Index: lib/TWiki/Render.pm
===================================================================
--- lib/TWiki/Render.pm	(revision 3765)
+++ lib/TWiki/Render.pm	(working copy)
@@ -1149,6 +1149,7 @@
    * showvar - shows !%VAR% names if not expanded
    * expandvar - expands !%VARS%
    * nohead - strips ---+ headings at the top of the text
+   * maxlen=n - limits output to n characters
 
 =cut
 
@@ -1191,6 +1192,12 @@
     $text =~ s/^\s+//;                  # remove leading whitespace
     $text =~ s/\s+$//;                  # remove trailing whitespace
 
+    if( $opts =~ /maxlen=([0-9]+)/ ) {
+        my $maxlen = $1;
+        $text =~ s/[\n]+/ /g;           # remove returns to allow insertion in table
+        $text = substr( $text, 0, $maxlen);
+    }
+
     return $text;
 }
 
Index: lib/TWiki/Search.pm
===================================================================
--- lib/TWiki/Search.pm	(revision 3765)
+++ lib/TWiki/Search.pm	(working copy)
@@ -864,7 +877,7 @@
                     $out =~ s/%TEXTHEAD%/$text/go;
 
                 } elsif( $theFormat ) {
-                    $out =~ s/\$summary\(([^\)]*)\)/$this->renderer()->makeTopicSummary( $text, $topic, $web, $1 )/geos;
+                    $out =~ s/\$summary\(([^\)]*)\)/$this->renderer()->makeTopicSummary( $text, $topic, $web, "maxlen=$1" )/geos;
                     $out =~ s/\$summary/$this->renderer()->makeTopicSummary( $text, $topic, $web )/geos;
                     $out =~ s/\$parent\(([^\)]*)\)/_breakName( _getMetaParent( $meta ), $1 )/geos;
                     $out =~ s/\$parent/_getMetaParent( $meta )/geos;