[Zope] string[0] operators in <dtml-vars>

[Lee]

I'm trying to produce the following results in an HTML form list/menu
where:
    <dtml-var name> - <dtml-var descirption> gives me something like:
        [ http://www.zope.org - the official Zope homepage ]

I only want the first few characters of the description though i.e.
    [ http://www.zope.org - the official... ]

I'm having a little problem getting the desired results though as I get
an *Error Type: KeyError* *Error Value: description[0]*

<dtml-in expr="getLinks(category=_['name'])">
  <option value="<dtml-var url>"><dtml-var name> -
    <dtml-var expr="_['description[0]']">    <-- problem here obviously
    <dtml-var expr="_['description[1]']">
    |
    |
    <dtml-var expr="_['description[9]']">...
  </option>
</dtml-in>

Could someone point me in the right direction?

Thanks in advance :)

Lee