diff --git a/libretroshare/src/util/rsprint.cc b/libretroshare/src/util/rsprint.cc
index 56d372a48..c87fc02f7 100644
--- a/libretroshare/src/util/rsprint.cc
+++ b/libretroshare/src/util/rsprint.cc
@@ -54,9 +54,12 @@ std::string RsUtil::BinToHex(const std::string &bin)
 	return BinToHex(bin.c_str(), bin.length());
 }
 
-std::string RsUtil::BinToHex(const unsigned char *arr, const uint32_t len)
+std::string RsUtil::BinToHex(const unsigned char *arr, const uint32_t len,uint32_t max_len)
 {
-    return BinToHex((char*)arr,len) ;
+	if(max_len > 0)
+		return BinToHex((char*)arr,std::min(max_len,len)) + ((len > max_len)?"...":"") ;
+	else
+		return BinToHex((char*)arr,len) ;
 }
 std::string RsUtil::BinToHex(const char *arr, const uint32_t len)
 {
diff --git a/libretroshare/src/util/rsprint.h b/libretroshare/src/util/rsprint.h
index a2c6405a3..3ab70a411 100644
--- a/libretroshare/src/util/rsprint.h
+++ b/libretroshare/src/util/rsprint.h
@@ -36,7 +36,10 @@ namespace RsUtil {
 
 std::string BinToHex(const std::string &bin);
 std::string BinToHex(const char *arr, const uint32_t len);
-std::string BinToHex(const unsigned char *arr, const uint32_t len);
+
+// proxy function. When max_len>0 and len>max_len, only the first "max_len" bytes are writen to the string and "..." is happened.
+
+std::string BinToHex(const unsigned char *arr, const uint32_t len, uint32_t max_len=0);
 std::string NumberToString(uint64_t n, bool hex=false);
 std::string HashId(const std::string &id, bool reverse = false);
 std::vector<uint8_t> BinToSha256(const std::vector<uint8_t> &in);