+/// Changes the case of \p c to uppercase.
+/// Does not depend on the locale.
+char_type uppercase(char_type c);
+
+/// same as lowercase(), but ignores locale
+std::string const ascii_lowercase(std::string const &);
+docstring const ascii_lowercase(docstring const &);
+
+/// Changes the case of \p s to lowercase.
+/// Does not depend on the locale.
+docstring const lowercase(docstring const & s);
+
+/// Changes the case of \p s to uppercase.
+/// Does not depend on the locale.
+docstring const uppercase(docstring const & s);
+
+/// Does str start with c?
+bool prefixIs(docstring const & str, char_type c);
+
+/// Does str start with pre?
+bool prefixIs(std::string const & str, std::string const & pre);
+bool prefixIs(docstring const & str, docstring const & pre);
+
+/// Does the string end with this char?
+bool suffixIs(std::string const &, char);
+bool suffixIs(docstring const &, char_type);