diff --git a/R/nested.R b/R/nested.R
index d9a06101b..e83769d59 100644
--- a/R/nested.R
+++ b/R/nested.R
@@ -4,9 +4,8 @@
 #'   representation into a nested parse table with
 #'   [nest_parse_data()].
 #' @param text A character vector to parse.
-#' @return A nested parse table. Apart from the columns provided by
-#'   `utils::getParseData()`, a column "short" with the first five characters of
-#'   "text" is added, the nested subtibbles are in column "child".
+#' @return A nested parse table. See [tokenize()] for details on the columns
+#'   of the parse table.
 compute_parse_data_nested <- function(text) {
   parse_data <- tokenize(text) %>%
     add_terminal_token_before() %>%
@@ -23,14 +22,26 @@ compute_parse_data_nested <- function(text) {
 #' Obtain token table from text
 #'
 #' [utils::getParseData()] is used to obtain a flat parse table from `text`.
+#'
+#' Apart from the columns provided by `utils::getParseData()`, the following
+#' columns are added:
+#'
+#'   * A column "short" with the first five characters of "text".
+#'   * A column "pos_id" for (positional id) which can be used for sorting
+#'     (because "id" cannot be used in general). Note that the nth value of this
+#'     column corresponds to n as long as no tokens are inserted.
+#'   * A column "child" that contains the nested subtibbles.
+#'
 #' @param text A character vector.
 #' @return A flat parse table
+#' @importFrom rlang seq2
 tokenize <- function(text) {
   # avoid https://bugs.r-project.org/bugzilla3/show_bug.cgi?id=16041
   parse(text = text, keep.source = TRUE)
   parsed <- parse(text = text, keep.source = TRUE)
   parse_data <- as_tibble(utils::getParseData(parsed, includeText = NA)) %>%
     enhance_mapping_special()
+  parse_data$pos_id <- seq2(1L, nrow(parse_data))
   parse_data$short <- substr(parse_data$text, 1, 5)
   parse_data
 }
@@ -67,7 +78,7 @@ NULL
 add_terminal_token_after <- function(pd_flat) {
   terminals <- pd_flat %>%
     filter(terminal) %>%
-    arrange(line1, col1)
+    arrange(pos_id)
 
   data_frame(id = terminals$id,
              token_after = lead(terminals$token, default = "")) %>%
@@ -78,7 +89,7 @@ add_terminal_token_after <- function(pd_flat) {
 add_terminal_token_before <- function(pd_flat) {
   terminals <- pd_flat %>%
     filter(terminal) %>%
-    arrange(line1, col1)
+    arrange(pos_id)
 
   data_frame(id = terminals$id,
              token_before = lag(terminals$token, default = "")) %>%
@@ -149,7 +160,7 @@ nest_parse_data <- function(pd_flat) {
 combine_children <- function(child, internal_child) {
   bound <- bind_rows(child, internal_child)
   if (nrow(bound) == 0) return(NULL)
-  bound[order(bound$line1, bound$col1), ]
+  bound[order(bound$pos_id), ]
 
 }
 
diff --git a/R/relevel.R b/R/relevel.R
index f51f4ba31..77460354b 100644
--- a/R/relevel.R
+++ b/R/relevel.R
@@ -62,6 +62,6 @@ bind_with_child <- function(pd_nested, pos) {
   pd_nested %>%
     slice(-pos) %>%
     bind_rows(pd_nested$child[[pos]]) %>%
-    arrange(line1, col1)
+    arrange(pos_id)
 }
 
diff --git a/R/rules-line_break.R b/R/rules-line_break.R
index 76c610f9e..d81ab017f 100644
--- a/R/rules-line_break.R
+++ b/R/rules-line_break.R
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ set_line_break_after_opening_if_call_is_multi_line <-
            except_text_before  = NULL) {
   if (!is_function_call(pd)) return(pd)
   npd <- nrow(pd)
-  seq_x <- seq2(3, npd - 1)
+  seq_x <- seq2(3L, npd - 1L)
   is_multi_line <- any(
     (pd$lag_newlines[seq_x] > 0) |
     (pd$token[seq_x] == "COMMENT")
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ set_line_break_after_opening_if_call_is_multi_line <-
 set_line_break_before_closing_call <- function(pd, except_token_before) {
   if (!is_function_call(pd)) return(pd)
   npd <- nrow(pd)
-  is_multi_line <- any(pd$lag_newlines[seq2(3, npd - 1)] > 0)
+  is_multi_line <- any(pd$lag_newlines[seq2(3L, npd - 1L)] > 0)
   if (!is_multi_line) {
     exception <- which(pd$token_before %in% except_token_before)
     pd$lag_newlines[setdiff(npd, exception)] <- 0L
diff --git a/R/rules-other.R b/R/rules-other.R
index 754849960..af9271d6c 100644
--- a/R/rules-other.R
+++ b/R/rules-other.R
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ add_brackets_in_pipe <- function(pd) {
              col1 = pd$col1[has_no_brackets] + c(0.3, 0.6),
              col2 = col1 + 1:2,
              indent = rep(0, 2),
+             id = rep(NA, 2),
+             pos_id = pd$pos_id[has_no_brackets] + c(0.3, 0.6),
              child = rep(list(NULL), 2)
          )
   pd <- bind_rows(pd, new)
diff --git a/R/rules-spacing.R b/R/rules-spacing.R
index db7c5f195..099155c18 100644
--- a/R/rules-spacing.R
+++ b/R/rules-spacing.R
@@ -166,7 +166,6 @@ start_comments_with_space <- function(pd, force_one = FALSE) {
     ) %>%
     trimws("right")
   pd$short[comment_pos] <- substr(pd$text[comment_pos], 1, 5)
-
   pd
 }
 
diff --git a/R/styler.R b/R/styler.R
index 881cb6dd0..040ef4c59 100644
--- a/R/styler.R
+++ b/R/styler.R
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ if (getRversion() >= "2.15.1") {
     "terminal", "text", "short",
     "spaces", "lag_spaces",
     "newlines", "lag_newlines",
+    "pos_id",
     NULL
   ))
 }
diff --git a/R/unindent.R b/R/unindent.R
index e5e59dd9f..8779cd609 100644
--- a/R/unindent.R
+++ b/R/unindent.R
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ set_unindention_child <- function(pd, token = "')'", unindent_by) {
                           unindent_by = abs(pd$indent[closing] - pd$indent[closing-1]))
 
   bind_rows(candidates, non_candidates) %>%
-    arrange(line1, col1)
+    arrange(pos_id)
 }
 
 #' Unindent a child
diff --git a/man/compute_parse_data_nested.Rd b/man/compute_parse_data_nested.Rd
index 79e738b14..8c09f9bca 100644
--- a/man/compute_parse_data_nested.Rd
+++ b/man/compute_parse_data_nested.Rd
@@ -10,9 +10,8 @@ compute_parse_data_nested(text)
 \item{text}{A character vector to parse.}
 }
 \value{
-A nested parse table. Apart from the columns provided by
-\code{utils::getParseData()}, a column "short" with the first five characters of
-"text" is added, the nested subtibbles are in column "child".
+A nested parse table. See \code{\link[=tokenize]{tokenize()}} for details on the columns
+of the parse table.
 }
 \description{
 Parses \code{text} to a flat parse table and subsequently changes its
diff --git a/man/tokenize.Rd b/man/tokenize.Rd
index 626a3b5fe..f6ae882e2 100644
--- a/man/tokenize.Rd
+++ b/man/tokenize.Rd
@@ -15,3 +15,16 @@ A flat parse table
 \description{
 \code{\link[utils:getParseData]{utils::getParseData()}} is used to obtain a flat parse table from \code{text}.
 }
+\details{
+Apart from the columns provided by \code{utils::getParseData()}, the following
+columns are added:
+\itemize{
+\item A column "short" with the first five characters of "text".
+\itemize{
+\item A column "pos_id" for (positional id) which can be used for sorting
+(because "id" cannot be used in general). Note that the nth value of this
+column corresponds to n as long as no tokens are inserted.
+\item A column "child" that contains the nested subtibbles.
+}
+}
+}