diff -r 3eeadf666d6b -r 56c62780582e tests/test_map.cpp
--- a/tests/test_map.cpp	Mon Feb 20 19:55:42 2023 +0100
+++ b/tests/test_map.cpp	Thu Feb 23 18:58:15 2023 +0100
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 
 #include "cx/hash_map.h"
 #include "cx/utils.h"
+#include "cx/string.h"
 #include "util_allocator.h"
 
 #include <gtest/gtest.h>
@@ -114,14 +115,21 @@
 
 TEST(CxHashMap, Create) {
     CxTestingAllocator allocator;
-    auto map = cxHashMapCreate(&allocator, 0);
+    auto map = cxHashMapCreate(&allocator, 1, 0);
     auto hmap = reinterpret_cast<struct cx_hash_map_s *>(map);
     EXPECT_GT(hmap->bucket_count, 0);
     cx_for_n(i, hmap->bucket_count) {
         EXPECT_EQ(hmap->buckets[i], nullptr);
     }
+    EXPECT_EQ(map->itemsize, 1);
     EXPECT_EQ(map->size, 0);
     EXPECT_EQ(map->allocator, &allocator);
+    EXPECT_FALSE(map->store_pointers);
+    cxMapStorePointers(map);
+    EXPECT_TRUE(map->store_pointers);
+    EXPECT_EQ(map->itemsize, sizeof(void *));
+    cxMapStoreObjects(map);
+    EXPECT_FALSE(map->store_pointers);
 
     cxMapDestroy(map);
     EXPECT_TRUE(allocator.verify());
@@ -130,7 +138,7 @@
 TEST(CxHashMap, BasicOperations) {
     // create the map
     CxTestingAllocator allocator;
-    auto map = cxHashMapCreate(&allocator, 8);
+    auto map = cxHashMapCreateForPointers(&allocator, 8);
 
     // create a reference map
     std::unordered_map<std::string, std::string> refmap;
@@ -174,7 +182,7 @@
 
 TEST(CxHashMap, RemoveViaIterator) {
     CxTestingAllocator allocator;
-    auto map = cxHashMapCreate(&allocator, 4);
+    auto map = cxHashMapCreateForPointers(&allocator, 4);
 
     cxMapPut(map, cx_hash_key_str("key 1"), (void *) "val 1");
     cxMapPut(map, cx_hash_key_str("key 2"), (void *) "val 2");
@@ -203,7 +211,7 @@
 
 TEST(CxHashMap, RehashNotRequired) {
     CxTestingAllocator allocator;
-    auto map = cxHashMapCreate(&allocator, 8);
+    auto map = cxHashMapCreateForPointers(&allocator, 8);
 
     cxMapPut(map, cx_hash_key_str("key 1"), (void *) "val 1");
     cxMapPut(map, cx_hash_key_str("key 2"), (void *) "val 2");
@@ -223,7 +231,7 @@
 
 TEST(CxHashMap, Rehash) {
     CxTestingAllocator allocator;
-    auto map = cxHashMapCreate(&allocator, 8);
+    auto map = cxHashMapCreateForPointers(&allocator, 8);
 
     cxMapPut(map, cx_hash_key_str("key 1"), (void *) "val 1");
     cxMapPut(map, cx_hash_key_str("key 2"), (void *) "val 2");
@@ -252,7 +260,7 @@
 
 TEST(CxHashMap, Clear) {
     CxTestingAllocator allocator;
-    auto map = cxHashMapCreate(&allocator, 0);
+    auto map = cxHashMapCreateForPointers(&allocator, 0);
     
     cxMapPut(map, cx_hash_key_str("key 1"), (void *) "val 1");
     cxMapPut(map, cx_hash_key_str("key 2"), (void *) "val 2");
@@ -269,4 +277,49 @@
 
     cxMapDestroy(map);
     EXPECT_TRUE(allocator.verify());
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
+
+TEST(CxHashMap, StoreUcxStrings) {
+    // create the map
+    CxTestingAllocator allocator;
+    auto map = cxHashMapCreate(&allocator, sizeof(cxstring), 8);
+
+    // define some strings
+    cxstring s1 = CX_STR("this");
+    cxstring s2 = CX_STR("is");
+    cxstring s3 = CX_STR("a");
+    cxstring s4 = CX_STR("test");
+    cxstring s5 = CX_STR("setup");
+
+    // put them into the map
+    cxMapPut(map, cx_hash_key_str("s1"), &s1);
+    cxMapPut(map, cx_hash_key_str("s2"), &s2);
+    cxMapPut(map, cx_hash_key_str("s3"), &s3);
+    cxMapPut(map, cx_hash_key_str("s4"), &s4);
+
+    // overwrite a value
+    cxMapPut(map, cx_hash_key_str("s1"), &s5);
+
+    // look up a string
+    auto s3p = reinterpret_cast<cxstring *>(cxMapGet(map, cx_hash_key_str("s3")));
+    EXPECT_EQ(s3p->length, s3.length);
+    EXPECT_EQ(s3p->ptr, s3.ptr);
+    EXPECT_NE(s3p, &s3);
+
+    // remove a string
+    auto r = cxMapRemove(map, cx_hash_key_str("s2"));
+    EXPECT_EQ(r, nullptr);
+
+    // iterate
+    auto ref = std::vector{s5.ptr, s3.ptr, s4.ptr};
+    auto iter = cxMapIteratorValues(map);
+    cx_foreach(cxstring*, s, iter) {
+        auto found = std::find(ref.begin(), ref.end(), s->ptr);
+        ASSERT_NE(found, ref.end());
+        ref.erase(found);
+    }
+    EXPECT_EQ(ref.size(), 0);
+
+    cxMapDestroy(map);
+    EXPECT_TRUE(allocator.verify());
+}