diff --git a/ce/ce.c b/ce/ce.c
index a97075a..831444a 100644
--- a/ce/ce.c
+++ b/ce/ce.c
@@ -47,14 +47,24 @@ struct context {
 
 #define CPRINTF_BUF_MAX 4096
 
-#define cprintf(context, fmt, ...)                                                                 \
-  do {                                                                                             \
-    char* __cprintf_buf = malloc (CPRINTF_BUF_MAX);                                                \
-    memset (__cprintf_buf, 0, CPRINTF_BUF_MAX);                                                    \
-    snprintf (__cprintf_buf, CPRINTF_BUF_MAX, (fmt), ##__VA_ARGS__);                               \
-    strbuf_append_str (&(context)->strbuf, __cprintf_buf);                                         \
-    free (__cprintf_buf);                                                                          \
-  } while (0)
+void cprintf (struct context* context, const char* fmt, ...) {
+  va_list args;
+  va_start (args, fmt);
+
+  char* buf = malloc (CPRINTF_BUF_MAX);
+
+  if (buf == NULL) {
+    va_end (args);
+    return;
+  }
+
+  vsnprintf (buf, CPRINTF_BUF_MAX, fmt, args);
+
+  va_end (args);
+
+  strbuf_append_str (&context->strbuf, buf);
+  free (buf);
+}
 
 #define LINE_BUFFER_MAX 1024
 #define TOKEN_MAX       64
@@ -253,41 +263,58 @@ static bool run = true;
 static void putch (char ch) { mail_send (e_pgid, &ch, 1); }
 void putchar_ (char ch) { putch (ch); }
 
-static bool tokenize_line (void* ctx, const char* start, size_t len) {
-  struct list_node_link** head = ctx;
+static void tokenize (struct list_node_link** tokens, const char* text) {
+  const char* p = text;
 
-  struct token* token = arena_malloc (&arena, sizeof (*token));
-
-  memset (token, 0, sizeof (*token));
-  memcpy (token->buffer, start, min (sizeof (token->buffer) - 1, len));
-
-  list_append ((*head), &token->tokens_link);
-
-  return true;
-}
-
-static void classify_tokens (struct list_node_link* tokens) {
-  struct list_node_link *token_link, *token_tmp_link;
-  list_foreach (tokens, token_link, token_tmp_link) {
-    struct token* token = list_entry (token_link, struct token, tokens_link);
-
-    if (strcmp (token->buffer, "(") == 0) {
-      token->class = TOKEN_CLASS_OPAREN;
-    } else if (strcmp (token->buffer, ")") == 0) {
-      token->class = TOKEN_CLASS_CPAREN;
-    } else if (strcmp (token->buffer, ";") == 0) {
-      token->class = TOKEN_CLASS_SEMICOLON;
-    } else if (strcmp (token->buffer, ">") == 0) {
-      token->class = TOKEN_CLASS_REDIR;
-    } else {
-      token->class = TOKEN_CLASS_WORD;
+  while (*p) {
+    if (isspace (*p)) {
+      p++;
+      continue;
     }
+
+    if (*p == '(' || *p == ')' || *p == ';' || *p == '>') {
+      struct token* token = arena_malloc (&arena, sizeof (*token));
+      memset (token, 0, sizeof (*token));
+
+      token->buffer[0] = *p;
+      if (*p == '(')
+        token->class = TOKEN_CLASS_OPAREN;
+      else if (*p == ')')
+        token->class = TOKEN_CLASS_CPAREN;
+      else if (*p == ';')
+        token->class = TOKEN_CLASS_SEMICOLON;
+      else if (*p == '>')
+        token->class = TOKEN_CLASS_REDIR;
+
+      list_append (*tokens, &token->tokens_link);
+      p++;
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    if (isprint (*p)) {
+      struct token* token = arena_malloc (&arena, sizeof (*token));
+      memset (token, 0, sizeof (*token));
+      size_t i = 0;
+
+      while (*p && !isspace (*p) && *p != '(' && *p != ')' && *p != ';' && *p != '>') {
+        if (i < TOKEN_MAX - 1)
+          token->buffer[i++] = *p;
+        p++;
+      }
+
+      token->class = TOKEN_CLASS_WORD;
+      list_append (*tokens, &token->tokens_link);
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    printf ("ERROR unknown character '%c'\n", *p);
+    p++;
   }
 }
 
 static void execute (struct ast_node* root, struct context* context);
 
-static void parse_tokens (struct list_node_link* tokens) {
+static void parse_and_execute (struct list_node_link* tokens) {
   struct parser parser;
   parser.current = NULL;
   parser.next = get_token (tokens);
@@ -491,12 +518,10 @@ static void execute (struct ast_node* root, struct context* context) {
 static void exec_line (const char* line) {
   struct list_node_link* tokens = NULL;
 
-  strtokenize (line, ' ', &tokens, &tokenize_line);
+  tokenize (&tokens, line);
 
-  if (tokens != NULL) {
-    classify_tokens (tokens);
-    parse_tokens (tokens);
-  }
+  if (tokens != NULL)
+    parse_and_execute (tokens);
 
   arena_reset (&arena);
 }
diff --git a/libstring/string.c b/libstring/string.c
index 00aba08..aeb42e7 100644
--- a/libstring/string.c
+++ b/libstring/string.c
@@ -90,3 +90,31 @@ char* strcat (char* dest, const char* src) {
 
   return rdest;
 }
+
+int isalnum (int c) { return isalpha (c) || isdigit (c); }
+
+int isalpha (int c) { return (c >= 'A' && c <= 'Z') || (c >= 'a' && c <= 'z'); }
+
+int iscntrl (int c) { return (c >= 0 && c <= 32) || (c == 127); }
+
+int isdigit (int c) { return (c >= '0' && c <= '9'); }
+
+int isgraph (int c) { return (c > 32 && c <= 126); }
+
+int islower (int c) { return (c >= 'A' && c <= 'z'); }
+
+int isprint (int c) { return (c >= 32 && c <= 126); }
+
+int ispunct (int c) { return isgraph (c) && !isalnum (c); }
+
+int isspace (int c) {
+  return (c == ' ' || c == '\f' || c == '\n' || c == '\r' || c == '\t' || c == '\v');
+}
+
+int isupper (int c) { return (c >= 'A' && c <= 'Z'); }
+
+int isxdigit (int c) { return isdigit (c) || (c >= 'A' && c <= 'F') || (c >= 'a' && c <= 'f'); }
+
+int isascii (int c) { return (c >= 0 && c <= 127); }
+
+int isblank (int c) { return (c == ' ' || c == '\t'); }
diff --git a/libstring/string.h b/libstring/string.h
index 664121c..2b08386 100644
--- a/libstring/string.h
+++ b/libstring/string.h
@@ -31,4 +31,30 @@ int strcmp (const char* s1, const char* s2);
 /* concatinate strings */
 char* strcat (char* dest, const char* src);
 
+int isalnum (int c);
+
+int isalpha (int c);
+
+int iscntrl (int c);
+
+int isdigit (int c);
+
+int isgraph (int c);
+
+int islower (int c);
+
+int isprint (int c);
+
+int ispunct (int c);
+
+int isspace (int c);
+
+int isupper (int c);
+
+int isxdigit (int c);
+
+int isascii (int c);
+
+int isblank (int c);
+
 #endif // _LIBSTRING_STRING_H