Returning strings from a dll and freeing C strings

This is what i use to copy data from a String directly to a buffer, bypassing ToCString()
i really wish the String class could do this ;)

#include "E:\Program Files\BlitzMax\mod\brl.mod\blitz.mod\blitz_string.h"

int CopyToCString( BBString *str, char *dst, int maxlen) {
	int i, sz;
	if( str->length+1 >= maxlen)
		sz = maxlen - 1;
	else
		sz = str->length;
	for( i=0; i<sz; i++) 
		dst[i] = str->buf[i];
	dst[sz] = 0;
	return sz;
}

Then you could alternatively do this:

Function GetString:Int( buffer:Byte Ptr, maxlen:Int)
   Return CopyToCString( "Hello World!", buffer, maxlen)
EndFunction