sub text2mush {
  local($in)=shift;
  $in =~ s/\t/\%t/g;  # convert tabs
  while ($in =~ /((.)(\2){4,})/) {	# while at least five of anything
    $matched = $1;
    $matchedchar = $2;
    $i = index($in,$matched,0);
    $l = length($matched);
    if ($matchedchar eq " ") { # it was spaces
      substr($in,$i,$l)="[space($l)]";
    } else {
      substr($in,$i,$l)="[repeat($matchedchar,$l)]";
    }
  }
  $in =~ s/  /\%b\%b/g;  # two spaces becomes expanded to 4.
  $in .= "\%r" unless $in =~ s/$/\%r/; 	# convert newline to %r.
  return $in;
}
1;