--- a/CharacterArray.st	Sun May 26 12:00:09 2019 +0200
+++ b/CharacterArray.st	Sun May 26 12:49:21 2019 +0200
@@ -1132,6 +1132,7 @@
     "
 ! !
 
+
 !CharacterArray methodsFor:'Compatibility-ANSI'!
 
 addLineDelimiters
@@ -3866,6 +3867,37 @@
     "Modified (comment): / 13-03-2017 / 14:05:14 / cg"
 !
 
+asStringWithBitsPerCharacterAtLeast:numRequiredBitsPerCharacter
+    "return the receiver in a representation which supports numRequiredBitsPerCharacter.
+     I.e. if required, convert to a Unicode16 or Unicode32 string"
+
+    numRequiredBitsPerCharacter > 8 ifTrue:[
+        numRequiredBitsPerCharacter > 16 ifTrue:[
+            ^ self asUnicode32String
+        ].    
+        numRequiredBitsPerCharacter > self bitsPerCharacter ifTrue:[
+            ^ self asUnicode16String
+        ].    
+    ].    
+    ^ self
+    
+    "
+     self assert:('abc' asStringWithBitsPerCharacterAtLeast:8) bitsPerCharacter == 8.
+     self assert:('abc' asStringWithBitsPerCharacterAtLeast:16) bitsPerCharacter == 16.
+     self assert:('abc' asStringWithBitsPerCharacterAtLeast:32) bitsPerCharacter == 32.
+
+     self assert:('abc' asUnicode16String asStringWithBitsPerCharacterAtLeast:8) bitsPerCharacter == 16.
+     self assert:('abc' asUnicode16String asStringWithBitsPerCharacterAtLeast:16) bitsPerCharacter == 16.
+     self assert:('abc' asUnicode16String asStringWithBitsPerCharacterAtLeast:32) bitsPerCharacter == 32.
+
+     self assert:('abc' asUnicode32String asStringWithBitsPerCharacterAtLeast:8) bitsPerCharacter == 32.
+     self assert:('abc' asUnicode32String asStringWithBitsPerCharacterAtLeast:16) bitsPerCharacter == 32.
+     self assert:('abc' asUnicode32String asStringWithBitsPerCharacterAtLeast:32) bitsPerCharacter == 32.
+    "
+
+    "Created: / 26-05-2019 / 12:47:07 / Claus Gittinger"
+!
+
 asStringWithoutEmphasis
     "return myself as a string without any emphasis"
     "return myself - I am a string"