diff --git a/demo/src/common.c b/demo/src/common.c
index ffb12e0..7d14f6a 100644
--- a/demo/src/common.c
+++ b/demo/src/common.c
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ void commonDraw() {
 	if (mouseWentDown("left"))
 		soundPlay(beep, FALSE);
 	
-	if (mouseWentDown("middle")) {
+	if (mouseWentDown("left")) {
 		if (keyDown("any alt")) {
 			answer = askTextf("Test\nformatted text input.\nEnter two numbers: int and double", "%d%lg", &intAnswer, &doubleAnswer);
 		} else {
diff --git a/src/font.c b/src/font.c
index 23913a9..9702371 100644
--- a/src/font.c
+++ b/src/font.c
@@ -376,10 +376,12 @@ static void expand(double *min, double *max, double x) {
 }
 
 
-TextLayout createTextLayout(const char *text) {
+TextLayout createTextLayoutEx(const char *text, int length) {
 	TextLayout layout = calloc(1, sizeof(*layout));
 	
-	if (!text) return layout;
+	int len = 0;
+	while(len < length && text[len]) ++len;
+	if (!text || !len) return layout;
 	
 	HeliDrawingState *drawingState = heliDrawingGetState();
 	
@@ -414,7 +416,7 @@ TextLayout createTextLayout(const char *text) {
 	line->xheight = fonts[0]->xheight;
 	line->ascender = fonts[0]->ascender;
 	line->descender = fonts[0]->descender;
-	layout->chars = calloc(strlen(text) + 1, sizeof(HeliCharDesc));
+	layout->chars = calloc(len + 1, sizeof(HeliCharDesc));
 	if ( drawingState->font
 	  && drawingState->font != defaultFont
 	  && drawingState->font != unicodeFont
@@ -422,27 +424,31 @@ TextLayout createTextLayout(const char *text) {
 		layout->font = fontClone(drawingState->font);
 	
 	// gather glyphs
-	const char *c = text;
+	const char *c = text, *e = c + len, *e1 = e - 1, *e2 = e - 2;
 	while(1) {
-		const char *charpos = c;
 		int code = FONT_BADCHAR_CODE;
-		while((*c & 0xC0) == 0x80) ++c;
-		if ((*c & 0x80) == 0x00) {
-			code = *c;
-		} else
-		if ((*c & 0xE0) == 0xC0) {
-			if ((c[1] & 0xC0) == 0x80) {
-				code = ((c[0] & 0x1F) << 6) | (c[1] & 0x3F);
-				c += 1;
-			}
-		} else
-		if ((*c & 0xF0) == 0xE0) {
-			if ((c[1] & 0xC0) == 0x80 && (c[2] & 0xC0) == 0x80) {
-				code = ((c[0] & 0x0F) << 12) | ((c[1] & 0x3F) << 6) | (c[2] & 0x3F);
-				c += 2;
+		while(c < e && (*c & 0xC0) == 0x80) ++c;
+		const char *charpos = c;
+		if (c < e) {
+			if ((*c & 0x80) == 0x00) {
+				code = *c;
+			} else
+			if ((*c & 0xE0) == 0xC0) {
+				if (c < e1 && (c[1] & 0xC0) == 0x80) {
+					code = ((c[0] & 0x1F) << 6) | (c[1] & 0x3F);
+					c += 1;
+				}
+			} else
+			if ((*c & 0xF0) == 0xE0) {
+				if (c < e2 && (c[1] & 0xC0) == 0x80 && (c[2] & 0xC0) == 0x80) {
+					code = ((c[0] & 0x0F) << 12) | ((c[1] & 0x3F) << 6) | (c[2] & 0x3F);
+					c += 2;
+				}
 			}
+			++c;
+		} else {
+			code = 0;
 		}
-		++c;
 		
 		HeliGlyph *glyph = &blankGlyph;
 		int code2 = (code == 0 || code == 10 || code == 13) ? 32 : code;
@@ -589,6 +595,10 @@ TextLayout createTextLayout(const char *text) {
 }
 
 
+TextLayout createTextLayout(const char *text)
+	{ return createTextLayoutEx(text, strlen(text)); }
+
+
 TextLayout createTextLayoutf(const char *format, ...) {
 	va_list args;
 	va_start(args, format);
diff --git a/src/font.h b/src/font.h
index 61d59b7..ec24459 100644
--- a/src/font.h
+++ b/src/font.h
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ void textSize(double size);
 
 
 TextLayout createTextLayout(const char *text);
+TextLayout createTextLayoutEx(const char *text, int length);
 TextLayout createTextLayoutf(const char *format, ...);
 void textLayoutDestroy(TextLayout layout);
 void textLayoutDraw(TextLayout layout, double x, double y);
diff --git a/src/private.h b/src/private.h
index 7907119..7fcfa66 100644
--- a/src/private.h
+++ b/src/private.h
@@ -298,7 +298,6 @@ typedef struct _HeliDialog {
 	double scrollX;
 	double scrollY;
 	int success;
-	char newText[4096];	
 } HeliDialog;
 
 void heliDialogDraw(HeliDialog *dialog);
diff --git a/src/window.c b/src/window.c
index d2fc879..333d4cf 100644
--- a/src/window.c
+++ b/src/window.c
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 
 #include <time.h>
+#include <limits.h>
 
 #include <SDL.h>
 
@@ -44,6 +45,10 @@ static double frameTime = 1.0/HELI_DEFAULT_FPS;
 static HeliArray keyEvents[6];
 static int keyEventsCount = (int)(sizeof(keyEvents)/sizeof(*keyEvents));
 
+static int textInputActive;
+static char *textInput;
+static int textInputSize;
+
 static int mouseMovedInFrame;
 static double _mouseX;
 static double _mouseY;
@@ -194,6 +199,17 @@ int keyWentDown(const char *code)
 int keyWentUp(const char *code)
 	{ return keyEventAliasesCheck(KEYEVENT_KEY_WENTUP, code); }
 
+
+const char* textInputGet()
+	{ return textInput ? textInput : ""; }
+void textInputClear()
+	{ if (textInput) *textInput = 0; }
+void textInputBegin()
+	{ if (!textInputActive) { SDL_StartTextInput(); textInputActive = TRUE; } }
+void textInputEnd()
+	{ if (textInputActive) { SDL_StopTextInput(); textInputActive = FALSE; } }
+
+
 int mouseDidMove()
 	{ return mouseMovedInFrame; }
 int mouseDown(const char *code)
@@ -234,6 +250,20 @@ static void resize(int w, int h) {
 	}
 }
 
+
+const char* windowGetClipboardText()
+	{ const char *t = SDL_GetClipboardText(); return t ? t : ""; }
+void windowSetClipboardText(const char *text)
+	{ SDL_SetClipboardText(text); }
+void windowSetClipboardTextEx(const char *text, int len) {
+	if (len <= 0) return;
+	char *t = malloc(len + 1);
+	memcpy(t, text, len);
+	t[len] = 0;
+	windowSetClipboardText(t);
+	free(t);
+}
+
 int windowGetWidth()
 	{ return width; }
 void windowSetWidth(int w)
@@ -395,7 +425,6 @@ int askTextf(const char *question, const char *format, ...) {
 
 
 static void resetEvents() {
-	dialog.newText[0] = 0;
 	_mouseScrolledX = _mouseScrolledY = 0;
 	heliArrayClear(&keyEvents[KEYEVENT_KEY_WENTDOWN]);
 	heliArrayClear(&keyEvents[KEYEVENT_KEY_WENTUP]);
@@ -602,14 +631,24 @@ static void handleEvent(SDL_Event *e) {
 		_mouseScrolledY += e->wheel.y;
 	} else
 	if (e->type == SDL_TEXTINPUT) {
-		if (dialog.shown) {
-			int len = strlen(dialog.newText);
+		if (*e->text.text) {
+			int oldlen = textInput ? strlen(textInput) : 0;
 			int newlen = strlen(e->text.text);
-			int dl = len + newlen + 1 - sizeof(dialog.newText);
-			if (dl > 0) newlen -= dl;
-			if (newlen > 0) {
-				memcpy(dialog.newText + len, e->text.text, newlen);
-				dialog.newText[len + newlen] = 0;
+			int size = oldlen + newlen + 1;
+			if (size > 0) {
+				if (size > textInputSize) {
+					int newsize = ((size + size/16 - 1)/1024 + 1)*1024;
+					if (newsize < 0) newsize = INT_MAX;
+					if (newsize > textInputSize) {
+						textInput = realloc(textInput, newsize);
+						textInputSize = newsize;
+						textInput[textInputSize - 1] = 0;
+					}
+				}
+				if (size <= textInputSize) {
+					memcpy(textInput + oldlen, e->text.text, newlen);
+					textInput[oldlen + newlen] = 0;
+				}
 			}
 		}
 	}
@@ -631,14 +670,15 @@ int askTextEx(const char *question, char *answer, int maxAnswerSize, int multili
 	dialog.pos = dialog.selPos = strlen(dialog.answer);
 	dialog.success = FALSE;
 	
-	SDL_StartTextInput();
+	int tiActive = textInputActive;
+	textInputBegin();
 	while(dialog.shown && !stopped) {
 		SDL_Event event;
 		while (SDL_PollEvent(&event))
 			handleEvent(&event);
 		draw();
 	}
-	SDL_StopTextInput();
+	if (!tiActive) textInputEnd();
 	
 	int success = dialog.success;
 	if (dialog.success && maxAnswerSize > 0) strcpy(answer, dialog.answer);
@@ -700,6 +740,9 @@ void windowRun() {
 		heliSoundFinish();
 		heliArrayDestroy(&heliObjectsSet);
 		
+		free(textInput);
+		textInputSize = 0;
+		
 		heliInitialized = FALSE;
 		
 		deinit();
diff --git a/src/window.h b/src/window.h
index d80a170..ec90965 100644
--- a/src/window.h
+++ b/src/window.h
@@ -24,7 +24,12 @@ int keyWentDown(const char *code);
 int keyWentUp(const char *code);
 
 int keyEventGetCount(KeyEvent mode);
-const char *keyEventGet(KeyEvent mode, int i);
+const char* keyEventGet(KeyEvent mode, int i);
+
+const char* textInputGet();
+void textInputClear();
+void textInputBegin();
+void textInputEnd();
 
 int mouseDidMove();
 int mouseDown(const char *code);
@@ -45,6 +50,10 @@ int askText(const char *question, char *answer, int maxAnswerSize);
 int askTextf(const char *question, const char *format, ...);
 int askTextEx(const char *question, char *answer, int maxAnswerSize, int multiline, int password);
 
+const char* windowGetClipboardText();
+void windowSetClipboardText(const char *text);
+void windowSetClipboardTextEx(const char *text, int len);
+
 int windowGetWidth();
 void windowSetWidth(int width);
 
diff --git a/src/windowui.c b/src/windowui.c
index 6c72775..ba872fe 100644
--- a/src/windowui.c
+++ b/src/windowui.c
@@ -276,7 +276,8 @@ static void draw(HeliDialog *dialog) {
 
 
 void heliDialogDraw(HeliDialog *dialog) {
-	if (dialog->newText[0]) insert(dialog, dialog->newText);
+	if (*textInputGet()) insert(dialog, textInputGet());
+	textInputClear();
 	
 	int shift = keyDown("any shift");
 	int ctrl = keyDown("any ctrl");