diff --git a/core/org.eclipse.cdt.core/parser/org/eclipse/cdt/core/dom/ast/INodeFactory.java b/core/org.eclipse.cdt.core/parser/org/eclipse/cdt/core/dom/ast/INodeFactory.java
index 956b22e106e..9013a697a8a 100644
--- a/core/org.eclipse.cdt.core/parser/org/eclipse/cdt/core/dom/ast/INodeFactory.java
+++ b/core/org.eclipse.cdt.core/parser/org/eclipse/cdt/core/dom/ast/INodeFactory.java
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ package org.eclipse.cdt.core.dom.ast;
 import org.eclipse.cdt.core.dom.ast.IASTEnumerationSpecifier.IASTEnumerator;
 import org.eclipse.cdt.core.dom.ast.gnu.IGNUASTCompoundStatementExpression;
 import org.eclipse.cdt.core.parser.IScanner;
+import org.eclipse.cdt.core.parser.IToken;
 
 
 /**
@@ -166,4 +167,39 @@ public interface INodeFactory {
 	
 	public IASTCompositeTypeSpecifier newCompositeTypeSpecifier(int key, IASTName name);
 
+	/**
+	 * Provides the offsets for a node. The offsets are artificial numbers that identify the
+	 * position of a node in the translation unit. They are not file-offsets. You can obtain
+	 * valid offsets via {@link IToken#getOffset()} or {@link IToken#getEndOffset()} from tokens
+	 * provided by the scanner for this translation unit.
+	 * <par> May throw an exception when the node provided was not created by this factory.
+	 * @param node a node created by this factory
+	 * @offset the offset (inclusive) for the node
+	 * @param endOffset the end offset (exclusive) for the node
+	 * @see #newTranslationUnit(IScanner)
+	 * @since 5.2
+	 */
+	public void setOffsets(IASTNode node, int offset, int endOffset);
+
+	/**
+	 * Provides the end offset for a node. The offset is an artificial numbers that identifies the
+	 * position of a node in the translation unit. It is not a file-offset. You can obtain a
+	 * valid offset via {@link IToken#getEndOffset()} from a token provided by the scanner for 
+	 * this translation unit.
+	 * <par> May throw an exception when the node provided was not created by this factory.
+	 * @param node a node created by this factory
+	 * @param endOffset the end offset (exclusive) for the node
+	 * @see #newTranslationUnit(IScanner)
+	 * @since 5.2
+	 */
+	void setEndOffset(IASTNode node, int endOffset);   
+	
+	/**
+	 * Adjusts the end-offset of a node to be the same as the end-offset of a given node.
+	 * <par> May throw an exception when either one of the nodes provided was not created by this factory.
+	 * @param node a node created by this factory
+	 * @param endNode a node created by this factory defining the end for the other node.
+	 * @since 5.2
+	 */
+	void setEndOffset(IASTNode node, IASTNode endNode);
 }
diff --git a/core/org.eclipse.cdt.core/parser/org/eclipse/cdt/internal/core/dom/parser/NodeFactory.java b/core/org.eclipse.cdt.core/parser/org/eclipse/cdt/internal/core/dom/parser/NodeFactory.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..bcc6d2caeef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/org.eclipse.cdt.core/parser/org/eclipse/cdt/internal/core/dom/parser/NodeFactory.java
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+/*******************************************************************************
+ * Copyright (c) 2009 Wind River Systems, Inc. and others.
+ * All rights reserved. This program and the accompanying materials
+ * are made available under the terms of the Eclipse Public License v1.0
+ * which accompanies this distribution, and is available at
+ * http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-v10.html
+ *
+ * Contributors:
+ *    Markus Schorn - initial API and implementation
+ *******************************************************************************/ 
+package org.eclipse.cdt.internal.core.dom.parser;
+
+import org.eclipse.cdt.core.dom.ast.IASTNode;
+import org.eclipse.cdt.core.dom.ast.INodeFactory;
+
+/**
+ * Abstract base class for node factories.
+ */
+public abstract class NodeFactory implements INodeFactory {
+
+	public final void setOffsets(IASTNode node, int offset, int endOffset) {
+		((ASTNode) node).setOffsetAndLength(offset, endOffset-offset);
+	}
+
+	public final void setEndOffset(IASTNode node, int endOffset) {
+		ASTNode a= (ASTNode) node;
+		a.setLength(endOffset - a.getOffset());
+	}
+
+	public final void setEndOffset(IASTNode node, IASTNode endNode) {
+		ASTNode a= (ASTNode) node;
+		ASTNode e= (ASTNode) endNode;
+		a.setLength(e.getOffset() + e.getLength() - a.getOffset());
+	}
+}
diff --git a/core/org.eclipse.cdt.core/parser/org/eclipse/cdt/internal/core/dom/parser/c/CNodeFactory.java b/core/org.eclipse.cdt.core/parser/org/eclipse/cdt/internal/core/dom/parser/c/CNodeFactory.java
index 367fe2ded1e..de7c37d7d38 100644
--- a/core/org.eclipse.cdt.core/parser/org/eclipse/cdt/internal/core/dom/parser/c/CNodeFactory.java
+++ b/core/org.eclipse.cdt.core/parser/org/eclipse/cdt/internal/core/dom/parser/c/CNodeFactory.java
@@ -6,7 +6,8 @@
  *  http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-v10.html
  * 
  *  Contributors:
- *     IBM Corporation - initial API and implementation
+ *     Mike Kucera (IBM Corporation) - initial API and implementation
+ *     Markus Schorn (Wind River Systems)
  *******************************************************************************/
 package org.eclipse.cdt.internal.core.dom.parser.c;
 
@@ -78,15 +79,14 @@ import org.eclipse.cdt.core.dom.ast.gnu.c.ICASTKnRFunctionDeclarator;
 import org.eclipse.cdt.core.dom.ast.gnu.c.IGCCASTArrayRangeDesignator;
 import org.eclipse.cdt.core.dom.ast.gnu.c.IGCCASTSimpleDeclSpecifier;
 import org.eclipse.cdt.core.parser.IScanner;
+import org.eclipse.cdt.internal.core.dom.parser.NodeFactory;
 
 /**
  * Abstract factory implementation that creates AST nodes for C99.
  * These can be overridden in subclasses to change the 
  * implementations of the nodes.
- * 
- * @author Mike Kucera
  */
-public class CNodeFactory implements ICNodeFactory {
+public class CNodeFactory extends NodeFactory implements ICNodeFactory {
 
 	private static final CNodeFactory DEFAULT_INSTANCE = new CNodeFactory();
 	
diff --git a/core/org.eclipse.cdt.core/parser/org/eclipse/cdt/internal/core/dom/parser/cpp/CPPNodeFactory.java b/core/org.eclipse.cdt.core/parser/org/eclipse/cdt/internal/core/dom/parser/cpp/CPPNodeFactory.java
index 4d6bbc80a2b..367c2467411 100644
--- a/core/org.eclipse.cdt.core/parser/org/eclipse/cdt/internal/core/dom/parser/cpp/CPPNodeFactory.java
+++ b/core/org.eclipse.cdt.core/parser/org/eclipse/cdt/internal/core/dom/parser/cpp/CPPNodeFactory.java
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
  *
  * Contributors:
  *     Mike Kucera (IBM) - initial API and implementation
+ *     Markus Schorn (Wind River Systems)
  *******************************************************************************/
 package org.eclipse.cdt.internal.core.dom.parser.cpp;
 
@@ -104,12 +105,13 @@ import org.eclipse.cdt.core.dom.ast.gnu.cpp.IGPPASTPointer;
 import org.eclipse.cdt.core.dom.ast.gnu.cpp.IGPPASTPointerToMember;
 import org.eclipse.cdt.core.dom.ast.gnu.cpp.IGPPASTSimpleDeclSpecifier;
 import org.eclipse.cdt.core.parser.IScanner;
+import org.eclipse.cdt.internal.core.dom.parser.NodeFactory;
 
 
 /**
  * Abstract factory implementation that creates C++ AST nodes.
  */
-public class CPPNodeFactory implements ICPPNodeFactory {
+public class CPPNodeFactory extends NodeFactory implements ICPPNodeFactory {
 
 	private static final CPPNodeFactory DEFAULT_INSTANCE = new CPPNodeFactory();