diff --git a/docs/src/api.md b/docs/src/api.md
index eae6e5f1..da35c941 100644
--- a/docs/src/api.md
+++ b/docs/src/api.md
@@ -30,14 +30,36 @@ JuliaSyntax.untokenize
 JuliaSyntax.Token
 ```
 
-## Source file handling
+## Source code handling
+
+This section describes the generic functions for source text, source location
+computation and formatting functions.
+
+Contiguous syntax objects like nodes in the syntax tree should implement the
+following where possible:
 
 ```@docs
-JuliaSyntax.SourceFile
-JuliaSyntax.highlight
-JuliaSyntax.sourcetext
+JuliaSyntax.sourcefile
+JuliaSyntax.byte_range
+```
+
+This will provide implementations of the following which include range
+information, line numbers, and fancy highlighting of source ranges:
+
+```@docs
+JuliaSyntax.first_byte
+JuliaSyntax.last_byte
+JuliaSyntax.filename
 JuliaSyntax.source_line
 JuliaSyntax.source_location
+JuliaSyntax.sourcetext
+JuliaSyntax.highlight
+```
+
+`SourceFile`-specific functions:
+
+```@docs
+JuliaSyntax.SourceFile
 JuliaSyntax.source_line_range
 ```
 
@@ -64,8 +86,5 @@ JuliaSyntax.GreenNode
 ```
 
 Functions applicable to syntax trees include everything in the sections on
-heads/kinds, and source file handling.
-
-```@docs
-JuliaSyntax.byte_range
-```
+heads/kinds as well as the accessor functions in the source code handling
+section.
diff --git a/src/diagnostics.jl b/src/diagnostics.jl
index 76e8d6a7..39fa473f 100644
--- a/src/diagnostics.jl
+++ b/src/diagnostics.jl
@@ -37,8 +37,7 @@ function Diagnostic(first_byte, last_byte; error=nothing, warning=nothing)
     Diagnostic(first_byte, last_byte, level, message)
 end
 
-first_byte(d::Diagnostic) = d.first_byte
-last_byte(d::Diagnostic)  = d.last_byte
+byte_range(d::Diagnostic) = d.first_byte:d.last_byte
 is_error(d::Diagnostic)   = d.level === :error
 
 # Make relative path into a file URL
@@ -72,12 +71,12 @@ function show_diagnostic(io::IO, diagnostic::Diagnostic, source::SourceFile)
                    (:normal, "Info")
     line, col = source_location(source, first_byte(diagnostic))
     linecol = "$line:$col"
-    filename = source.filename
+    fname = filename(source)
     file_href = nothing
-    if !isnothing(filename)
-        locstr = "$filename:$linecol"
-        if !startswith(filename, "REPL[") && get(io, :color, false)
-            url = _file_url(filename)
+    if !isempty(fname)
+        locstr = "$fname:$linecol"
+        if !startswith(fname, "REPL[") && get(io, :color, false)
+            url = _file_url(fname)
             if !isnothing(url)
                 file_href = url*"#$linecol"
             end
diff --git a/src/expr.jl b/src/expr.jl
index a0cbf91f..d600a99b 100644
--- a/src/expr.jl
+++ b/src/expr.jl
@@ -68,6 +68,11 @@ function _strip_parens(ex)
     end
 end
 
+# Get Julia value of leaf node as it would be represented in `Expr` form
+function _expr_leaf_val(node::SyntaxNode)
+    node.val
+end
+
 function _leaf_to_Expr(source, txtbuf, head, srcrange, node)
     k = kind(head)
     if k == K"core_@cmd"
@@ -79,7 +84,7 @@ function _leaf_to_Expr(source, txtbuf, head, srcrange, node)
             Expr(:error) :
             Expr(:error, "$(_token_error_descriptions[k]): `$(source[srcrange])`")
     else
-        val = isnothing(node) ? parse_julia_literal(txtbuf, head, srcrange) : node.val
+        val = isnothing(node) ? parse_julia_literal(txtbuf, head, srcrange) : _expr_leaf_val(node)
         if val isa Union{Int128,UInt128,BigInt}
             # Ignore the values of large integers and convert them back to
             # symbolic/textural form for compatibility with the Expr
@@ -519,14 +524,7 @@ function build_tree(::Type{Expr}, stream::ParseStream;
     only(_fixup_Expr_children!(SyntaxHead(K"None",EMPTY_FLAGS), loc, Any[entry.ex]))
 end
 
-"""
-Get the source file for a given syntax object
-"""
-function sourcefile(node::SyntaxNode)
-    node.source
-end
-
-function _to_expr(node::SyntaxNode)
+function _to_expr(node)
     file = sourcefile(node)
     if !haschildren(node)
         offset, txtbuf = _unsafe_wrap_substring(sourcetext(file))
@@ -537,9 +535,13 @@ function _to_expr(node::SyntaxNode)
     _internal_node_to_Expr(file, byte_range(node), head(node), byte_range.(cs), head.(cs), args)
 end
 
-function Base.Expr(node::SyntaxNode)
+function to_expr(node)
     ex = _to_expr(node)
-    loc = source_location(LineNumberNode, sourcefile(node), first_byte(node))
+    loc = source_location(LineNumberNode, node)
     only(_fixup_Expr_children!(SyntaxHead(K"None",EMPTY_FLAGS), loc, Any[ex]))
 end
 
+function Base.Expr(node::SyntaxNode)
+    to_expr(node)
+end
+
diff --git a/src/parse_stream.jl b/src/parse_stream.jl
index 0c80ef9d..dc2192f9 100644
--- a/src/parse_stream.jl
+++ b/src/parse_stream.jl
@@ -514,8 +514,7 @@ struct FullToken
 end
 
 head(t::FullToken) = t.head
-first_byte(t::FullToken) = t.first_byte
-last_byte(t::FullToken) = t.last_byte
+byte_range(t::FullToken) = t.first_byte:t.last_byte
 span(t::FullToken) = 1 + last_byte(t) - first_byte(t)
 
 function peek_full_token(stream::ParseStream, n::Integer=1;
diff --git a/src/parser_api.jl b/src/parser_api.jl
index 51548a99..fb805aa7 100644
--- a/src/parser_api.jl
+++ b/src/parser_api.jl
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@ function Base.showerror(io::IO, err::ParseError)
     show_diagnostics(io, err.diagnostics[1:i], err.source)
 end
 
+sourcefile(err::ParseError) = err.source
+
 """
     parse!(stream::ParseStream; rule=:all)
 
diff --git a/src/source_files.jl b/src/source_files.jl
index a5b14f09..57d89917 100644
--- a/src/source_files.jl
+++ b/src/source_files.jl
@@ -1,3 +1,110 @@
+#-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Generic functions for source text, source location computation and formatting
+# functions
+
+"""
+    sourcefile(x)
+
+Get the source file object (usually `SourceFile`) for a given syntax object
+`x`. The source file along with a byte range may be used to compute
+`source_line()`, `source_location()`, `filename()`, etc.
+"""
+function sourcefile
+end
+
+"""
+    byte_range(x)
+
+Return the range of bytes which `x` covers in the source text.
+"""
+function byte_range
+end
+
+"""
+    first_byte(x)
+
+Return the first byte of `x` in the source text.
+"""
+first_byte(x) = first(byte_range(x))
+
+"""
+    first_byte(x)
+
+Return the last byte of `x` in the source text.
+"""
+last_byte(x) = last(byte_range(x))
+
+"""
+    filename(x)
+
+Get file name associated with `source`, or an empty string if one didn't exist.
+
+For objects `x` such as syntax trees, defers to `filename(sourcefile(x))` by
+default.
+"""
+function filename(x)
+    source = sourcefile(x)
+    isnothing(source) ? "" : filename(source)
+end
+
+"""
+    source_line(x)
+    source_line(source::SourceFile, byte_index::Integer)
+
+Get the line number of the first line on which object `x` appears. In the
+second form, get the line number at the given `byte_index` within `source`.
+"""
+source_line(x) = source_line(sourcefile(x), first_byte(x))
+
+"""
+    souce_location(x)
+    souce_location(source::SourceFile, byte_index::Integer)
+
+    souce_location(LineNumberNode, x)
+    souce_location(LineNumberNode, source, byte_index)
+
+Get `(line,column)` of the first byte where object `x` appears in the source.
+The second form allows one to be more precise with the `byte_index`, given the
+source file.
+
+Providing `LineNumberNode` as the first agrument will return the line and file
+name in a line number node object.
+"""
+source_location(x) = source_location(sourcefile(x), first_byte(x))
+
+"""
+    sourcetext(x)
+
+Get the full source text syntax object `x`
+"""
+function sourcetext(x)
+    view(sourcefile(x), byte_range(x))
+end
+
+"""
+    highlight(io, x; color, note, notecolor,
+              context_lines_before, context_lines_inner, context_lines_after)
+
+    highlight(io::IO, source::SourceFile, range::UnitRange; kws...)
+
+Print the lines of source code surrounding `x` which is highlighted with
+background `color` and underlined with markers in the text. A `note` in
+`notecolor` may be provided as annotation. By default, `x` should be an object
+with `sourcefile(x)` and `byte_range(x)` implemented.
+
+The context arguments `context_lines_before`, etc, refer to the number of
+lines of code which will be printed as context before and after, with `inner`
+referring to context lines inside a multiline region.
+
+The second form shares the keywords of the first but allows an explicit source
+file and byte range to be supplied.
+"""
+function highlight(io::IO, x; kws...)
+    highlight(io, sourcefile(x), byte_range(x); kws...)
+end
+
+
+#-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 """
     SourceFile(code [; filename=nothing, first_line=1, first_index=1])
 
@@ -53,16 +160,19 @@ function _source_line_index(source::SourceFile, byte_index)
 end
 _source_line(source::SourceFile, lineidx) = lineidx + source.first_line - 1
 
-"""
-Get the line number at the given byte index.
-"""
-source_line(source::SourceFile, byte_index) =
+function source_location(::Type{LineNumberNode}, x)
+    source_location(LineNumberNode, sourcefile(x), first_byte(x))
+end
+
+source_line(source::SourceFile, byte_index::Integer) =
     _source_line(source, _source_line_index(source, byte_index))
 
-"""
-Get line number and character within the line at the given byte index.
-"""
-function source_location(source::SourceFile, byte_index)
+function filename(source::SourceFile)
+    f = source.filename
+    !isnothing(f) ? f : ""
+end
+
+function source_location(source::SourceFile, byte_index::Integer)
     lineidx = _source_line_index(source, byte_index)
     i = source.line_starts[lineidx]
     column = 1
@@ -77,7 +187,7 @@ end
 Get byte range of the source line at byte_index, buffered by
 `context_lines_before` and `context_lines_after` before and after.
 """
-function source_line_range(source::SourceFile, byte_index;
+function source_line_range(source::SourceFile, byte_index::Integer;
                            context_lines_before=0, context_lines_after=0)
     lineidx = _source_line_index(source, byte_index)
     fbyte = source.line_starts[max(lineidx-context_lines_before, 1)]
@@ -86,14 +196,14 @@ function source_line_range(source::SourceFile, byte_index;
             lbyte + source.byte_offset)
 end
 
-function source_location(::Type{LineNumberNode}, source::SourceFile, byte_index)
-    LineNumberNode(source_line(source, byte_index),
-                   isnothing(source.filename) ? nothing : Symbol(source.filename))
+function source_location(::Type{LineNumberNode}, source::SourceFile, byte_index::Integer)
+    fn = filename(source)
+    LineNumberNode(source_line(source, byte_index), isempty(fn) ? nothing : Symbol(fn))
 end
 
 function Base.show(io::IO, ::MIME"text/plain", source::SourceFile)
-    fn = isnothing(source.filename) ? "" : " $(source.filename)"
-    header = "## SourceFile$fn ##"
+    fn = filename(source)
+    header = "## SourceFile$(isempty(fn) ? "" : " ")$fn ##"
     print(io, header, "\n")
     heightlim = displaysize(io)[1] ÷ 2
     if !get(io, :limit, false) || length(source.line_starts) <= heightlim
@@ -193,27 +303,6 @@ function _print_marker_line(io, prefix_str, str, underline, singleline, color,
     end
 end
 
-function highlight(io::IO, x; kws...)
-    highlight(io, sourcefile(x), byte_range(x); kws...)
-end
-
-"""
-    highlight(io::IO, source::SourceFile, range::UnitRange;
-              color, note, notecolor,
-              context_lines_before, context_lines_inner, context_lines_after,
-    highlight(io, x; kws...)
-
-Print the lines of source code `source` surrounding the given byte `range`
-which is highlighted with background `color` and underlined with markers in the
-text. A `note` in `notecolor` may be provided as annotation.
-
-In the second form, `x` is an object with `sourcefile(x)` and `byte_range(x)`
-implemented.
-
-The context arguments `context_lines_before`, etc, refer to the number of
-lines of code which will be printed as context before and after, with `inner`
-referring to context lines inside a multiline region.
-"""
 function highlight(io::IO, source::SourceFile, range::UnitRange;
                    color=(120,70,70), context_lines_before=2,
                    context_lines_inner=1, context_lines_after=2,
diff --git a/src/syntax_tree.jl b/src/syntax_tree.jl
index d885af80..dc9a7375 100644
--- a/src/syntax_tree.jl
+++ b/src/syntax_tree.jl
@@ -121,31 +121,13 @@ head(node::AbstractSyntaxNode) = head(node.raw)
 
 span(node::AbstractSyntaxNode) = span(node.raw)
 
-first_byte(node::AbstractSyntaxNode) = node.position
-last_byte(node::AbstractSyntaxNode)  = node.position + span(node) - 1
+byte_range(node::AbstractSyntaxNode) = node.position:(node.position + span(node) - 1)
 
-"""
-    byte_range(ex)
-
-Return the range of bytes which `ex` covers in the source text.
-"""
-byte_range(ex) = first_byte(ex):last_byte(ex)
-
-"""
-    sourcetext(node)
-
-Get the full source text of a node.
-"""
-function sourcetext(node::AbstractSyntaxNode)
-    view(sourcefile(node), byte_range(node))
-end
-
-source_line(node::AbstractSyntaxNode) = source_line(sourcefile(node), node.position)
-source_location(node::AbstractSyntaxNode) = source_location(sourcefile(node), node.position)
+sourcefile(node::AbstractSyntaxNode) = node.source
 
 function _show_syntax_node(io, current_filename, node::AbstractSyntaxNode,
                            indent, show_byte_offsets)
-    fname = sourcefile(node).filename
+    fname = filename(node)
     line, col = source_location(node)
     posstr = "$(lpad(line, 4)):$(rpad(col,3))│"
     if show_byte_offsets
@@ -192,7 +174,7 @@ end
 
 function Base.show(io::IO, ::MIME"text/plain", node::AbstractSyntaxNode; show_byte_offsets=false)
     println(io, "line:col│$(show_byte_offsets ? " byte_range  │" : "") tree                                   │ file_name")
-    _show_syntax_node(io, Ref{Union{Nothing,String}}(nothing), node, "", show_byte_offsets)
+    _show_syntax_node(io, Ref(""), node, "", show_byte_offsets)
 end
 
 function Base.show(io::IO, ::MIME"text/x.sexpression", node::AbstractSyntaxNode)
diff --git a/test/hooks.jl b/test/hooks.jl
index d5944a04..35939119 100644
--- a/test/hooks.jl
+++ b/test/hooks.jl
@@ -35,13 +35,13 @@ end
             JuliaSyntax.core_parser_hook("[x)", "f1", 1, 0, :statement)
         )
         @test err isa JuliaSyntax.ParseError
-        @test err.source.filename == "f1"
+        @test filename(err) == "f1"
         @test err.source.first_line == 1
         err = _unwrap_parse_error(
             JuliaSyntax.core_parser_hook("[x)", "f2", 2, 0, :statement)
         )
         @test err isa JuliaSyntax.ParseError
-        @test err.source.filename == "f2"
+        @test filename(err) == "f2"
         @test err.source.first_line == 2
 
         # Errors including nontrivial offset indices
diff --git a/test/test_utils.jl b/test/test_utils.jl
index 69915af2..b16aef31 100644
--- a/test/test_utils.jl
+++ b/test/test_utils.jl
@@ -35,7 +35,8 @@ using .JuliaSyntax:
     fl_parse,
     highlight,
     tokenize,
-    untokenize
+    untokenize,
+    filename
 
 if VERSION < v"1.6"
     # Compat stuff which might not be in Base for older versions