diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 5761abc..a5515b3 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
 *.o
+gen_ft8
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 54a18a6..d8b0936 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 CXXFLAGS = -std=c++14
 LDFLAGS = -lm
 
-gen_ft8: gen_ft8.o encode.o pack.o
+gen_ft8: gen_ft8.o encode.o pack.o text.o
 	$(CXX) $(LDFLAGS) -o $@ $^
diff --git a/pack.cpp b/pack.cpp
index 9d04482..8c9a876 100644
--- a/pack.cpp
+++ b/pack.cpp
@@ -2,57 +2,11 @@
 #include <cstdio>
 
 #include "pack.h"
-
+#include "text.h"
 
 constexpr int32_t NBASE = 37*36*10*27*27*27L;
 constexpr int32_t NGBASE = 180*180L;
 
-
-// Utility functions for characters and strings
-
-char to_upper(char c) {
-    return (c >= 'a' && c <= 'z') ? (c - 'a' + 'A') : c;
-}
-
-bool is_digit(char c) {
-    return (c >= '0') && (c <= '9');
-}
-
-bool is_letter(char c) {
-    return ((c >= 'A') && (c <= 'Z')) || ((c >= 'a') && (c <= 'z'));
-}
-
-bool is_space(char c) {
-    return (c == ' ');
-}
-
-bool starts_with(const char *string, const char *prefix) {
-    return 0 == memcmp(string, prefix, strlen(prefix));
-}
-
-bool equals(const char *string1, const char *string2) {
-    return 0 == strcmp(string1, string2);
-}
-
-
-// Text message formatting: 
-//   - replaces lowercase letters with uppercase
-//   - merges consecutive spaces into single space
-void fmtmsg(char *msg_out, const char *msg_in) {
-    char c;
-    char last_out = 0;
-    while ( (c = *msg_in) ) {
-        if (c != ' ' || last_out != ' ') {
-            last_out = to_upper(c);
-            *msg_out = last_out;
-            ++msg_out;
-        }
-        ++msg_in;
-    }
-    *msg_out = 0; // Add zero termination
-}
-
-
 // Returns integer encoding of a character (number/digit/space).
 // Alphabet: "0123456789ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ +-./?"
 //   - Digits are encoded as 0..9
diff --git a/text.cpp b/text.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4e0d10d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/text.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+#include "text.h"
+
+#include <string.h>
+
+// Utility functions for characters and strings
+
+char to_upper(char c) {
+    return (c >= 'a' && c <= 'z') ? (c - 'a' + 'A') : c;
+}
+
+bool is_digit(char c) {
+    return (c >= '0') && (c <= '9');
+}
+
+bool is_letter(char c) {
+    return ((c >= 'A') && (c <= 'Z')) || ((c >= 'a') && (c <= 'z'));
+}
+
+bool is_space(char c) {
+    return (c == ' ');
+}
+
+bool in_range(char c, char min, char max) {
+    return (c >= min) && (c <= max);
+}
+
+bool starts_with(const char *string, const char *prefix) {
+    return 0 == memcmp(string, prefix, strlen(prefix));
+}
+
+bool equals(const char *string1, const char *string2) {
+    return 0 == strcmp(string1, string2);
+}
+
+
+// Text message formatting: 
+//   - replaces lowercase letters with uppercase
+//   - merges consecutive spaces into single space
+void fmtmsg(char *msg_out, const char *msg_in) {
+    char c;
+    char last_out = 0;
+    while ( (c = *msg_in) ) {
+        if (c != ' ' || last_out != ' ') {
+            last_out = to_upper(c);
+            *msg_out = last_out;
+            ++msg_out;
+        }
+        ++msg_in;
+    }
+    *msg_out = 0; // Add zero termination
+}
diff --git a/text.h b/text.h
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0d904d4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/text.h
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+#pragma once
+
+char to_upper(char c);
+bool is_digit(char c);
+bool is_letter(char c);
+bool is_space(char c);
+bool in_range(char c, char min, char max);
+bool starts_with(const char *string, const char *prefix);
+bool equals(const char *string1, const char *string2);
+
+// Text message formatting: 
+//   - replaces lowercase letters with uppercase
+//   - merges consecutive spaces into single space
+void fmtmsg(char *msg_out, const char *msg_in);