diff --git a/src/lib/format-string.cpp b/src/lib/format-string.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..30d3a7774
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/format-string.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,88 @@
+/*
+  FormatString  -  string template formatting based on boost::format 
+
+  Copyright (C)         Lumiera.org
+    2011,               Hermann Vosseler <Ichthyostega@web.de>
+
+  This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+  modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as
+  published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of
+  the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+
+  This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+  GNU General Public License for more details.
+
+  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+  along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
+  Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
+
+* *****************************************************/
+
+/** @file format-string.cpp
+ ** Implementation for printf-style formatting, based on boost::format.
+ ** This file holds the generic implementation of our format frontend,
+ ** which actually just invokes boost::format. The corresponding header
+ ** format-string.hpp contains some template functions and classes,
+ ** which select an appropriate wrapper to pass the calls down.
+ ** Here, we define explicit specialisations for the frontend to invoke,
+ ** which in turn just pass on the given argument value to the embedded
+ ** boost::format object, which in turn integrates the formatted result
+ ** into an embedded string stream.
+ ** 
+ ** To avoid exposing boost::format in the frontend header, we use an
+ ** opaque buffer of appropriate size to piggyback the formatter object.
+ ** @warning unfortunately this requires a hard coded buffer size constant
+ **          in the front-end, which we define there manually, based on
+ **          the current implementation layout found in the boost libraries.
+ **          If Boost eventually changes the implementation, the assertion
+ **          in our constructor will trigger.
+ ** 
+ ** @see FormatString_test
+ ** 
+ */
+
+
+
+#include "lib/error.hpp"
+#include "lib/format-string.hpp"
+
+#include <boost/format.hpp>
+#include <iostream>
+
+
+
+
+
+namespace util {
+  
+  namespace { // implementation details...
+    
+    
+  }//(End) implementation details
+  
+  
+  /** */
+  _Fmt::_Fmt (string formatString)
+  {
+    UNIMPLEMENTED ("create the embedded boost::format object");
+  }
+  
+  
+  /** */
+  _Fmt::operator string()  const
+  {
+    UNIMPLEMENTED ("forward to the embedded boost::format object");
+  }
+  
+  
+  std::ostream&
+  operator<< (std::ostream& os, _Fmt const& fmt)
+  {
+    return os << string(fmt);
+  }
+  
+  
+  
+} // namespace util
diff --git a/src/lib/format-string.hpp b/src/lib/format-string.hpp
index bf98fa14f..5efbe2f6f 100644
--- a/src/lib/format-string.hpp
+++ b/src/lib/format-string.hpp
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ namespace util {
   
   namespace { // helpers to pick a suitable specialisation....
     
-    const size_t FORMATTER_SIZE = 100;
+    enum{ FORMATTER_SIZE = 100 };
     
   }//(End) guards/helpers
   
@@ -94,21 +94,28 @@ namespace util {
     {
       char formatter_[FORMATTER_SIZE];
       
+      template<typename VAL, class SEL =void>
+      struct Param;
+      
+      template<typename VAL, class SEL>
+      friend struct Param;
+      
+      
     public:
       _Fmt (string formatString);
       
       operator string()  const;
       
-      template<typename TY>
+      template<typename VAL>
       _Fmt&
-      operator% (TY const&);
+      operator% (VAL const&);
       
       
       friend std::ostream&
       operator<< (std::ostream& os, _Fmt const&);
       
-      friend bool operator== (_Fmt const&, _Fmt const&);
-      friend bool operator== (_Fmt const&, string const&);
+      friend bool operator== (_Fmt const&,        _Fmt const&);
+      friend bool operator== (_Fmt const&,      string const&);
       friend bool operator== (_Fmt const&, const char * const);
       friend bool operator== (string const&     , _Fmt const&);
       friend bool operator== (const char * const, _Fmt const&);
@@ -121,6 +128,63 @@ namespace util {
   
   
   
+  
+  
+  /* == forwarding into the implementation == */
+  
+  template<typename VAL>
+  inline _Fmt&
+  _Fmt::operator% (VAL const& val)
+  {
+    Param<VAL>::push (val);
+    return *this;
+  }
+  
+  
+  template<typename VAL, class SEL>
+  struct _Fmt::Param
+    {
+      static void
+      push (VAL const&)
+        {
+          UNIMPLEMENTED ("get type string");
+        }
+    };
+  
+  
+  
+  inline bool
+  operator== (_Fmt const& left, _Fmt const& right)
+  {
+    return string(left) == string(right);
+  }
+  
+  inline bool
+  operator== (_Fmt const& fmt, string const& str)
+  {
+    return string(fmt) == str;
+  }
+  
+  inline bool
+  operator== (_Fmt const& fmt, const char * const cString)
+  {
+    return string(fmt) == string(cString);
+  }
+  
+  inline bool
+  operator== (string const& str, _Fmt const& fmt)
+  {
+    return fmt == str;
+  }
+  
+  inline bool
+  operator== (const char * const cString, _Fmt const& fmt)
+  {
+    return fmt == cString;
+  }
+  
+  
+  
 } // namespace util
 
 #endif /*UTIL_FORMAT_STRING_H*/