diff --git a/lib/span.dart b/lib/span.dart
index fd302bc..e7bf5bf 100644
--- a/lib/span.dart
+++ b/lib/span.dart
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 library source_maps.span;
 
 import 'dart:utf' show stringToCodepoints;
-import 'dart:math' show min;
+import 'dart:math' show min, max;
 
 import 'src/utils.dart';
 
@@ -216,24 +216,18 @@
   Location location(int offset) => new FileLocation(this, offset);
 
   /// Gets the 0-based line corresponding to an offset.
-  int getLine(int offset) {
-    return binarySearch(_lineStarts, (o) => o > offset) - 1;
-  }
+  int getLine(int offset) => binarySearch(_lineStarts, (o) => o > offset) - 1;
 
   /// Gets the 0-based column corresponding to an offset.
-  int getColumn(int line, int offset) {
-    return offset - _lineStarts[line];
-  }
+  int getColumn(int line, int offset) => offset - _lineStarts[line];
 
   /// Get the offset for a given line and column
-  int getOffset(int line, int column) {
-    return _lineStarts[min(line, _lineStarts.length - 1)] + column;
-  }
+  int getOffset(int line, int column) =>
+      _lineStarts[max(min(line, _lineStarts.length - 1), 0)] + column;
 
   /// Gets the text at the given offsets.
-  String getText(int start, [int end]) {
-    return new String.fromCharCodes(_decodedChars.sublist(start, end));
-  }
+  String getText(int start, [int end]) =>
+      new String.fromCharCodes(_decodedChars.sublist(max(start, 0), end));
 
   /// Create a pretty string representation from a span.
   String getLocationMessage(String message, int start, int end,
@@ -253,16 +247,12 @@
 
     var buf = new StringBuffer(msg);
     buf.write('\n');
-    var textLine;
 
     // +1 for 0-indexing, +1 again to avoid the last line
-    if ((line + 2) < _lineStarts.length) {
-      textLine = getText(_lineStarts[line], _lineStarts[line + 1]);
-    } else {
-      textLine = getText(_lineStarts[line]);
-      textLine = '$textLine\n';
-    }
+    var textLine = getText(getOffset(line, 0), getOffset(line + 1, 0));
 
+
+    column = min(column, textLine.length - 1);
     int toColumn = min(column + end - start, textLine.length);
     if (useColors) {
       if (color == null) {
@@ -301,30 +291,52 @@
   final int _baseLine;
   final int _baseColumn;
 
+  // TODO(sigmund): consider providing an end-offset to correctly truncate
+  // values passed the end of the segment.
   SourceFileSegment(String url, String textSegment, Location startOffset)
       : _baseOffset = startOffset.offset,
         _baseLine = startOffset.line,
         _baseColumn = startOffset.column,
         super.text(url, textSegment);
 
+  /// Craete a span, where [start] is relative to this segment's base offset.
+  /// The returned span stores the real offset on the file, so that error
+  /// messages are reported at the real location.
   Span span(int start, [int end, bool isIdentifier = false]) =>
       super.span(start + _baseOffset,
           end == null ? null : end + _baseOffset, isIdentifier);
 
+  /// Create a location, where [offset] relative to this segment's base offset.
+  /// The returned span stores the real offset on the file, so that error
+  /// messages are reported at the real location.
   Location location(int offset) => super.location(offset + _baseOffset);
 
+  /// Return the line on the underlying file associated with the [offset] of the
+  /// underlying file. This method operates on the real offsets from the
+  /// original file, so that error messages can be reported accurately.
   int getLine(int offset) =>
-      super.getLine(offset - _baseOffset) + _baseLine;
+      super.getLine(max(offset - _baseOffset, 0)) + _baseLine;
 
+  /// Return the column on the underlying file associated with [line] and
+  /// [offset], where [line] is absolute from the beginning of the underlying
+  /// file. This method operates on the real offsets from the original file, so
+  /// that error messages can be reported accurately.
   int getColumn(int line, int offset) {
-    var col = super.getColumn(line - _baseLine, offset - _baseOffset);
+    var col = super.getColumn(line - _baseLine, max(offset - _baseOffset, 0));
     return line == _baseLine ? col + _baseColumn : col;
   }
 
+  /// Return the offset associated with a line and column. This method operates
+  /// on the real offsets from the original file, so that error messages can be
+  /// reported accurately.
   int getOffset(int line, int column) =>
       super.getOffset(line - _baseLine,
          line == _baseLine ? column - _baseColumn : column) + _baseOffset;
 
+  /// Retrieve the text associated with the specified range. This method
+  /// operates on the real offsets from the original file, so that error
+  /// messages can be reported accurately.
   String getText(int start, [int end]) =>
-      super.getText(start - _baseOffset, end - _baseOffset);
+      super.getText(start - _baseOffset,
+          end == null ? null : end - _baseOffset);
 }
diff --git a/test/span_test.dart b/test/span_test.dart
index 8f61b58..66bd8a8 100644
--- a/test/span_test.dart
+++ b/test/span_test.dart
@@ -165,32 +165,96 @@
     }
   });
 
-  test('file segment', () {
-    var segment = new SourceFileSegment('file',
-        TEST_FILE.substring(12), loc(12));
+  test('range check for large offsets', () {
+    var start = TEST_FILE.length;
+    expect(file.getLocationMessage('the message', start, start + 9),
+        'file:13:1: the message\n');
+  });
+
+  group('file segment', () {
+    var baseOffset = 123;
+    var segmentText = TEST_FILE.substring(baseOffset, TEST_FILE.length - 100);
+    var segment = new SourceFileSegment('file', segmentText, loc(baseOffset));
     sline(int n) => segment.getLine(n);
     scol(int n) => segment.getColumn(segment.getLine(n), n);
-
     line(int n) => file.getLine(n);
     col(int n) => file.getColumn(file.getLine(n), n);
 
-    int j = 0;
-    int lineOffset = 0;
-    for (int i = 12; i < TEST_FILE.length; i++) {
-      if (i > lineOffset + newLines[j]) {
-        lineOffset += newLines[j] + 1;
-        j++;
-      }
-      expect(segment.location(i - 12).offset, i);
-      expect(segment.location(i - 12).line, line(i));
-      expect(segment.location(i - 12).column, col(i));
-      expect(segment.span(i - 12).start.offset, i);
-      expect(segment.span(i - 12).start.line, line(i));
-      expect(segment.span(i - 12).start.column, col(i));
+    test('get line and column', () {
+      int j = 0;
+      int lineOffset = 0;
+      for (int i = baseOffset; i < segmentText.length; i++) {
+        if (i > lineOffset + newLines[j]) {
+          lineOffset += newLines[j] + 1;
+          j++;
+        }
+        expect(segment.location(i - baseOffset).offset, i);
+        expect(segment.location(i - baseOffset).line, line(i));
+        expect(segment.location(i - baseOffset).column, col(i));
+        expect(segment.span(i - baseOffset).start.offset, i);
+        expect(segment.span(i - baseOffset).start.line, line(i));
+        expect(segment.span(i - baseOffset).start.column, col(i));
 
-      expect(sline(i), line(i));
-      expect(scol(i), col(i));
-    }
+        expect(sline(i), line(i));
+        expect(scol(i), col(i));
+      }
+    });
+
+    test('get text', () {
+      var start = 10 + 80 + 31 + 27 + 4 + 2;
+      expect(segment.getText(start, start + 9), file.getText(start, start + 9));
+    });
+
+    group('location message', () {
+      test('first line', () {
+        var start = baseOffset + 7;
+        expect(segment.getLocationMessage('the message', start, start + 2),
+            file.getLocationMessage('the message', start, start + 2));
+      });
+
+      test('in a middle line', () {
+        // Example from another test above:
+        var start = 10 + 80 + 31 + 27 + 4 + 2;
+        expect(segment.getLocationMessage('the message', start, start + 9),
+            file.getLocationMessage('the message', start, start + 9));
+      });
+
+      test('last segment line', () {
+        var start = segmentText.length - 4;
+        expect(segment.getLocationMessage('the message', start, start + 2),
+            file.getLocationMessage('the message', start, start + 2));
+      });
+
+      test('past segment, same as last segment line', () {
+        var start = segmentText.length;
+        expect(segment.getLocationMessage('the message', start, start + 2),
+            file.getLocationMessage('the message', start, start + 2));
+
+        start = segmentText.length + 20;
+        expect(segment.getLocationMessage('the message', start, start + 2),
+            file.getLocationMessage('the message', start, start + 2));
+      });
+
+      test('past segment, past its line', () {
+        var start = TEST_FILE.length - 2;
+        expect(file.getLocationMessage('the message', start, start + 1),
+          'file:12:29: the message\n'
+          '123456789_1+3456789_123456789\n'
+          '                            ^');
+
+        // TODO(sigmund): consider also fixing this and report file:10:4
+        // The answer below is different because the segment parsing only knows
+        // about the 10 lines it has (and nothing about the possible extra lines
+        // afterwards)
+        expect(segment.getLocationMessage('the message', start, start + 1),
+          'file:10:112: the message\n');
+
+        // The number 112 includes the count of extra characters past the
+        // segment, which we verify here:
+        var lastSegmentLineStart = segmentText.lastIndexOf('\n');
+        expect(start - baseOffset - lastSegmentLineStart, 112);
+      });
+    });
   });
 
   test('span isIdentifier defaults to false', () {