diff --git a/compiler/semtypes.nim b/compiler/semtypes.nim
index ca46ea0e05..44d264c1c2 100755
--- a/compiler/semtypes.nim
+++ b/compiler/semtypes.nim
@@ -275,29 +275,67 @@ proc checkForOverlap(c: PContext, t, ex: PNode, branchIndex: int) =
       if overlap(t.sons[i].sons[j], ex): 
         LocalError(ex.info, errDuplicateCaseLabel)
   
-proc semBranchExpr(c: PContext, t, e: PNode): PNode = 
+proc semBranchExpr(c: PContext, t, e: PNode): PNode =
   result = semConstExpr(c, e)
   checkMinSonsLen(t, 1)
-  if cmpTypes(t.sons[0].typ, result.typ) <= isConvertible: 
-    typeMismatch(result, t.sons[0].typ, result.typ)
+  result = fitNode(c, t.sons[0].typ, result)
+  #if cmpTypes(t.sons[0].typ, result.typ) <= isConvertible: 
+  #  typeMismatch(result, t.sons[0].typ, result.typ)
 
-proc SemCaseBranch(c: PContext, t, branch: PNode, branchIndex: int, 
+proc SemCaseBranchRange(c: PContext, t, b: PNode, 
+                        covered: var biggestInt): PNode = 
+  checkSonsLen(b, 3)
+  result = newNodeI(nkRange, b.info)
+  result.add(semBranchExpr(c, t, b.sons[1]))
+  result.add(semBranchExpr(c, t, b.sons[2]))
+  if emptyRange(result[0], result[1]): GlobalError(b.info, errRangeIsEmpty)
+  covered = covered + getOrdValue(result[1]) - getOrdValue(result[0]) + 1
+
+proc semCaseBranchSetElem(c: PContext, t, b: PNode, 
+                          covered: var biggestInt): PNode = 
+  if isRange(b):
+    checkSonsLen(b, 3)
+    result = newNodeI(nkRange, b.info)
+    result.add(semBranchExpr(c, t, b.sons[1]))
+    result.add(semBranchExpr(c, t, b.sons[2]))
+    if emptyRange(result[0], result[1]): GlobalError(b.info, errRangeIsEmpty)
+    covered = covered + getOrdValue(result[1]) - getOrdValue(result[0]) + 1
+  elif b.kind == nkRange:
+    checkSonsLen(b, 2)
+    result = newNodeI(nkRange, b.info)
+    result.add(semBranchExpr(c, t, b.sons[0]))
+    result.add(semBranchExpr(c, t, b.sons[1]))
+    if emptyRange(result[0], result[1]): GlobalError(b.info, errRangeIsEmpty)
+    covered = covered + getOrdValue(result[1]) - getOrdValue(result[0]) + 1
+  else:
+    result = fitNode(c, t.sons[0].typ, b)
+    inc(covered)
+
+proc semCaseBranch(c: PContext, t, branch: PNode, branchIndex: int, 
                    covered: var biggestInt) = 
   for i in countup(0, sonsLen(branch) - 2): 
     var b = branch.sons[i]
-    if isRange(b): 
-      checkSonsLen(b, 3)
-      var r = newNodeI(nkRange, b.info)
-      r.add(semBranchExpr(c, t, b.sons[1]))
-      r.add(semBranchExpr(c, t, b.sons[2]))
-      if emptyRange(r[0], r[1]): GlobalError(b.info, errRangeIsEmpty)
-      covered = covered + getOrdValue(r[1]) - getOrdValue(r[0]) + 1
-      branch.sons[i] = r
+    if isRange(b):
+      branch.sons[i] = semCaseBranchRange(c, t, b, covered)
     else:
-      branch.sons[i] = semBranchExpr(c, t, b)
-      inc(covered)
+      var r = semConstExpr(c, b)
+      # for ``{}`` we want to trigger the type mismatch in ``fitNode``:
+      if r.kind != nkCurly or len(r) == 0:
+        checkMinSonsLen(t, 1)
+        branch.sons[i] = fitNode(c, t.sons[0].typ, r)
+        inc(covered)
+      else:
+        # constant sets have special rules
+        # first element is special and will overwrite: branch.sons[i]:
+        branch.sons[i] = semCaseBranchSetElem(c, t, r[0], covered)
+        # other elements have to be added to ``branch``
+        for j in 1 .. <r.len:
+          branch.add(semCaseBranchSetElem(c, t, r[j], covered))
+          # caution! last son of branch must be the actions to execute:
+          var L = branch.len
+          swap(branch.sons[L-2], branch.sons[L-1])
     checkForOverlap(c, t, branch.sons[i], branchIndex)
-
+     
 proc semRecordNodeAux(c: PContext, n: PNode, check: var TIntSet, pos: var int, 
                       father: PNode, rectype: PSym)
 proc semRecordCase(c: PContext, n: PNode, check: var TIntSet, pos: var int, 
diff --git a/doc/manual.txt b/doc/manual.txt
index a284c6a0bb..9b00233a18 100755
--- a/doc/manual.txt
+++ b/doc/manual.txt
@@ -1527,6 +1527,27 @@ given, control passes after the ``case`` statement.
 To suppress the static error in the ordinal case an ``else`` part with a ``nil``
 statement can be used.
 
+As a special semantic extension, an expression in an ``of`` branch of a case
+statement may evaluate to a set constructor; the set is then expanded into 
+a list of its elements:
+
+.. code-block:: nimrod
+  const
+    SymChars: set[char] = {'a'..'z', 'A'..'Z', '\x80'..'\xFF'}
+
+  proc classify(s: string) =
+    case s[0]
+    of SymChars, '_': echo "an identifier"
+    of '0'..'9': echo "a number"
+    else: echo "other"
+  
+  # is equivalent to:
+  proc classify(s: string) =
+    case s[0]
+    of 'a'..'z', 'A'..'Z', '\x80'..'\xFF', '_': echo "an identifier"
+    of '0'..'9': echo "a number"
+    else: echo "other"
+
 
 When statement
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
diff --git a/tests/accept/run/tcase_setconstr.nim b/tests/accept/run/tcase_setconstr.nim
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..21f657c2b0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/accept/run/tcase_setconstr.nim
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+discard """
+  output: "an identifier"
+"""
+
+const
+  SymChars: set[char] = {'a'..'z', 'A'..'Z', '\x80'..'\xFF'}
+
+proc classify(s: string) =
+  case s[0]
+  of SymChars, '_': echo "an identifier"
+  of {'0'..'9'}: echo "a number"
+  else: echo "other"
+
+classify("Hurra")
+
diff --git a/todo.txt b/todo.txt
index d8988d1a48..b53c383c41 100755
--- a/todo.txt
+++ b/todo.txt
@@ -46,8 +46,7 @@ version 0.9.XX
 - generalized case statement (requires better transf)
 - tlastmod returns wrong results on BSD (Linux, MacOS X: works)
 - nested tuple unpacking
-- case statement branches should support constant sets
-- 'nimrod def': does not always work
+- 'nimrod def': does not always work?
 - test branch coverage
 - checked exceptions
 - fix implicit generic routines
diff --git a/web/news.txt b/web/news.txt
index adc8213f1c..a0825e0cb1 100755
--- a/web/news.txt
+++ b/web/news.txt
@@ -96,6 +96,8 @@ Additions
 - Added ``system.raiseHook``.
 - Added ``system.writeFile ``.
 - ``system.echo`` is guaranteed to be thread-safe.
+- Case statement branches support constant sets for programming convenience.
+
 
 
 2010-10-20 Version 0.8.10 released