diff --git a/linkcheck/strformat.py b/linkcheck/strformat.py
index d1b5ea07..449cfbdb 100644
--- a/linkcheck/strformat.py
+++ b/linkcheck/strformat.py
@@ -230,3 +230,32 @@ def strtimezone ():
     else:
         zone = time.timezone
     return "%+04d" % int(-zone/3600)
+
+
+_sub_ws = re.compile(r"\s+").sub
+def stripall (s):
+    """
+    Remove all whitespace from given string.
+    """
+    if not s:
+        return s
+    return _sub_ws("", s)
+
+
+def limit (s, length=72):
+    """
+    If the length of the string exceeds the given limit, it will be cut
+    off and three dots will be appended.
+
+    @param s: the string to limit
+    @type s: string
+    @param length: maximum length
+    @type length: non-negative integer
+    @return: limited string, at most length+3 characters long
+    """
+    assert length >= 0, "length limit must be a non-negative integer"
+    if not s or len(s) <= length:
+        return s
+    if length == 0:
+        return ""
+    return "%s..." % s[:length]
diff --git a/linkcheck/tests/test_strformat.py b/linkcheck/tests/test_strformat.py
index bf897ea3..b843e8ca 100644
--- a/linkcheck/tests/test_strformat.py
+++ b/linkcheck/tests/test_strformat.py
@@ -99,6 +99,17 @@ class TestStrFormat (unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertEquals(linkcheck.strformat.indent(s, ""), s)
         self.assertEquals(linkcheck.strformat.indent(s, " "), " "+s)
 
+    def test_stripall (self):
+        self.assertEquals(linkcheck.strformat.stripall("a\tb"), "ab")
+        self.assertEquals(linkcheck.strformat.stripall(" a\t b"), "ab")
+        self.assertEquals(linkcheck.strformat.stripall(" \r\na\t \nb\r"), "ab")
+
+    def test_limit (self):
+        self.assertEquals(linkcheck.strformat.limit("", 0), "")
+        self.assertEquals(linkcheck.strformat.limit("a", 0), "")
+        self.assertEquals(linkcheck.strformat.limit("1", 1), "1")
+        self.assertEquals(linkcheck.strformat.limit("11", 1), "1...")
+
 
 def test_suite ():
     """