typename RHS>
 testCase testEq(const char *sLHS, const LHS& lhs, const char *sRHS, const RHS& rhs)
diff --git a/src/pvxs/util.h b/src/pvxs/util.h
index e441094..7fdb04c 100644
--- a/src/pvxs/util.h
+++ b/src/pvxs/util.h
@@ -26,9 +26,11 @@ namespace detail {
 class Escaper
 {
     const char* val;
+    size_t count;
     friend std::ostream& operator<<(std::ostream& strm, const Escaper& esc);
 public:
-    constexpr explicit Escaper(const char* v) :val(v) {}
+    PVXS_API explicit Escaper(const char* v);
+    constexpr explicit Escaper(const char* v, size_t l) :val(v),count(l) {}
 };
 
 PVXS_API
@@ -42,7 +44,7 @@ std::ostream& operator<<(std::ostream& strm, const Escaper& esc);
 //!   std::cout<<pvxs::escape(blah);
 //! @endcode
 inline detail::Escaper escape(const std::string& s) {
-    return detail::Escaper(s.c_str());
+    return detail::Escaper(s.c_str(), s.size());
 }
 //! Print string to output string with non-printable charactors escaped.
 //! @code
@@ -51,6 +53,13 @@ inline detail::Escaper escape(const std::string& s) {
 inline detail::Escaper escape(const char* s) {
     return detail::Escaper(s);
 }
+//! Print string to output string with non-printable charactors escaped.
+//! @code
+//!   std::cout<<pvxs::escape("this \"is a test\"", 6); // prints 'this \"'
+//! @endcode
+inline detail::Escaper escape(const char* s,size_t n) {
+    return detail::Escaper(s,n);
+}
 
 //! representation of a network address
 struct PVXS_API SockAddr {
diff --git a/src/util.cpp b/src/util.cpp
index 0d289da..d382b47 100644
--- a/src/util.cpp
+++ b/src/util.cpp
@@ -39,13 +39,18 @@ void cleanup_for_valgrind()
 
 namespace detail {
 
+Escaper::Escaper(const char* v)
+    :val(v)
+    ,count(v ? strlen(v) : 0)
+{}
+
 std::ostream& operator<<(std::ostream& strm, const Escaper& esc)
 {
     const char *s = esc.val;
     if(!s) {
         strm<<"<NULL>";
     } else {
-        for(; *s; s++) {
+        for(size_t n=0; n<esc.count; n++,s++) {
             char c = *s, next;
             switch(c) {
             case '\a': next = 'a'; break;