+char *cfs_strdup(const char *str, u_int32_t flags);
+
+/* safe vsnprintf */
+int cfs_vsnprintf(char *buf, size_t size, const char *fmt, va_list args);
+
+/* safe snprintf */
+int cfs_snprintf(char *buf, size_t size, const char *fmt, ...);
+
+/* trim leading and trailing space characters */
+char *cfs_firststr(char *str, size_t size);