--- a/uilib.py	Fri Nov 05 12:43:25 2010 +0100
+++ b/uilib.py	Fri Nov 05 14:28:07 2010 +0100
@@ -342,6 +342,16 @@
 
 import traceback
 
+def exc_message(ex, encoding):
+    try:
+        return unicode(ex)
+    except:
+        try:
+            return unicode(str(ex), encoding, 'replace')
+        except:
+            return unicode(repr(ex), encoding, 'replace')
+
+
 def rest_traceback(info, exception):
     """return a ReST formated traceback"""
     res = [u'Traceback\n---------\n::\n']