diff --git a/idlc/inc/idlc/idlc.hxx b/idlc/inc/idlc/idlc.hxx
index 9f8a0f25ede9..8262b26fc095 100644
--- a/idlc/inc/idlc/idlc.hxx
+++ b/idlc/inc/idlc/idlc.hxx
@@ -103,6 +103,12 @@ public:
         { m_warningCount++; }
     sal_uInt32 getLineNumber()
         { return m_lineNumber; }
+    sal_uInt32 getOffsetStart()
+        { return m_offsetStart; }
+    sal_uInt32 getOffsetEnd()
+        { return m_offsetEnd; }
+    void setOffset( sal_uInt32 start, sal_uInt32 end)
+        { m_offsetStart = start; m_offsetEnd = end; }
     void setLineNumber(sal_uInt32 lineNumber)
         { m_lineNumber = lineNumber; }
     void incLineNumber()
@@ -137,6 +143,8 @@ private:
     sal_uInt32          m_errorCount;
     sal_uInt32          m_warningCount;
     sal_uInt32          m_lineNumber;
+    sal_uInt32          m_offsetStart;
+    sal_uInt32          m_offsetEnd;
     ParseState          m_parseState;
     StringSet           m_includes;
 };
diff --git a/idlc/source/errorhandler.cxx b/idlc/source/errorhandler.cxx
index 19d328d0e140..30ecd1ef7ca4 100644
--- a/idlc/source/errorhandler.cxx
+++ b/idlc/source/errorhandler.cxx
@@ -489,7 +489,7 @@ static OString flagToString(sal_uInt32 flag)
     return flagStr;
 }
 
-static void errorHeader(ErrorCode eCode, sal_Int32 lineNumber)
+static void errorHeader(ErrorCode eCode, sal_Int32 lineNumber, sal_uInt32 start, sal_uInt32 end)
 {
     OString file;
     if ( idlc()->getFileName() == idlc()->getRealFileName() )
@@ -497,14 +497,23 @@ static void errorHeader(ErrorCode eCode, sal_Int32 lineNumber)
     else
         file = idlc()->getFileName();
 
-    fprintf(stderr, "%s(%lu) : %s", file.getStr(),
+    fprintf(stderr, "%s:%lu [%lu:%lu] : %s", file.getStr(),
             sal::static_int_cast< unsigned long >(lineNumber),
+            sal::static_int_cast< unsigned long >(start),
+            sal::static_int_cast< unsigned long >(end),
             errorCodeToMessage(eCode));
 }
 
+static void errorHeader(ErrorCode eCode, sal_uInt32 lineNumber)
+{
+    errorHeader(eCode, lineNumber,
+            idlc()->getOffsetStart(), idlc()->getOffsetEnd());
+}
+
 static void errorHeader(ErrorCode eCode)
 {
-    errorHeader(eCode, idlc()->getLineNumber());
+    errorHeader(eCode, idlc()->getLineNumber(),
+            idlc()->getOffsetStart(), idlc()->getOffsetEnd());
 }
 
 static void warningHeader(WarningCode wCode)
diff --git a/idlc/source/idlc.cxx b/idlc/source/idlc.cxx
index 3717405c7775..d1b3b9587d5b 100644
--- a/idlc/source/idlc.cxx
+++ b/idlc/source/idlc.cxx
@@ -220,6 +220,8 @@ Idlc::Idlc(Options* pOptions)
     , m_errorCount(0)
     , m_warningCount(0)
     , m_lineNumber(0)
+    , m_offsetStart(0)
+    , m_offsetEnd(0)
     , m_parseState(PS_NoState)
 {
     m_pScopes = new AstStack();
diff --git a/idlc/source/parser.y b/idlc/source/parser.y
index 8da9c7ad63b5..6de66aee9b17 100644
--- a/idlc/source/parser.y
+++ b/idlc/source/parser.y
@@ -103,8 +103,8 @@
 
 #include <algorithm>
 #include <vector>
-    
-using namespace ::rtl;
+
+using namespace rtl;
 
 #define YYDEBUG 1
 #define YYERROR_VERBOSE 1
diff --git a/idlc/source/scanner.ll b/idlc/source/scanner.ll
index bbcc08fae37b..2206297a0ffd 100644
--- a/idlc/source/scanner.ll
+++ b/idlc/source/scanner.ll
@@ -48,12 +48,19 @@
 
 #include "attributeexceptions.hxx"
 
+
 class AstExpression;
 class AstArray;
 class AstMember;
 
 #include <parser.hxx>
 
+/* handle locations */
+int yycolumn = 1;
+
+#define YY_USER_ACTION idlc()->setOffset(yycolumn, yycolumn+yyleng-1); \
+    yycolumn += yyleng;
+
 sal_Int32		beginLine = 0;
 ::rtl::OString	docu;
 
@@ -227,6 +234,7 @@ static void parseLineAndFile(sal_Char* pBuf)
 	for (; *r != '\0' && *r != ' ' && *r != '\t'; r++) ;
 	*r++ = 0;
 	idlc()->setLineNumber((sal_uInt32)atol(h));
+    yylineno = atol(h);
 
 	/* Find file name, if present */
 	for (; *r != '"'; r++)
@@ -283,8 +291,10 @@ IDENTIFIER      ("_"?({ALPHA}|{DIGIT})+)*
 %%
 
 [ \t\r]+	; /* eat up whitespace */
-[\n] 		{
-	idlc()->incLineNumber();
+[\n]           {
+       idlc()->incLineNumber();
+       yycolumn = 1;
+       yylineno++;
 }
 
 attribute       return IDL_ATTRIBUTE;
@@ -349,21 +359,21 @@ published       return IDL_PUBLISHED;
 "..."           return IDL_ELLIPSIS;
 
 ("-")?{INT_LITERAL}+(l|L|u|U)?    {
-            	return asciiToInteger(yytext, &yylval.ival, &yylval.uval);
+                return asciiToInteger(yytext, &yylval.ival, &yylval.uval);
             }
 
 ("-")?{OCT_LITERAL}+(l|L|u|U)?    {
-            	return asciiToInteger(yytext, &yylval.ival, &yylval.uval);
+                return asciiToInteger(yytext, &yylval.ival, &yylval.uval);
             }
 
 ("-")?{HEX_LITERAL}+(l|L|u|U)?    {
-            	return asciiToInteger(yytext, &yylval.ival, &yylval.uval);
+                return asciiToInteger(yytext, &yylval.ival, &yylval.uval);
             }
 
 ("-")?{DIGIT}+(e|E){1}(("+"|"-")?{DIGIT}+)+(f|F)?	|
 ("-")?"."{DIGIT}+((e|E)("+"|"-")?{DIGIT}+)?(f|F)?	|
 ("-")?{DIGIT}*"."{DIGIT}+((e|E)("+"|"-")?{DIGIT}+)?(f|F)?        {
-            	yylval.dval = asciiToFloat( yytext );
+                yylval.dval = asciiToFloat( yytext );
 				return IDL_FLOATING_PT_LITERAL;
             }