bearing in mind this is something I just threw together last minute as a workaround - I used the following:

Code:
alias cb {
  if ($cb(0) > 1) || ($cb(1)) {
    window -c @cb
    window -an @cb
    var %a = 1
    var %b = $cb(0)
    while (%a <= %b) {
      if ($cb(%a)) { aline @cb $cb(%a) }
      else { aline @cb $crlf }
      inc %a
    }
    clipboard -n
  }
  if ($1 == 0) { return $line(@cb,0) }
  else { return $line(@cb,$1) }
}


this then allows $.cb(n) to work as $cb(n) would. can choose to have the @cb window hidden or not (I like it visible so I can keep an eye on it smile