diff --git a/ascon.c b/ascon.c
index fe1f1995..0e66da8c 100644
--- a/ascon.c
+++ b/ascon.c
@@ -71,7 +71,8 @@ void AsconError(Ascon *a, char *msg, int errorno)
     "timeout"
   };
   char *state;
-
+  char num[8];
+  
   if (a->state < 0 || a->state >= AsconMaxState) {
     state = "bad state";
   } else {
@@ -128,8 +129,10 @@ static void AsconConnect(Ascon * a)
     return;
   }
   colon = strchr(a->hostport, ':');
-  if (colon == NULL)
+  if (colon == NULL) {
+    AsconError(a, "expected 'host:port' or 'unconnected'", 0);
     return;
+  }
   port = atoi(colon + 1);
   if (port <= 0) {
     AsconError(a, "bad port number", 0);
@@ -321,6 +324,7 @@ int AsconBaseHandler(Ascon * a)
     if (ret == 0) {
       /* in progress */
     } else if (ret > 0) {
+      DynStringClear(a->errmsg);
       a->state = AsconConnectDone;      /* success */
     } else if (ret < 0) {
       AsconError(a, "ASC3", errno);
@@ -419,7 +423,7 @@ int AsconStdHandler(Ascon * a)
   int result;
   char chr;
   int ret, l;
-  char *cmd, *opt;
+  char *cmd, *opt, *buf;
   
   switch (a->state) {
   case AsconWriteStart:
@@ -464,9 +468,18 @@ int AsconStdHandler(Ascon * a)
     }
     if (a->replyTerminator != NULL) {
       if (strchr(a->replyTerminator, chr) != NULL) {
-        a->state = AsconReadDone;
-        if (chr == '\n' || chr == '\r') {
-          DynStringBackspace(a->rdBuffer); /* remove LF or CR */
+        if (a->compositeTerminator) {
+          /* one character was o.k., but all have to match */
+          l = strlen(a->replyTerminator);
+          buf = GetCharArray(a->rdBuffer) + GetDynStringLength(a->rdBuffer) - l;
+          if (strncmp(buf, a->replyTerminator, l) == 0) {
+            a->state = AsconReadDone;
+          }
+        } else {
+          a->state = AsconReadDone;
+          if (chr == '\n' || chr == '\r') {
+            DynStringBackspace(a->rdBuffer); /* remove LF or CR */
+          }
         }
       }
     } else {
@@ -502,10 +515,13 @@ int AsconStdHandler(Ascon * a)
  * Treat hex strings as terminators right. Note that this
  * is limited to single character terminators.
  * M.Z. changed strstr to strncmp (more precise)
+ *
+ * M.Z. add new option (composite terminator):
+ *   convert 'term' to term
  */
-static void AsconCheckTerminators(Ascon *a)
+void AsconCheckTerminators(Ascon *a)
 {
-  int c;
+  int c, i, l;
 
   if (a->sendTerminator != NULL && strncmp(a->sendTerminator,"0x",2) == 0) {
     sscanf(a->sendTerminator,"%x",&c);
@@ -517,6 +533,17 @@ static void AsconCheckTerminators(Ascon *a)
     a->replyTerminator[0] = (char)c;
     a->replyTerminator[1] = '\0';
   }
+  a->compositeTerminator = 0;
+  if (a->replyTerminator != NULL && a->replyTerminator[0] == '\'') {
+    l = strlen(a->replyTerminator);
+    if (l > 2 && a->replyTerminator[l-1] == '\'') {
+      for (i = 0; i < l - 2; i++) {
+        a->replyTerminator[i] = a->replyTerminator[i+1];
+      }
+      a->replyTerminator[l-2] = '\0';
+      a->compositeTerminator = 1;
+    } 
+  }
 }
 
 int AsconInterpreteArgs(int argc, char *argv[],
@@ -715,6 +742,7 @@ AsconStatus AsconTask(Ascon * a)
       return AsconUnconnected;
     case AsconConnectDone:
       a->state = AsconIdle;
+      DynStringClear(a->errmsg); /* connection o.k. */
       return AsconReady;
     case AsconWriteDone:
       if (a->noResponse) {
@@ -731,6 +759,7 @@ AsconStatus AsconTask(Ascon * a)
     case AsconReadDone:
       a->state = AsconIdle;
       a->responseValid = 1;
+      DynStringClear(a->errmsg);
       return AsconReady;
     case AsconIdle:
       return AsconReady;
@@ -794,5 +823,14 @@ char *AsconGetError(Ascon *a)
 
 int AsconLastState(Ascon *a)
 {
-	return (int)a->state;
+  return (int)a->state;
 }
+
+char *AsconHostport(Ascon *a)
+{
+  if (a==NULL) {
+    return NULL;
+  }
+  return a->hostport;
+}
+
diff --git a/ascon.h b/ascon.h
index 93651aba..3a46deec 100644
--- a/ascon.h
+++ b/ascon.h
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ typedef enum {
   AsconUnconnected,
   AsconPending,
   AsconReady,
-  AsconFailure
+  AsconFailure /* codes after this indicate also failure */ 
 } AsconStatus;
 
 /** \brief make a new asynchronous connection
@@ -96,8 +96,15 @@ void AsconError(Ascon *a, char *msg, int errorno);
 
 /**
  * \brief return the last ascon state. Only used for statistics
- * \param a The Adcon to query
+ * \param a The Ascon to query
  * \return the AsconState as an integer.
  */
 int AsconLastState(Ascon *a);
+
+/**
+ * \brief return host:port
+ * \param a The Ascon to query
+ * \return the host and port
+ */
+char *AsconHostport(Ascon *a);
 #endif
diff --git a/ascon.i b/ascon.i
index 02565009..2c510287 100644
--- a/ascon.i
+++ b/ascon.i
@@ -55,6 +55,7 @@ typedef int (* AsconHandler)(Ascon *connection);
 struct Ascon {
   AsconState state;            /**< the current state */
   int fd;                      /**< socket */
+  int conState;                /**< 1: connection refused, 0: else */
   int readState;               /**< (std) last char was CR */
   pDynString rdBuffer;         /**< read buffer */
   pDynString wrBuffer;         /**< write buffer */
@@ -73,6 +74,7 @@ struct Ascon {
   char lastChar;               /**< last char read */
   char *separator;             /**< (std) separator for multiline responses */
   int lineCount;               /**< number of lines expected (counting down) */
+  int compositeTerminator;     /**< the terminator contains several chars */
   void *private;               /**< private data of protocol */
   void (*killPrivate)(void *); /**< kill function for private */
 };
@@ -116,6 +118,8 @@ int AsconStdHandler(Ascon *a);
  *       if no replyTerminator is given, or if it is empty, CR, LF or CR/LF all are detected
  *       as terminators. If the terminator is CR, LF or CR/LF, it is removed from the result,
  *       all other terminators are kept in the result.
+ *       is the first and the last character are single quotes (') is is treated as a composite
+ *       terminator and not as a list of single character terminators
  *     separator is used for multiline responses. If this parameter
  *       is given (and not empty) a command may be followed by a line count in curly brackets,
  *       indicating that a multiline response is expected. All the lines of the response are
@@ -180,4 +184,14 @@ int AsconWriteChars(int fd, char *data, int length);
   */
 void AsconError(Ascon *a, char *msg, int errorno);
 
+int AsconInterpreteArgs(int argc, char *argv[],
+                        int parc, char *parn[], char *pars[]);
+                        
+                        
+/**
+ * Treat hex strings as terminators right. Note that this
+ * is limited to single character terminators.
+ */
+void AsconCheckTerminators(Ascon *a);
+
 #endif