diff -r 979c0e0ee853 -r fe94e0fb9ef3 ui/motif/text.c
--- a/ui/motif/text.c	Fri Mar 28 20:03:49 2014 +0100
+++ b/ui/motif/text.c	Sat Mar 29 12:15:39 2014 +0100
@@ -48,8 +48,10 @@
     
     // bind value
     if(value) {
+        value->set = ui_textarea_set;
         value->get = ui_textarea_get;
-        value->set = ui_textarea_set;
+        value->getsubstr = ui_textarea_getsubstr;
+        value->insert = ui_textarea_insert;
         value->value = NULL;
         value->obj = text_area;
         
@@ -79,12 +81,30 @@
 void ui_textarea_set(UiText *text, char *str) {
     if(text->value) {
         XtFree(text->value);
-        text->value = NULL;
     }
     text->value = NULL;
     XmTextSetString(text->obj, str);
 }
 
+char* ui_textarea_getsubstr(UiText *text, int begin, int end) {
+    if(text->value) {
+        XtFree(text->value);
+    }
+    int length = end - begin;
+    char *str = XtMalloc(length + 1);
+    XmTextGetSubstring(text->obj, begin, length, length + 1, str);
+    text->value = str;
+    return str;
+}
+
+void ui_textarea_insert(UiText *text, int pos, char *str) {
+    if(text->value) {
+        XtFree(text->value);
+    }
+    text->value = NULL;
+    XmTextInsert(text->obj, pos, str);
+}
+
 UiUndoMgr* ui_create_undomgr() {
     UiUndoMgr *mgr = malloc(sizeof(UiUndoMgr));
     mgr->begin = NULL;