-// provide a set of typedefs for commonly used things like sizes and
-// indices whil trying to stay compatible with typse used by the standard
-// containers.
+#include <cstddef>
+
+namespace lyx {
+
+ /// a type for positions used in paragraphs
+ // needs to be signed for a while to hold the special value -1 that is
+ // used there
+ typedef ptrdiff_t pos_type;
+
+ /// a type for paragraph offsets
+ // FIXME: should be unsigned as well.
+ // however, simply changing it breaks a downward loop somewhere...
+ typedef ptrdiff_t pit_type;