diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index cf7ebb45d..c89dffc5e 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ scripts/*
 configure
 config.log
 aclocal.m4
+autom4te.cache
 semantic.cache
 wiki/backups/*
 doc/devel/draw/*.png
diff --git a/SConstruct b/SConstruct
index de7a7edc2..9b4ce1dcb 100644
--- a/SConstruct
+++ b/SConstruct
@@ -215,7 +215,7 @@ def configurePlatform(env):
     if not conf.CheckLibWithHeader('dl', 'dlfcn.h', 'C'):
         problems.append('Functions for runtime dynamic loading not available.')
     
-    if not conf.CheckPkgConfig('nobugmt', 0.3):
+    if not conf.CheckPkgConfig('nobugmt', 200909.1):
         problems.append('Did not find NoBug [http://www.pipapo.org/pipawiki/NoBug].')
     else:
         conf.env.mergeConf('nobugmt')
@@ -227,10 +227,12 @@ def configurePlatform(env):
        conf.env.Append(CCFLAGS = ' -pthread')
     
     if conf.CheckCHeader('execinfo.h'):
-       conf.env.Append(CPPFLAGS = ' -DHAS_EXECINFO_H')
+       conf.env.Append(CPPFLAGS = ' -DHAVE_EXECINFO_H')
     
     if conf.CheckCHeader('valgrind/valgrind.h'):
-        conf.env.Append(CPPFLAGS = ' -DHAS_VALGRIND_VALGIND_H')
+        conf.env.Append(CPPFLAGS = ' -DHAVE_VALGRIND_H')
+    else:
+        print 'Valgrind not found. The use of Valgrind is optional; building without.'
     
     if not conf.CheckCXXHeader('tr1/memory'):
         problems.append('We rely on the std::tr1 proposed standard extension for shared_ptr.')
diff --git a/src/gui/gtk-lumiera.hpp b/src/gui/gtk-lumiera.hpp
index 951b861ef..99b0a5efc 100644
--- a/src/gui/gtk-lumiera.hpp
+++ b/src/gui/gtk-lumiera.hpp
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@
 #include <boost/weak_ptr.hpp>
 #include <boost/scoped_ptr.hpp>
 
+#include "lib/lumitime.hpp"
+
 #include <gdl/gdl-dock-layout.h>
 
 extern "C" {
diff --git a/src/include/symbol.hpp b/src/include/symbol.hpp
deleted file mode 100644
index 5de94a2cd..000000000
--- a/src/include/symbol.hpp
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,57 +0,0 @@
-/*
-  SYMBOL.hpp  -  symbolic constant datatype 
- 
-  Copyright (C)         Lumiera.org
-    2008,               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 symbol.hpp
- ** WIP placeholder definition for a planned Symbol datatype.
- ** 
- ** @todo for the (currently just planned as of 11/08) rules based configuration
- ** in the Proc-Layer a explicit Symbol datatype will probably very helpful.
- ** For now we just a typedef is sufficient. A real Symbol datatype should 
- ** - be definable by string constant
- ** - integrate smoothly with std::string
- ** - provide a unique numeric index for each distinct Symbol
- ** - automatically maintain a symbol table at runtime to support this
- ** - provide some magic (macros) allowing to build distinct types based on symbols.
- ** 
- ** @see configrules.hpp
- ** @see query.hpp
- */
-
-
-#ifndef LUMIERA_SYMBOL_H
-#define LUMIERA_SYMBOL_H
-
-
-#include <string>
-
-
-namespace lumiera {
-  
-  typedef const char * const Symbol;  ///< Token or Atom with distinct identity @todo define a real Symbol class, i.e. same literal string==same pointer,
-
-  typedef const std::string Literal; ///< inline string literal @todo improve interaction with Symbol
-
-  
-  
-} // namespace lumiera
-
-#endif
diff --git a/src/lumiera/main.cpp b/src/lumiera/main.cpp
index f148965d6..d800db349 100644
--- a/src/lumiera/main.cpp
+++ b/src/lumiera/main.cpp
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
   main.cpp  -  start the Lumiera Application
 
   Copyright (C)         Lumiera.org
-    2007-2008,          Joel Holdsworth <joel@airwebreathe.org.uk>
+    2007-2009,          Joel Holdsworth <joel@airwebreathe.org.uk>
                         Christian Thaeter <ct@pipapo.org>
                         Hermann Vosseler <Ichthyostega@web.de>
 
diff --git a/src/pre.hpp b/src/pre.hpp
index d1495d952..6b12ea67f 100644
--- a/src/pre.hpp
+++ b/src/pre.hpp
@@ -41,9 +41,8 @@
 #include <vector>
 #include <map>
 #include <tr1/memory>
-#include <boost/function.hpp>
+#include <tr1/functional>
 #include <boost/format.hpp>
-#include <boost/bind.hpp>
 
 #include "proc/common.hpp"
 
diff --git a/src/proc/common.hpp b/src/proc/common.hpp
index 20112cadb..31e885f1d 100644
--- a/src/proc/common.hpp
+++ b/src/proc/common.hpp
@@ -43,7 +43,8 @@
 
 #include "include/nobugcfg.h"
 #include "common/dummy-func.hpp"
-#include "include/symbol.hpp"
+#include "lib/lumitime.hpp"
+#include "lib/symbol.hpp"
 
 
 /**
diff --git a/src/tool/try.cpp b/src/tool/try.cpp
index 0854e5310..fb41545d7 100644
--- a/src/tool/try.cpp
+++ b/src/tool/try.cpp
@@ -12,26 +12,40 @@
 // 5/08  - how to guard a downcasting access, so it is compiled in only if the involved types are convertible
 // 7/08  - combining partial specialisation and subclasses 
 // 10/8  - abusing the STL containers to hold noncopyable values
+// 6/09  - investigating how to build a mixin template providing an operator bool()
 
 
 #include "include/nobugcfg.h"
 
 #include <iostream>
 
+
+using std::rand;
 using std::string;
 using std::cout;
 
 
 int 
-main (int argc, char* argv[])
+main (int, char**) //(int argc, char* argv[])
   {
     
     NOBUG_INIT;
     
+    for (int i=0; i<10; ++i)
+      {
+        TestIt1 testrosteron (i);
+        
+        if (testrosteron)
+          cout << "doIt \n";
+        if (!testrosteron)
+          cout << i << "\n";
+      }
+    cout << "size=" << sizeof(TestIt1) <<"\n";
+    
+    char* horror = 0;
+    ERROR (all, "note: %s is a horrible thing", horror);
+    
     cout <<  "\n.gulp.\n";
-   
-   int * my = 0;
-   int oh = *my;  // Congratulations...
     
     return 0;
   }
diff --git a/tests/test.sh b/tests/test.sh
index 31c92da5b..89de9ae54 100755
--- a/tests/test.sh
+++ b/tests/test.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#!/bin/bash 
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
 #  Copyright (C)         Lumiera.org
 #    2007 - 2008,        Christian Thaeter <ct@pipapo.org>
 #
@@ -26,18 +26,35 @@
 #   stop testing on the first failure
 
 export LC_ALL=C
+NOBUG_LOGREGEX='^\(\*\*[0-9]*\*\* \)\?[0-9]\{10,\}: \(TRACE\|INFO\|NOTICE\|WARNING\|ERR\|TODO\|PLANNED\|FIXME\|DEPRECATED\|UNIMPLEMENTED\):'
 
 arg0="$0"
 srcdir="$(dirname "$arg0")"
+vgsuppression_mangle='/^\(\(==\)\|\(\*\*\)[0-9]*\(==\)\|\(\*\*\)\)\|\(\(\*\*[0-9]*\*\* \)\?[0-9]\{10,\}: ECHO:\)/d;'
 
-ulimit -S -t 2 -v 524288
+ulimit -S -t 5 -v 524288
 valgrind=""
 if [ "$VALGRINDFLAGS" = 'DISABLE' ]; then
     echo "valgrind explicit disabled"
 else
     if [ "$(which valgrind)" ]; then
-        valgrind="$(which valgrind) --leak-check=yes --show-reachable=yes -q $VALGRINDFLAGS"
-	ulimit -S -t 10
+	ulimit -S -t 20
+        if [[ -x 'vgsuppression' ]]; then
+            if [[ 'vgsuppression' -nt 'vgsuppression.supp' ]]; then
+                echo 'generating valgrind supression file'
+
+                if [[ -x ".libs/vgsuppression" ]]; then
+                    ./libtool --mode=execute valgrind --leak-check=yes --show-reachable=yes -q --gen-suppressions=all vgsuppression 2>&1 \
+                        | sed -e "$vgsuppression_mangle" >vgsuppression.supp
+                else
+                    valgrind --leak-check=yes --show-reachable=yes -q --gen-suppressions=all ./vgsuppression 2>&1 \
+                        | sed -e "$vgsuppression_mangle" >vgsuppression.supp
+                fi
+            fi
+            valgrind="$(which valgrind) --leak-check=yes --show-reachable=no --suppressions=vgsuppression.supp -q $VALGRINDFLAGS"
+        else
+            valgrind="$(which valgrind) --leak-check=yes --show-reachable=no -q $VALGRINDFLAGS"
+        fi
     else
         echo "no valgrind found, go without it"
     fi
@@ -50,6 +67,7 @@ TESTCNT=0
 SKIPCNT=0
 FAILCNT=0
 
+
 # the old testlog if existing will be used to check for previous test states
 if test -f ,testlog; then
     mv ,testlog ,testlog.pre
@@ -59,6 +77,40 @@ fi
 
 date >,testlog
 
+function compare_regex() # rxfile plainfile
+{
+    local regex
+    local line
+    local miss
+    local lineno=1
+    local regexno=1
+    {
+        IFS='' read -u 3 -r regex || return 0
+        IFS='' read -u 4 -r line || { echo "no output"; return 1; }
+        while true; do
+            if [[ $line =~ $regex ]]; then
+                IFS='' read -u 4 -r line ||
+                if IFS='' read -u 3 -r regex; then
+                    echo "premature end in output, expecting: '$regex':$regexno"
+                    return 1
+                else
+                    return 0
+                fi
+                : $((++lineno))
+                miss=0
+            else
+                if [[ $((++miss)) -gt 1 ]]; then
+                    echo -e "'$line':$lineno\ndoes not match\n'$regex':$regexno"
+                    return 1
+                fi
+                IFS='' read -u 3 -r regex || { echo "more output than expected: '$line':$lineno"; return 1; }
+                : $((++regexno))
+            fi
+        done
+    } 3<"$1" 4<"$2"
+}
+
+
 function TEST()
 {
         name="$1"
@@ -66,11 +118,15 @@ function TEST()
         rm -f ,send_stdin
         rm -f ,expect_stdout
         rm -f ,expect_stderr
+        expect_return=0
 
 	while read -r line; do
             cmd="${line%%:*}"
-            arg="${line#*: }"
-            expect_return=0
+            arg="${line#*:}"
+            arg="${arg:1}"
+            if [[ ! "$arg" ]]; then
+                arg='^$'
+            fi
 
             case $cmd in
             'in')
@@ -85,6 +141,9 @@ function TEST()
             'return')
                 expect_return="$arg"
                 ;;
+            '#'*|'')
+                :
+                ;;
             *)
                 echo "UNKOWN TEST COMMAND '$cmd'" 1>&2
                 exit
@@ -122,42 +181,58 @@ function TEST()
 
         echo -n >,testtmp
 
-        if ! test -x $TESTBIN; then
+        local CALL
+        if declare -F | grep $TESTBIN >&/dev/null; then
+            CALL=
+        elif test -x $TESTBIN; then
+            CALL="env $TESTBIN_PREFIX"
+        else
+            CALL='-'
             echo -n >,stdout
             echo "test binary '$TESTBIN' not found" >,stderr
             ((fails+=1))
+        fi
+
+        if test "$CALL" != '-'; then
 
-        else
             if test -f ,send_stdin; then
-                cat ,send_stdin | $valgrind $TESTBIN "$@" 2>,stderr >,stdout
+                $CALL $TESTBIN "$@" <,send_stdin 2>,stderr >,stdout
             else
-                $valgrind $TESTBIN "$@" 2>,stderr >,stdout
+                $CALL $TESTBIN "$@" 2>,stderr >,stdout
             fi &>/dev/null
             return=$?
 
             if test -f ,expect_stdout; then
-                if ! cmp ,expect_stdout ,stdout &>/dev/null; then
+                grep -v "$NOBUG_LOGREGEX" <,stdout >,tmp
+                if ! compare_regex ,expect_stdout ,tmp >>,cmptmp; then
                     echo "unexpected data on stdout" >>,testtmp
-                    grep -v ': \(TRACE\|INFO\|NOTICE\|WARNING\|ERR\):' <,stdout >,tmp
-                    diff -ua ,expect_stdout ,tmp >>,testtmp
-                    rm ,tmp
+                    cat ,cmptmp >>,testtmp
                     ((fails+=1))
                 fi
+                rm ,tmp ,cmptmp
             fi
 
             if test -f ,expect_stderr; then
-                if ! cmp ,expect_stderr ,stderr &>/dev/null; then
+                grep -v "$NOBUG_LOGREGEX" <,stderr >,tmp
+                    cat ,tmp >>,testtmp
+                if ! compare_regex ,expect_stderr ,tmp >>,cmptmp; then
                     echo "unexpected data on stderr" >>,testtmp
-                    grep -v ': \(TRACE\|INFO\|NOTICE\|WARNING\|ERR\):' <,stderr >,tmp
-                    diff -ua ,expect_stderr ,tmp >>,testtmp
-                    rm ,tmp
+                    cat ,cmptmp >>,testtmp
                     ((fails+=1))
                 fi
+                rm ,tmp ,cmptmp
             fi
 
-            if test "$expect_return" != "$return"; then
-                echo "unexpected return value $return" >>,testtmp
-                ((fails+=1))
+            if [[ "${expect_return:0:1}" = '!' ]]; then
+                if [[ "${expect_return#\!}" = "$return" ]]; then
+                    echo "unexpected return value $return, expected $expect_return" >>,testtmp
+                    ((fails+=1))
+                fi
+            else
+                if [[ "${expect_return}" != "$return" ]]; then
+                    echo "unexpected return value $return, expected $expect_return" >>,testtmp
+                    ((fails+=1))
+                fi
             fi
         fi
 
@@ -224,7 +299,14 @@ function TESTING()
 {
     echo
     echo "$1"
-    TESTBIN=$2
+    echo -e "\n#### $1" >>,testlog
+
+    if [[ -x ".libs/$2" ]]; then
+        TESTBIN_PREFIX="./libtool --mode=execute $valgrind"
+    else
+        TESTBIN_PREFIX="$valgrind"
+    fi
+    TESTBIN="$2"
 }
 
 TESTSUITES="${TESTSUITES}${1:+${TESTSUITES:+,}$1}"