more conversion of code, still not running test suite at all

41 files changed, 426 insertions, 375 deletions

diff --git a/generic/tclAlloc.c b/generic/tclAlloc.c
index ae61e85..73c9196 100644
--- a/generic/tclAlloc.c
+++ b/generic/tclAlloc.c
@@ -694,7 +694,7 @@ mstats(
 
 char *
 TclpAlloc(
-    unsigned int numBytes)	/* Number of bytes to allocate. */
+    size_t numBytes)		/* Number of bytes to allocate. */
 {
     return (char *) malloc(numBytes);
 }
@@ -742,7 +742,7 @@ TclpFree(
 char *
 TclpRealloc(
     char *oldPtr,		/* Pointer to alloced block. */
-    unsigned int numBytes)	/* New size of memory. */
+    size_t numBytes)		/* New size of memory. */
 {
     return (char *) realloc(oldPtr, numBytes);
 }
diff --git a/generic/tclAssembly.c b/generic/tclAssembly.c
index 6cb1bb3..779c33c 100644
--- a/generic/tclAssembly.c
+++ b/generic/tclAssembly.c
@@ -3474,7 +3474,8 @@ StackCheckBasicBlock(
 	    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(
 		    "code pops stack below level of enclosing catch",
 		    TCL_STRLEN));
-	    Tcl_SetErrorCode(interp, "TCL", "ASSEM", "BADSTACKINCATCH", -1);
+	    Tcl_SetErrorCode(interp, "TCL", "ASSEM", "BADSTACKINCATCH",
+		    NULL);
 	    AddBasicBlockRangeToErrorInfo(assemEnvPtr, blockPtr);
 	    Tcl_SetErrorLine(interp, blockPtr->startLine);
 	}
diff --git a/generic/tclBasic.c b/generic/tclBasic.c
index 5ad2d9c..0077ec5 100644
--- a/generic/tclBasic.c
+++ b/generic/tclBasic.c
@@ -2610,11 +2610,11 @@ TclRenameCommand(
      */
 
     Tcl_DStringInit(&newFullName);
-    Tcl_DStringAppend(&newFullName, newNsPtr->fullName, -1);
+    Tcl_DStringAppend(&newFullName, newNsPtr->fullName, TCL_STRLEN);
     if (newNsPtr != iPtr->globalNsPtr) {
 	TclDStringAppendLiteral(&newFullName, "::");
     }
-    Tcl_DStringAppend(&newFullName, newTail, -1);
+    Tcl_DStringAppend(&newFullName, newTail, TCL_STRLEN);
     cmdPtr->refCount++;
     CallCommandTraces(iPtr, cmdPtr, Tcl_GetString(oldFullName),
 	    Tcl_DStringValue(&newFullName), TCL_TRACE_RENAME);
@@ -2903,14 +2903,14 @@ Tcl_GetCommandFullName(
 
     if (cmdPtr != NULL) {
 	if (cmdPtr->nsPtr != NULL) {
-	    Tcl_AppendToObj(objPtr, cmdPtr->nsPtr->fullName, -1);
+	    Tcl_AppendToObj(objPtr, cmdPtr->nsPtr->fullName, TCL_STRLEN);
 	    if (cmdPtr->nsPtr != iPtr->globalNsPtr) {
 		Tcl_AppendToObj(objPtr, "::", 2);
 	    }
 	}
 	if (cmdPtr->hPtr != NULL) {
 	    name = Tcl_GetHashKey(cmdPtr->hPtr->tablePtr, cmdPtr->hPtr);
-	    Tcl_AppendToObj(objPtr, name, -1);
+	    Tcl_AppendToObj(objPtr, name, TCL_STRLEN);
 	}
     }
 }
@@ -3471,7 +3471,7 @@ Tcl_CreateMathFunc(
 
     Tcl_DStringInit(&bigName);
     TclDStringAppendLiteral(&bigName, "::tcl::mathfunc::");
-    Tcl_DStringAppend(&bigName, name, -1);
+    Tcl_DStringAppend(&bigName, name, TCL_STRLEN);
 
     Tcl_CreateObjCommand(interp, Tcl_DStringValue(&bigName),
 	    OldMathFuncProc, data, OldMathFuncDeleteProc);
@@ -3687,7 +3687,7 @@ Tcl_GetMathFuncInfo(
      */
 
     TclNewLiteralStringObj(cmdNameObj, "tcl::mathfunc::");
-    Tcl_AppendToObj(cmdNameObj, name, -1);
+    Tcl_AppendToObj(cmdNameObj, name, TCL_STRLEN);
     Tcl_IncrRefCount(cmdNameObj);
     cmdPtr = (Command *) Tcl_GetCommandFromObj(interp, cmdNameObj);
     Tcl_DecrRefCount(cmdNameObj);
@@ -5830,7 +5830,7 @@ Tcl_Eval(
 				 * previous call to Tcl_CreateInterp). */
     const char *script)		/* Pointer to TCL command to execute. */
 {
-    int code = Tcl_EvalEx(interp, script, -1, 0);
+    int code = Tcl_EvalEx(interp, script, TCL_STRLEN, 0);
 
     /*
      * For backwards compatibility with old C code that predates the object
@@ -6794,7 +6794,7 @@ Tcl_AddErrorInfo(
 				 * pertains. */
     const char *message)	/* Message to record. */
 {
-    Tcl_AddObjErrorInfo(interp, message, -1);
+    Tcl_AddObjErrorInfo(interp, message, TCL_STRLEN);
 }
 
 /*
@@ -6824,8 +6824,9 @@ Tcl_AddObjErrorInfo(
 				 * pertains. */
     const char *message,	/* Points to the first byte of an array of
 				 * bytes of the message. */
-    size_t length)		/* The number of bytes in the message. If < 0,
-				 * then append all bytes up to a NULL byte. */
+    size_t length)		/* The number of bytes in the message. If
+				 * TCL_STRLEN, then append all bytes up to a
+				 * NULL byte. */
 {
     register Interp *iPtr = (Interp *) interp;
 
@@ -6908,7 +6909,7 @@ Tcl_VarEvalVA(
 	if (string == NULL) {
 	    break;
 	}
-	Tcl_DStringAppend(&buf, string, -1);
+	Tcl_DStringAppend(&buf, string, TCL_STRLEN);
     }
 
     result = Tcl_Eval(interp, Tcl_DStringValue(&buf));
@@ -8975,10 +8976,10 @@ TclNRCoroutineObjCmd(
 
     Tcl_DStringInit(&ds);
     if (nsPtr != iPtr->globalNsPtr) {
-	Tcl_DStringAppend(&ds, nsPtr->fullName, -1);
+	Tcl_DStringAppend(&ds, nsPtr->fullName, TCL_STRLEN);
 	TclDStringAppendLiteral(&ds, "::");
     }
-    Tcl_DStringAppend(&ds, procName, -1);
+    Tcl_DStringAppend(&ds, procName, TCL_STRLEN);
 
     cmdPtr = (Command *) Tcl_NRCreateCommand(interp, Tcl_DStringValue(&ds),
 	    /*objProc*/ NULL, TclNRInterpCoroutine, corPtr, DeleteCoroutine);
diff --git a/generic/tclCkalloc.c b/generic/tclCkalloc.c
index a43c344..2c8536f 100644
--- a/generic/tclCkalloc.c
+++ b/generic/tclCkalloc.c
@@ -132,9 +132,9 @@ static int ckallocInit = 0;
  */
 
 static int		CheckmemCmd(ClientData clientData, Tcl_Interp *interp,
-			    int argc, const char *argv[]);
+			    size_t argc, const char *argv[]);
 static int		MemoryCmd(ClientData clientData, Tcl_Interp *interp,
-			    int argc, const char *argv[]);
+			    size_t argc, const char *argv[]);
 static void		ValidateMemory(struct mem_header *memHeaderP,
 			    const char *file, int line, int nukeGuards);
 
@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ TclDumpMemoryInfo(
 	fprintf((FILE *)clientData, "%s", buf);
     } else {
 	/* Assume objPtr to append to */
-	Tcl_AppendToObj((Tcl_Obj *) clientData, buf, -1);
+	Tcl_AppendToObj((Tcl_Obj *) clientData, buf, TCL_STRLEN);
     }
     return 1;
 }
@@ -390,7 +390,7 @@ Tcl_DumpActiveMemory(
 
 char *
 Tcl_DbCkalloc(
-    unsigned int size,
+    size_t size,
     const char *file,
     int line)
 {
@@ -408,7 +408,7 @@ Tcl_DbCkalloc(
     if (result == NULL) {
 	fflush(stdout);
 	TclDumpMemoryInfo((ClientData) stderr, 0);
-	Tcl_Panic("unable to alloc %u bytes, %s line %d", size, file, line);
+	Tcl_Panic("unable to alloc %lu bytes, %s line %d", size, file, line);
     }
 
     /*
@@ -454,7 +454,7 @@ Tcl_DbCkalloc(
     }
 
     if (alloc_tracing) {
-	fprintf(stderr,"ckalloc %lx %u %s %d\n",
+	fprintf(stderr,"ckalloc %lx %lu %s %d\n",
 		(long unsigned int) result->body, size, file, line);
     }
 
@@ -480,7 +480,7 @@ Tcl_DbCkalloc(
 
 char *
 Tcl_AttemptDbCkalloc(
-    unsigned int size,
+    size_t size,
     const char *file,
     int line)
 {
@@ -543,7 +543,7 @@ Tcl_AttemptDbCkalloc(
     }
 
     if (alloc_tracing) {
-	fprintf(stderr,"ckalloc %lx %u %s %d\n",
+	fprintf(stderr,"ckalloc %lx %lu %s %d\n",
 		(long unsigned int) result->body, size, file, line);
     }
 
@@ -666,7 +666,7 @@ Tcl_DbCkfree(
 char *
 Tcl_DbCkrealloc(
     char *ptr,
-    unsigned int size,
+    size_t size,
     const char *file,
     int line)
 {
@@ -697,7 +697,7 @@ Tcl_DbCkrealloc(
 char *
 Tcl_AttemptDbCkrealloc(
     char *ptr,
-    unsigned int size,
+    size_t size,
     const char *file,
     int line)
 {
@@ -748,14 +748,14 @@ Tcl_AttemptDbCkrealloc(
 
 char *
 Tcl_Alloc(
-    unsigned int size)
+    size_t size)
 {
     return Tcl_DbCkalloc(size, "unknown", 0);
 }
 
 char *
 Tcl_AttemptAlloc(
-    unsigned int size)
+    size_t size)
 {
     return Tcl_AttemptDbCkalloc(size, "unknown", 0);
 }
@@ -770,14 +770,15 @@ Tcl_Free(
 char *
 Tcl_Realloc(
     char *ptr,
-    unsigned int size)
+    size_t size)
 {
     return Tcl_DbCkrealloc(ptr, size, "unknown", 0);
 }
+
 char *
 Tcl_AttemptRealloc(
     char *ptr,
-    unsigned int size)
+    size_t size)
 {
     return Tcl_AttemptDbCkrealloc(ptr, size, "unknown", 0);
 }
@@ -809,7 +810,7 @@ static int
 MemoryCmd(
     ClientData clientData,
     Tcl_Interp *interp,
-    int argc,
+    size_t argc,
     const char *argv[])
 {
     const char *fileName;
@@ -986,7 +987,7 @@ static int
 CheckmemCmd(
     ClientData clientData,	/* Not used. */
     Tcl_Interp *interp,		/* Interpreter for evaluation. */
-    int argc,			/* Number of arguments. */
+    size_t argc,		/* Number of arguments. */
     const char *argv[])		/* String values of arguments. */
 {
     if (argc != 2) {
diff --git a/generic/tclCmdAH.c b/generic/tclCmdAH.c
index bbe7914..879d96e 100644
--- a/generic/tclCmdAH.c
+++ b/generic/tclCmdAH.c
@@ -922,9 +922,11 @@ TclMakeFileCommandSafe(
 	    const char *oldName, *newName;
 
 	    Tcl_DStringSetLength(&oldBuf, 13);
-	    oldName = Tcl_DStringAppend(&oldBuf, unsafeInfo[i].cmdName, -1);
+	    oldName = Tcl_DStringAppend(&oldBuf, unsafeInfo[i].cmdName,
+		    TCL_STRLEN);
 	    Tcl_DStringSetLength(&newBuf, 9);
-	    newName = Tcl_DStringAppend(&newBuf, unsafeInfo[i].cmdName, -1);
+	    newName = Tcl_DStringAppend(&newBuf, unsafeInfo[i].cmdName,
+		    TCL_STRLEN);
 	    if (TclRenameCommand(interp, oldName, "___tmp") != TCL_OK
 		    || Tcl_HideCommand(interp, "___tmp", newName) != TCL_OK) {
 		Tcl_Panic("problem making 'file %s' safe: %s",
diff --git a/generic/tclCmdMZ.c b/generic/tclCmdMZ.c
index 760b8be..bbe36a4 100644
--- a/generic/tclCmdMZ.c
+++ b/generic/tclCmdMZ.c
@@ -2997,7 +2997,7 @@ StringLowerCmd(
 	length2 = Tcl_UtfToLower(string2);
 	Tcl_SetObjLength(resultPtr, length2 + (start - string1));
 
-	Tcl_AppendToObj(resultPtr, end, -1);
+	Tcl_AppendToObj(resultPtr, end, TCL_STRLEN);
 	Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, resultPtr);
     }
 
@@ -3082,7 +3082,7 @@ StringUpperCmd(
 	length2 = Tcl_UtfToUpper(string2);
 	Tcl_SetObjLength(resultPtr, length2 + (start - string1));
 
-	Tcl_AppendToObj(resultPtr, end, -1);
+	Tcl_AppendToObj(resultPtr, end, TCL_STRLEN);
 	Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, resultPtr);
     }
 
@@ -3167,7 +3167,7 @@ StringTitleCmd(
 	length2 = Tcl_UtfToTitle(string2);
 	Tcl_SetObjLength(resultPtr, length2 + (start - string1));
 
-	Tcl_AppendToObj(resultPtr, end, -1);
+	Tcl_AppendToObj(resultPtr, end, TCL_STRLEN);
 	Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, resultPtr);
     }
 
@@ -3686,7 +3686,7 @@ TclNRSwitchObjCmd(
 		    Tcl_AppendToObj(Tcl_GetObjResult(interp),
 			    ", this may be due to a comment incorrectly"
 			    " placed outside of a switch body - see the"
-			    " \"switch\" documentation", -1);
+			    " \"switch\" documentation", TCL_STRLEN);
 		    Tcl_SetErrorCode(interp, "TCL", "OPERATION", "SWITCH",
 			    "BADARM", "COMMENT?", NULL);
 		    break;
diff --git a/generic/tclCompCmds.c b/generic/tclCompCmds.c
index 90347b2..dcd22ec 100644
--- a/generic/tclCompCmds.c
+++ b/generic/tclCompCmds.c
@@ -2196,7 +2196,7 @@ PrintDictUpdateInfo(
 
     for (i=0 ; i<duiPtr->length ; i++) {
 	if (i) {
-	    Tcl_AppendToObj(appendObj, ", ", -1);
+	    Tcl_AppendToObj(appendObj, ", ", TCL_STRLEN);
 	}
 	Tcl_AppendPrintfToObj(appendObj, "%%v%u", duiPtr->varIndices[i]);
     }
diff --git a/generic/tclCompCmdsSZ.c b/generic/tclCompCmdsSZ.c
index 3747c0c..1fd5ba8 100644
--- a/generic/tclCompCmdsSZ.c
+++ b/generic/tclCompCmdsSZ.c
@@ -1883,9 +1883,9 @@ PrintJumptableInfo(
 	offset = PTR2INT(Tcl_GetHashValue(hPtr));
 
 	if (i++) {
-	    Tcl_AppendToObj(appendObj, ", ", -1);
+	    Tcl_AppendToObj(appendObj, ", ", TCL_STRLEN);
 	    if (i%4==0) {
-		Tcl_AppendToObj(appendObj, "\n\t\t", -1);
+		Tcl_AppendToObj(appendObj, "\n\t\t", TCL_STRLEN);
 	    }
 	}
 	Tcl_AppendPrintfToObj(appendObj, "\"%s\"->pc %d",
diff --git a/generic/tclCompExpr.c b/generic/tclCompExpr.c
index 17d7d8b..6e90bb6 100644
--- a/generic/tclCompExpr.c
+++ b/generic/tclCompExpr.c
@@ -762,14 +762,16 @@ ParseExpr(
 			    switch (start[1]) {
 			    case 'b':
 				Tcl_AppendToObj(post,
-					" (invalid binary number?)", -1);
+					" (invalid binary number?)",
+					TCL_STRLEN);
 				parsePtr->errorType = TCL_PARSE_BAD_NUMBER;
 				errCode = "BADNUMBER";
 				subErrCode = "BINARY";
 				break;
 			    case 'o':
 				Tcl_AppendToObj(post,
-					" (invalid octal number?)", -1);
+					" (invalid octal number?)",
+					TCL_STRLEN);
 				parsePtr->errorType = TCL_PARSE_BAD_NUMBER;
 				errCode = "BADNUMBER";
 				subErrCode = "OCTAL";
@@ -777,7 +779,8 @@ ParseExpr(
 			    default:
 				if (isdigit(UCHAR(start[1]))) {
 				    Tcl_AppendToObj(post,
-					    " (invalid octal number?)", -1);
+					    " (invalid octal number?)",
+					    TCL_STRLEN);
 				    parsePtr->errorType = TCL_PARSE_BAD_NUMBER;
 				    errCode = "BADNUMBER";
 				    subErrCode = "OCTAL";
@@ -1426,7 +1429,7 @@ ParseExpr(
 	 */
 
 	if (post != NULL) {
-	    Tcl_AppendToObj(msg, ";\n", -1);
+	    Tcl_AppendToObj(msg, ";\n", TCL_STRLEN);
 	    Tcl_AppendObjToObj(msg, post);
 	    Tcl_DecrRefCount(post);
 	}
diff --git a/generic/tclCompile.c b/generic/tclCompile.c
index a8304d0..a37883e 100644
--- a/generic/tclCompile.c
+++ b/generic/tclCompile.c
@@ -4084,7 +4084,7 @@ TclDisassembleByteCodeObj(
 	    "ByteCode 0x%s, refCt %u, epoch %u, interp 0x%s (epoch %u)\n",
 	    ptrBuf1, codePtr->refCount, codePtr->compileEpoch, ptrBuf2,
 	    iPtr->compileEpoch);
-    Tcl_AppendToObj(bufferObj, "  Source ", -1);
+    Tcl_AppendToObj(bufferObj, "  Source ", TCL_STRLEN);
     PrintSourceToObj(bufferObj, codePtr->source,
 	    TclMin(codePtr->numSrcBytes, 55));
     Tcl_AppendPrintfToObj(bufferObj,
@@ -4138,7 +4138,7 @@ TclDisassembleByteCodeObj(
 			(localPtr->flags & VAR_TEMPORARY) ? ", temp" : "",
 			(localPtr->flags & VAR_RESOLVED) ? ", resolved" : "");
 		if (TclIsVarTemporary(localPtr)) {
-		    Tcl_AppendToObj(bufferObj, "\n", -1);
+		    Tcl_AppendToObj(bufferObj, "\n", TCL_STRLEN);
 		} else {
 		    Tcl_AppendPrintfToObj(bufferObj, ", \"%s\"\n",
 			    localPtr->name);
@@ -4188,7 +4188,7 @@ TclDisassembleByteCodeObj(
     if (numCmds == 0) {
 	pc = codeStart;
 	while (pc < codeLimit) {
-	    Tcl_AppendToObj(bufferObj, "    ", -1);
+	    Tcl_AppendToObj(bufferObj, "    ", TCL_STRLEN);
 	    pc += FormatInstruction(codePtr, pc, bufferObj);
 	}
 	return bufferObj;
@@ -4250,7 +4250,7 @@ TclDisassembleByteCodeObj(
 		srcOffset, (srcOffset + srcLen - 1));
     }
     if (numCmds > 0) {
-	Tcl_AppendToObj(bufferObj, "\n", -1);
+	Tcl_AppendToObj(bufferObj, "\n", TCL_STRLEN);
     }
 
     /*
@@ -4299,14 +4299,14 @@ TclDisassembleByteCodeObj(
 	 */
 
 	while ((pc-codeStart) < codeOffset) {
-	    Tcl_AppendToObj(bufferObj, "    ", -1);
+	    Tcl_AppendToObj(bufferObj, "    ", TCL_STRLEN);
 	    pc += FormatInstruction(codePtr, pc, bufferObj);
 	}
 
 	Tcl_AppendPrintfToObj(bufferObj, "  Command %d: ", i+1);
 	PrintSourceToObj(bufferObj, (codePtr->source + srcOffset),
 		TclMin(srcLen, 55));
-	Tcl_AppendToObj(bufferObj, "\n", -1);
+	Tcl_AppendToObj(bufferObj, "\n", TCL_STRLEN);
     }
     if (pc < codeLimit) {
 	/*
@@ -4314,7 +4314,7 @@ TclDisassembleByteCodeObj(
 	 */
 
 	while (pc < codeLimit) {
-	    Tcl_AppendToObj(bufferObj, "    ", -1);
+	    Tcl_AppendToObj(bufferObj, "    ", TCL_STRLEN);
 	    pc += FormatInstruction(codePtr, pc, bufferObj);
 	}
     }
@@ -4438,7 +4438,7 @@ FormatInstruction(
 	const char *bytes;
 	size_t length;
 
-	Tcl_AppendToObj(bufferObj, "\t# ", -1);
+	Tcl_AppendToObj(bufferObj, "\t# ", TCL_STRLEN);
 	bytes = Tcl_GetStringFromObj(codePtr->objArrayPtr[opnd], &length);
 	PrintSourceToObj(bufferObj, bytes, TclMin(length, 40));
     } else if (suffixBuffer[0]) {
@@ -4447,12 +4447,12 @@ FormatInstruction(
 	    PrintSourceToObj(bufferObj, suffixSrc, 40);
 	}
     }
-    Tcl_AppendToObj(bufferObj, "\n", -1);
+    Tcl_AppendToObj(bufferObj, "\n", TCL_STRLEN);
     if (auxPtr && auxPtr->type->printProc) {
-	Tcl_AppendToObj(bufferObj, "\t\t[", -1);
+	Tcl_AppendToObj(bufferObj, "\t\t[", TCL_STRLEN);
 	auxPtr->type->printProc(auxPtr->clientData, bufferObj, codePtr,
 		pcOffset);
-	Tcl_AppendToObj(bufferObj, "]\n", -1);
+	Tcl_AppendToObj(bufferObj, "]\n", TCL_STRLEN);
     }
     return numBytes;
 }
@@ -4644,38 +4644,38 @@ PrintSourceToObj(
     register int i = 0;
 
     if (stringPtr == NULL) {
-	Tcl_AppendToObj(appendObj, "\"\"", -1);
+	Tcl_AppendToObj(appendObj, "\"\"", TCL_STRLEN);
 	return;
     }
 
-    Tcl_AppendToObj(appendObj, "\"", -1);
+    Tcl_AppendToObj(appendObj, "\"", TCL_STRLEN);
     p = stringPtr;
     for (;  (*p != '\0') && (i < maxChars);  p++, i++) {
 	switch (*p) {
 	case '"':
-	    Tcl_AppendToObj(appendObj, "\\\"", -1);
+	    Tcl_AppendToObj(appendObj, "\\\"", TCL_STRLEN);
 	    continue;
 	case '\f':
-	    Tcl_AppendToObj(appendObj, "\\f", -1);
+	    Tcl_AppendToObj(appendObj, "\\f", TCL_STRLEN);
 	    continue;
 	case '\n':
-	    Tcl_AppendToObj(appendObj, "\\n", -1);
+	    Tcl_AppendToObj(appendObj, "\\n", TCL_STRLEN);
 	    continue;
 	case '\r':
-	    Tcl_AppendToObj(appendObj, "\\r", -1);
+	    Tcl_AppendToObj(appendObj, "\\r", TCL_STRLEN);
 	    continue;
 	case '\t':
-	    Tcl_AppendToObj(appendObj, "\\t", -1);
+	    Tcl_AppendToObj(appendObj, "\\t", TCL_STRLEN);
 	    continue;
 	case '\v':
-	    Tcl_AppendToObj(appendObj, "\\v", -1);
+	    Tcl_AppendToObj(appendObj, "\\v", TCL_STRLEN);
 	    continue;
 	default:
 	    Tcl_AppendPrintfToObj(appendObj, "%c", *p);
 	    continue;
 	}
     }
-    Tcl_AppendToObj(appendObj, "\"", -1);
+    Tcl_AppendToObj(appendObj, "\"", TCL_STRLEN);
 }
 
 #ifdef TCL_COMPILE_STATS
diff --git a/generic/tclConfig.c b/generic/tclConfig.c
index da0601c..670807c 100644
--- a/generic/tclConfig.c
+++ b/generic/tclConfig.c
@@ -122,7 +122,8 @@ Tcl_RegisterConfig(
 	for (cfg=configuration ; cfg->key!=NULL && cfg->key[0]!='\0' ; cfg++) {
 	    Tcl_DString conv;
 	    const char *convValue =
-		    Tcl_ExternalToUtfDString(venc, cfg->value, -1, &conv);
+		    Tcl_ExternalToUtfDString(venc, cfg->value, TCL_STRLEN,
+			    &conv);
 
 	    /*
 	     * We know that the keys are in ASCII/UTF-8, so for them is no
@@ -155,7 +156,7 @@ Tcl_RegisterConfig(
 
     Tcl_DStringInit(&cmdName);
     TclDStringAppendLiteral(&cmdName, "::");
-    Tcl_DStringAppend(&cmdName, pkgName, -1);
+    Tcl_DStringAppend(&cmdName, pkgName, TCL_STRLEN);
 
     /*
      * The incomplete command name is the name of the namespace to place it
diff --git a/generic/tclDate.c b/generic/tclDate.c
index b3a3e0a..41aa516 100644
--- a/generic/tclDate.c
+++ b/generic/tclDate.c
@@ -2503,19 +2503,19 @@ TclDateerror(
     const char *s)
 {
     Tcl_Obj* t;
-    Tcl_AppendToObj(infoPtr->messages, infoPtr->separatrix, -1);
-    Tcl_AppendToObj(infoPtr->messages, s, -1);
-    Tcl_AppendToObj(infoPtr->messages, " (characters ", -1);
+    Tcl_AppendToObj(infoPtr->messages, infoPtr->separatrix, TCL_STRLEN);
+    Tcl_AppendToObj(infoPtr->messages, s, TCL_STRLEN);
+    Tcl_AppendToObj(infoPtr->messages, " (characters ", TCL_STRLEN);
     t = Tcl_NewIntObj(location->first_column);
     Tcl_IncrRefCount(t);
     Tcl_AppendObjToObj(infoPtr->messages, t);
     Tcl_DecrRefCount(t);
-    Tcl_AppendToObj(infoPtr->messages, "-", -1);
+    Tcl_AppendToObj(infoPtr->messages, "-", TCL_STRLEN);
     t = Tcl_NewIntObj(location->last_column);
     Tcl_IncrRefCount(t);
     Tcl_AppendObjToObj(infoPtr->messages, t);
     Tcl_DecrRefCount(t);
-    Tcl_AppendToObj(infoPtr->messages, ")", -1);
+    Tcl_AppendToObj(infoPtr->messages, ")", TCL_STRLEN);
     infoPtr->separatrix = "\n";
 }
 
diff --git a/generic/tclEnsemble.c b/generic/tclEnsemble.c
index 775d563..f86083a 100644
--- a/generic/tclEnsemble.c
+++ b/generic/tclEnsemble.c
@@ -1469,7 +1469,7 @@ TclMakeEnsemble(
     Tcl_DStringInit(&buf);
     Tcl_DStringInit(&hiddenBuf);
     TclDStringAppendLiteral(&hiddenBuf, "tcl:");
-    Tcl_DStringAppend(&hiddenBuf, name, -1);
+    Tcl_DStringAppend(&hiddenBuf, name, TCL_STRLEN);
     TclDStringAppendLiteral(&hiddenBuf, ":");
     hiddenLen = Tcl_DStringLength(&hiddenBuf);
     if (name[0] == ':' && name[1] == ':') {
@@ -1478,7 +1478,7 @@ TclMakeEnsemble(
 	 */
 
 	cmdName = name;
-	Tcl_DStringAppend(&buf, name, -1);
+	Tcl_DStringAppend(&buf, name, TCL_STRLEN);
 	ensembleFlags = TCL_ENSEMBLE_PREFIX;
     } else {
 	/*
@@ -1494,7 +1494,7 @@ TclMakeEnsemble(
 
 	for (i = 0; i < nameCount; ++i) {
 	    TclDStringAppendLiteral(&buf, "::");
-	    Tcl_DStringAppend(&buf, nameParts[i], -1);
+	    Tcl_DStringAppend(&buf, nameParts[i], TCL_STRLEN);
 	}
     }
 
@@ -1534,7 +1534,7 @@ TclMakeEnsemble(
 	    fromObj = Tcl_NewStringObj(map[i].name, TCL_STRLEN);
 	    TclNewStringObj(toObj, Tcl_DStringValue(&buf),
 		    Tcl_DStringLength(&buf));
-	    Tcl_AppendToObj(toObj, map[i].name, -1);
+	    Tcl_AppendToObj(toObj, map[i].name, TCL_STRLEN);
 	    Tcl_DictObjPut(NULL, mapDict, fromObj, toObj);
 
 	    if (map[i].proc || map[i].nreProc) {
@@ -1552,7 +1552,8 @@ TclMakeEnsemble(
 			    map[i].nreProc, map[i].clientData, NULL);
 		    Tcl_DStringSetLength(&hiddenBuf, hiddenLen);
 		    if (Tcl_HideCommand(interp, "___tmp",
-			    Tcl_DStringAppend(&hiddenBuf, map[i].name, -1))) {
+			    Tcl_DStringAppend(&hiddenBuf, map[i].name,
+				    TCL_STRLEN))) {
 			Tcl_Panic("%s", Tcl_GetString(Tcl_GetObjResult(interp)));
 		    }
 		} else {
@@ -1941,12 +1942,14 @@ NsEnsembleImplementationCmdNR(
 	    (ensemblePtr->flags & TCL_ENSEMBLE_PREFIX ? " or ambiguous" : ""),
 	    TclGetString(objv[1+ensemblePtr->numParameters]));
     if (ensemblePtr->subcommandTable.numEntries == 1) {
-	Tcl_AppendToObj(errorObj, ensemblePtr->subcommandArrayPtr[0], -1);
+	Tcl_AppendToObj(errorObj, ensemblePtr->subcommandArrayPtr[0],
+		TCL_STRLEN);
     } else {
 	size_t i;
 
 	for (i=0 ; i<ensemblePtr->subcommandTable.numEntries-1 ; i++) {
-	    Tcl_AppendToObj(errorObj, ensemblePtr->subcommandArrayPtr[i], -1);
+	    Tcl_AppendToObj(errorObj, ensemblePtr->subcommandArrayPtr[i],
+		    TCL_STRLEN);
 	    Tcl_AppendToObj(errorObj, ", ", 2);
 	}
 	Tcl_AppendPrintfToObj(errorObj, "or %s",
diff --git a/generic/tclEnv.c b/generic/tclEnv.c
index fbebf74..ea1a16f 100644
--- a/generic/tclEnv.c
+++ b/generic/tclEnv.c
@@ -106,7 +106,8 @@ TclSetupEnv(
     } else {
 	Tcl_MutexLock(&envMutex);
 	for (i = 0; environ[i] != NULL; i++) {
-	    p1 = Tcl_ExternalToUtfDString(NULL, environ[i], -1, &envString);
+	    p1 = Tcl_ExternalToUtfDString(NULL, environ[i], TCL_STRLEN,
+		    &envString);
 	    p2 = strchr(p1, '=');
 	    if (p2 == NULL) {
 		/*
@@ -207,7 +208,8 @@ TclSetEnv(
 	 * interpreters.
 	 */
 
-	env = Tcl_ExternalToUtfDString(NULL, environ[index], -1, &envString);
+	env = Tcl_ExternalToUtfDString(NULL, environ[index], TCL_STRLEN,
+		&envString);
 	if (strcmp(value, env + (length + 1)) == 0) {
 	    Tcl_DStringFree(&envString);
 	    Tcl_MutexUnlock(&envMutex);
@@ -230,7 +232,7 @@ TclSetEnv(
     memcpy(p, name, nameLength);
     p[nameLength] = '=';
     memcpy(p+nameLength+1, value, valueLength+1);
-    p2 = Tcl_UtfToExternalDString(NULL, p, -1, &envString);
+    p2 = Tcl_UtfToExternalDString(NULL, p, TCL_STRLEN, &envString);
 
     /*
      * Copy the native string to heap memory.
@@ -321,7 +323,8 @@ Tcl_PutEnv(
      * name and value parts, and call TclSetEnv to do all of the real work.
      */
 
-    name = Tcl_ExternalToUtfDString(NULL, assignment, -1, &nameString);
+    name = Tcl_ExternalToUtfDString(NULL, assignment, TCL_STRLEN,
+	    &nameString);
     value = strchr(name, '=');
 
     if ((value != NULL) && (value != name)) {
@@ -407,7 +410,7 @@ TclUnsetEnv(
     string[length] = '\0';
 #endif /* WIN32 */
 
-    Tcl_UtfToExternalDString(NULL, string, -1, &envString);
+    Tcl_UtfToExternalDString(NULL, string, TCL_STRLEN, &envString);
     string = ckrealloc(string, Tcl_DStringLength(&envString) + 1);
     memcpy(string, Tcl_DStringValue(&envString),
 	    (unsigned) Tcl_DStringLength(&envString)+1);
@@ -483,12 +486,13 @@ TclGetEnv(
     if (index != -1) {
 	Tcl_DString envStr;
 
-	result = Tcl_ExternalToUtfDString(NULL, environ[index], -1, &envStr);
+	result = Tcl_ExternalToUtfDString(NULL, environ[index], TCL_STRLEN,
+		&envStr);
 	result += length;
 	if (*result == '=') {
 	    result++;
 	    Tcl_DStringInit(valuePtr);
-	    Tcl_DStringAppend(valuePtr, result, -1);
+	    Tcl_DStringAppend(valuePtr, result, TCL_STRLEN);
 	    result = Tcl_DStringValue(valuePtr);
 	} else {
 	    result = NULL;
diff --git a/generic/tclEvent.c b/generic/tclEvent.c
index 7568a33..252c2af 100644
--- a/generic/tclEvent.c
+++ b/generic/tclEvent.c
@@ -464,17 +464,20 @@ TclDefaultBgErrorHandlerObjCmd(
 		    Tcl_RestoreInterpState(interp, saved);
 		    Tcl_WriteObj(errChannel, Tcl_GetVar2Ex(interp,
 			    "errorInfo", NULL, TCL_GLOBAL_ONLY));
-		    Tcl_WriteChars(errChannel, "\n", -1);
+		    Tcl_WriteChars(errChannel, "\n", TCL_STRLEN);
 		} else {
 		    Tcl_DiscardInterpState(saved);
 		    Tcl_WriteChars(errChannel,
-			    "bgerror failed to handle background error.\n",-1);
-		    Tcl_WriteChars(errChannel, "    Original error: ", -1);
+			    "bgerror failed to handle background error.\n",
+			    TCL_STRLEN);
+		    Tcl_WriteChars(errChannel, "    Original error: ",
+			    TCL_STRLEN);
 		    Tcl_WriteObj(errChannel, tempObjv[1]);
-		    Tcl_WriteChars(errChannel, "\n", -1);
-		    Tcl_WriteChars(errChannel, "    Error in bgerror: ", -1);
+		    Tcl_WriteChars(errChannel, "\n", TCL_STRLEN);
+		    Tcl_WriteChars(errChannel, "    Error in bgerror: ",
+			    TCL_STRLEN);
 		    Tcl_WriteObj(errChannel, resultPtr);
-		    Tcl_WriteChars(errChannel, "\n", -1);
+		    Tcl_WriteChars(errChannel, "\n", TCL_STRLEN);
 		}
 		Tcl_DecrRefCount(resultPtr);
 		Tcl_Flush(errChannel);
diff --git a/generic/tclExecute.c b/generic/tclExecute.c
index 300c97d..917622c 100644
--- a/generic/tclExecute.c
+++ b/generic/tclExecute.c
@@ -2906,7 +2906,7 @@ TEBCresume(
 	}
 
 	TclNewLiteralStringObj(objPtr, "::tcl::mathfunc::");
-	Tcl_AppendToObj(objPtr, tclBuiltinFuncTable[opnd].name, -1);
+	Tcl_AppendToObj(objPtr, tclBuiltinFuncTable[opnd].name, TCL_STRLEN);
 
 	/*
 	 * Only 0, 1 or 2 args.
diff --git a/generic/tclFileName.c b/generic/tclFileName.c
index 543c95e..ff04427 100644
--- a/generic/tclFileName.c
+++ b/generic/tclFileName.c
@@ -1394,7 +1394,7 @@ Tcl_GlobObjCmd(
 		 * in TclGlob requires a non-NULL pathOrDir.
 		 */
 
-		Tcl_DStringAppend(&pref, first, -1);
+		Tcl_DStringAppend(&pref, first, TCL_STRLEN);
 		globFlags &= ~TCL_GLOBMODE_TAILS;
 		pathOrDir = NULL;
 	    } else {
@@ -1433,7 +1433,7 @@ Tcl_GlobObjCmd(
 		}
 	    }
 	    if (*search != '\0') {
-		Tcl_DStringAppend(&prefix, search, -1);
+		Tcl_DStringAppend(&prefix, search, TCL_STRLEN);
 	    }
 	    Tcl_DStringFree(&pref);
 	}
@@ -1588,7 +1588,7 @@ Tcl_GlobObjCmd(
 	}
 	for (i = 0; i < objc; i++) {
 	    TclDStringAppendObj(&prefix, objv[i]);
-	    if (i != objc -1) {
+	    if (i != objc-1) {
 		Tcl_DStringAppend(&prefix, separators, 1);
 	    }
 	}
@@ -1642,7 +1642,8 @@ Tcl_GlobObjCmd(
 			    (join || (objc == 1)) ? "" : "s");
 
 	    if (join) {
-		Tcl_AppendToObj(errorMsg, Tcl_DStringValue(&prefix), -1);
+		Tcl_AppendToObj(errorMsg, Tcl_DStringValue(&prefix),
+			TCL_STRLEN);
 	    } else {
 		const char *sep = "";
 
@@ -1652,7 +1653,7 @@ Tcl_GlobObjCmd(
 		    sep = " ";
 		}
 	    }
-	    Tcl_AppendToObj(errorMsg, "\"", -1);
+	    Tcl_AppendToObj(errorMsg, "\"", TCL_STRLEN);
 	    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, errorMsg);
 	    Tcl_SetErrorCode(interp, "TCL", "OPERATION", "GLOB", "NOMATCH",
 		    NULL);
@@ -1776,7 +1777,7 @@ TclGlob(
 		return TCL_ERROR;
 	    }
 	    if (head != Tcl_DStringValue(&buffer)) {
-		Tcl_DStringAppend(&buffer, head, -1);
+		Tcl_DStringAppend(&buffer, head, TCL_STRLEN);
 	    }
 	    pathPrefix = TclDStringToObj(&buffer);
 	    Tcl_IncrRefCount(pathPrefix);
@@ -2262,7 +2263,7 @@ DoGlob(
 	    SkipToChar(&p, ',');
 	    Tcl_DStringSetLength(&newName, baseLength);
 	    Tcl_DStringAppend(&newName, element, p-element);
-	    Tcl_DStringAppend(&newName, closeBrace+1, -1);
+	    Tcl_DStringAppend(&newName, closeBrace+1, TCL_STRLEN);
 	    result = DoGlob(interp, matchesObj, separators, pathPtr, flags,
 		    Tcl_DStringValue(&newName), types);
 	    if (result != TCL_OK) {
diff --git a/generic/tclIO.c b/generic/tclIO.c
index 47d7c34..6c3b2e3 100644
--- a/generic/tclIO.c
+++ b/generic/tclIO.c
@@ -64,9 +64,10 @@ static int		CloseChannelPart(Tcl_Interp *interp, Channel *chanPtr,
 			    int errorCode, int flags);
 static int		CloseWrite(Tcl_Interp *interp, Channel *chanPtr);
 static void		CommonGetsCleanup(Channel *chanPtr);
-static int		CopyAndTranslateBuffer(ChannelState *statePtr,
-			    char *result, int space);
-static int		CopyBuffer(Channel *chanPtr, char *result, int space);
+static size_t		CopyAndTranslateBuffer(ChannelState *statePtr,
+			    char *result, size_t space);
+static size_t		CopyBuffer(Channel *chanPtr, char *result,
+			    size_t space);
 static int		CopyData(CopyState *csPtr, int mask);
 static void		CopyEventProc(ClientData clientData, int mask);
 static void		CreateScriptRecord(Tcl_Interp *interp,
@@ -404,11 +405,11 @@ TclFinalizeIOSubsystem(void)
     int active = 1;		/* Flag == 1 while there's still work to do */
     int doflushnb;
 
-    /* Fetch the pre-TIP#398 compatibility flag */ 
+    /* Fetch the pre-TIP#398 compatibility flag */
     {
         const char *s;
         Tcl_DString ds;
-        
+
         s = TclGetEnv("TCL_FLUSH_NONBLOCKING_ON_EXIT", &ds);
         doflushnb = ((s != NULL) && strcmp(s, "0"));
         if (s != NULL) {
@@ -437,7 +438,7 @@ TclFinalizeIOSubsystem(void)
                 continue;
             }
 	    if (!GotFlag(statePtr, CHANNEL_INCLOSE | CHANNEL_CLOSED )
-                || GotFlag(statePtr, BG_FLUSH_SCHEDULED)) {
+                    || GotFlag(statePtr, BG_FLUSH_SCHEDULED)) {
                 ResetFlag(statePtr, BG_FLUSH_SCHEDULED);
 		active = 1;
 		break;
@@ -449,20 +450,21 @@ TclFinalizeIOSubsystem(void)
 	 */
 
 	if (active) {
-
 	    /*
-	     * TIP #398:  by default, we no  longer set the  channel back into
-             * blocking  mode.  To  restore  the old  blocking  behavior,  the
-             * environment variable  TCL_FLUSH_NONBLOCKING_ON_EXIT must be set
+	     * TIP #398: by default, we no longer set the channel back into
+             * blocking mode.  To restore the old blocking behavior, the
+             * environment variable TCL_FLUSH_NONBLOCKING_ON_EXIT must be set
              * and not be "0".
 	     */
+
             if (doflushnb) {
-                    /* Set the channel back into blocking mode to ensure that we wait
-                     * for all data to flush out.
-                     */
-                
+		/*
+		 * Set the channel back into blocking mode to ensure that we
+		 * wait for all data to flush out.
+		 */
+
                 (void) Tcl_SetChannelOption(NULL, (Tcl_Channel) chanPtr,
-                                            "-blocking", "on");                    
+                        "-blocking", "on");
             }
 
 	    if ((chanPtr == (Channel *) tsdPtr->stdinChannel) ||
@@ -5749,7 +5751,8 @@ DoReadChars(
     ChannelState *statePtr = chanPtr->state;
 				/* State info for channel */
     ChannelBuffer *bufPtr;
-    size_t offset, copied, copiedNow, factor;
+    size_t offset, factor;
+    ssize_t copied, copiedNow;
     int result;
     Tcl_Encoding encoding;
 #define UTF_EXPANSION_FACTOR	1024
@@ -9237,7 +9240,7 @@ CopyData(
 
 	    if (inBinary || sameEncoding) {
 		size = DoRead(inStatePtr->topChanPtr, csPtr->buffer, sizeb,
-                              !GotFlag(inStatePtr, CHANNEL_NONBLOCKING));
+                        !GotFlag(inStatePtr, CHANNEL_NONBLOCKING));
 	    } else {
 		size = DoReadChars(inStatePtr->topChanPtr, bufObj, sizeb,
 			0 /* No append */);
@@ -9274,7 +9277,7 @@ CopyData(
 		break;
 	    }
 	    if (cmdPtr && (!Tcl_Eof(inChan) || (mask == 0)) &&
-                !(mask & TCL_READABLE)) {
+                    !(mask & TCL_READABLE)) {
 		if (mask & TCL_WRITABLE) {
 		    Tcl_DeleteChannelHandler(outChan, CopyEventProc, csPtr);
 		}
@@ -9555,19 +9558,19 @@ DoRead(
  *----------------------------------------------------------------------
  */
 
-static int
+static size_t
 CopyAndTranslateBuffer(
     ChannelState *statePtr,	/* Channel state from which to read input. */
     char *result,		/* Where to store the copied input. */
-    int space)			/* How many bytes are available in result to
+    size_t space)		/* How many bytes are available in result to
 				 * store the copied input? */
 {
     ChannelBuffer *bufPtr;	/* The buffer from which to copy bytes. */
-    int bytesInBuffer;		/* How many bytes are available to be copied
+    size_t bytesInBuffer;	/* How many bytes are available to be copied
 				 * in the current input buffer? */
-    int copied;			/* How many characters were already copied
+    size_t copied;		/* How many characters were already copied
 				 * into the destination space? */
-    int i;			/* Iterates over the copied input looking for
+    size_t i;			/* Iterates over the copied input looking for
 				 * the input eofChar. */
 
     /*
@@ -9780,17 +9783,17 @@ CopyAndTranslateBuffer(
  *----------------------------------------------------------------------
  */
 
-static int
+static size_t
 CopyBuffer(
     Channel *chanPtr,		/* Channel from which to read input. */
     char *result,		/* Where to store the copied input. */
-    int space)			/* How many bytes are available in result to
+    size_t space)		/* How many bytes are available in result to
 				 * store the copied input? */
 {
     ChannelBuffer *bufPtr;	/* The buffer from which to copy bytes. */
-    int bytesInBuffer;		/* How many bytes are available to be copied
+    size_t bytesInBuffer;	/* How many bytes are available to be copied
 				 * in the current input buffer? */
-    int copied;			/* How many characters were already copied
+    size_t copied;		/* How many characters were already copied
 				 * into the destination space? */
 
     /*
@@ -9824,7 +9827,7 @@ CopyBuffer(
 	space = bytesInBuffer;
     }
 
-    memcpy(result, RemovePoint(bufPtr), (size_t) space);
+    memcpy(result, RemovePoint(bufPtr), space);
     bufPtr->nextRemoved += space;
     copied = space;
 
@@ -9933,11 +9936,11 @@ DoWrite(
 	switch (statePtr->outputTranslation) {
 	case TCL_TRANSLATE_LF:
 	    srcCopied = destCopied;
-	    memcpy(destPtr, src, (size_t) destCopied);
+	    memcpy(destPtr, src, destCopied);
 	    break;
 	case TCL_TRANSLATE_CR:
 	    srcCopied = destCopied;
-	    memcpy(destPtr, src, (size_t) destCopied);
+	    memcpy(destPtr, src, destCopied);
 	    for (dPtr = destPtr; dPtr < destPtr + destCopied; dPtr++) {
 		if (*dPtr == '\n') {
 		    *dPtr = '\r';
diff --git a/generic/tclIOCmd.c b/generic/tclIOCmd.c
index 98909c6..a80c777 100644
--- a/generic/tclIOCmd.c
+++ b/generic/tclIOCmd.c
@@ -950,7 +950,7 @@ Tcl_ExecObjCmd(
 
     resultPtr = Tcl_NewObj();
     if (Tcl_GetChannelHandle(chan, TCL_READABLE, NULL) == TCL_OK) {
-	if (Tcl_ReadChars(chan, resultPtr, -1, 0) < 0) {
+	if (Tcl_ReadChars(chan, resultPtr, TCL_STRLEN, 0) < 0) {
 	    /*
 	     * TIP #219.
 	     * Capture error messages put by the driver into the bypass area
@@ -1094,7 +1094,7 @@ Tcl_OpenObjCmd(
 		Tcl_Obj *permObj;
 
 		TclNewLiteralStringObj(permObj, "0o");
-		Tcl_AppendToObj(permObj, permString+scanned+1, -1);
+		Tcl_AppendToObj(permObj, permString+scanned+1, TCL_STRLEN);
 		code = TclGetIntFromObj(NULL, permObj, &prot);
 		Tcl_DecrRefCount(permObj);
 	    }
diff --git a/generic/tclIOUtil.c b/generic/tclIOUtil.c
index e56b39e..51f8f7e 100644
--- a/generic/tclIOUtil.c
+++ b/generic/tclIOUtil.c
@@ -1790,7 +1790,7 @@ Tcl_FSEvalFileEx(
      * otherwise replace them. [Bug 3466099]
      */
 
-    if (Tcl_ReadChars(chan, objPtr, -1,
+    if (Tcl_ReadChars(chan, objPtr, TCL_STRLEN,
 	    memcmp(string, "\xef\xbb\xbf", 3)) < 0) {
 	Tcl_Close(interp, chan);
 	Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_ObjPrintf(
@@ -1925,7 +1925,7 @@ TclNREvalFile(
      * otherwise replace them. [Bug 3466099]
      */
 
-    if (Tcl_ReadChars(chan, objPtr, -1,
+    if (Tcl_ReadChars(chan, objPtr, TCL_STRLEN,
 	    memcmp(string, "\xef\xbb\xbf", 3)) < 0) {
 	Tcl_Close(interp, chan);
 	Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_ObjPrintf(
diff --git a/generic/tclIndexObj.c b/generic/tclIndexObj.c
index f5552f0..3265ca3 100644
--- a/generic/tclIndexObj.c
+++ b/generic/tclIndexObj.c
@@ -904,9 +904,9 @@ Tcl_WrongNumArgs(
     if (iPtr->flags & INTERP_ALTERNATE_WRONG_ARGS) {
 	iPtr->flags &= ~INTERP_ALTERNATE_WRONG_ARGS;
 	Tcl_AppendObjToObj(objPtr, Tcl_GetObjResult(interp));
-	Tcl_AppendToObj(objPtr, " or \"", -1);
+	Tcl_AppendToObj(objPtr, " or \"", TCL_STRLEN);
     } else {
-	Tcl_AppendToObj(objPtr, "wrong # args: should be \"", -1);
+	Tcl_AppendToObj(objPtr, "wrong # args: should be \"", TCL_STRLEN);
     }
 
     /*
diff --git a/generic/tclLoad.c b/generic/tclLoad.c
index f4fd32e..4b9f32c 100644
--- a/generic/tclLoad.c
+++ b/generic/tclLoad.c
@@ -223,9 +223,9 @@ Tcl_LoadObjCmd(
 	    namesMatch = 0;
 	} else {
 	    TclDStringClear(&pkgName);
-	    Tcl_DStringAppend(&pkgName, packageName, -1);
+	    Tcl_DStringAppend(&pkgName, packageName, TCL_STRLEN);
 	    TclDStringClear(&tmp);
-	    Tcl_DStringAppend(&tmp, pkgPtr->packageName, -1);
+	    Tcl_DStringAppend(&tmp, pkgPtr->packageName, TCL_STRLEN);
 	    Tcl_UtfToLower(Tcl_DStringValue(&pkgName));
 	    Tcl_UtfToLower(Tcl_DStringValue(&tmp));
 	    if (strcmp(Tcl_DStringValue(&tmp),
@@ -300,7 +300,7 @@ Tcl_LoadObjCmd(
 	 */
 
 	if (packageName != NULL) {
-	    Tcl_DStringAppend(&pkgName, packageName, -1);
+	    Tcl_DStringAppend(&pkgName, packageName, TCL_STRLEN);
 	} else {
 	    int retc;
 
@@ -647,9 +647,9 @@ Tcl_UnloadObjCmd(
 	    namesMatch = 0;
 	} else {
 	    TclDStringClear(&pkgName);
-	    Tcl_DStringAppend(&pkgName, packageName, -1);
+	    Tcl_DStringAppend(&pkgName, packageName, TCL_STRLEN);
 	    TclDStringClear(&tmp);
-	    Tcl_DStringAppend(&tmp, pkgPtr->packageName, -1);
+	    Tcl_DStringAppend(&tmp, pkgPtr->packageName, TCL_STRLEN);
 	    Tcl_UtfToLower(Tcl_DStringValue(&pkgName));
 	    Tcl_UtfToLower(Tcl_DStringValue(&tmp));
 	    if (strcmp(Tcl_DStringValue(&tmp),
diff --git a/generic/tclOO.c b/generic/tclOO.c
index d6b8706..2c6146c 100644
--- a/generic/tclOO.c
+++ b/generic/tclOO.c
@@ -359,14 +359,14 @@ InitFoundation(
     Tcl_DStringInit(&buffer);
     for (i=0 ; defineCmds[i].name ; i++) {
 	TclDStringAppendLiteral(&buffer, "::oo::define::");
-	Tcl_DStringAppend(&buffer, defineCmds[i].name, -1);
+	Tcl_DStringAppend(&buffer, defineCmds[i].name, TCL_STRLEN);
 	Tcl_CreateObjCommand(interp, Tcl_DStringValue(&buffer),
 		defineCmds[i].objProc, INT2PTR(defineCmds[i].flag), NULL);
 	Tcl_DStringFree(&buffer);
     }
     for (i=0 ; objdefCmds[i].name ; i++) {
 	TclDStringAppendLiteral(&buffer, "::oo::objdefine::");
-	Tcl_DStringAppend(&buffer, objdefCmds[i].name, -1);
+	Tcl_DStringAppend(&buffer, objdefCmds[i].name, TCL_STRLEN);
 	Tcl_CreateObjCommand(interp, Tcl_DStringValue(&buffer),
 		objdefCmds[i].objProc, INT2PTR(objdefCmds[i].flag), NULL);
 	Tcl_DStringFree(&buffer);
@@ -659,9 +659,9 @@ AllocObject(
 
 	Tcl_DStringInit(&buffer);
 	Tcl_DStringAppend(&buffer,
-		Tcl_GetCurrentNamespace(interp)->fullName, -1);
+		Tcl_GetCurrentNamespace(interp)->fullName, TCL_STRLEN);
 	TclDStringAppendLiteral(&buffer, "::");
-	Tcl_DStringAppend(&buffer, nameStr, -1);
+	Tcl_DStringAppend(&buffer, nameStr, TCL_STRLEN);
 	oPtr->command = Tcl_CreateObjCommand(interp,
 		Tcl_DStringValue(&buffer), PublicObjectCmd, oPtr, NULL);
 	Tcl_DStringFree(&buffer);
@@ -1868,8 +1868,8 @@ Tcl_CopyObjectInstance(
      */
 
     o2Ptr = (Object *) Tcl_NewObjectInstance(interp,
-	    (Tcl_Class) oPtr->selfCls, targetName, targetNamespaceName, -1,
-	    NULL, -1);
+	    (Tcl_Class) oPtr->selfCls, targetName, targetNamespaceName,
+	    TCL_STRLEN, NULL, TCL_STRLEN);
     if (o2Ptr == NULL) {
 	return NULL;
     }
diff --git a/generic/tclObj.c b/generic/tclObj.c
index 96e5820..c6ebf50 100644
--- a/generic/tclObj.c
+++ b/generic/tclObj.c
@@ -934,8 +934,8 @@ Tcl_AppendAllObjTypes(
     Tcl_MutexLock(&tableMutex);
     for (hPtr = Tcl_FirstHashEntry(&typeTable, &search);
 	    hPtr != NULL; hPtr = Tcl_NextHashEntry(&search)) {
-	Tcl_ListObjAppendElement(NULL, objPtr,
-		Tcl_NewStringObj(Tcl_GetHashKey(&typeTable, hPtr), -1));
+	Tcl_ListObjAppendElement(NULL, objPtr, Tcl_NewStringObj(
+                Tcl_GetHashKey(&typeTable, hPtr), TCL_STRLEN));
     }
     Tcl_MutexUnlock(&tableMutex);
     return TCL_OK;
@@ -1047,7 +1047,7 @@ TclDbDumpActiveObjects(
     tablePtr = tsdPtr->objThreadMap;
 
     if (tablePtr != NULL) {
-	fprintf(outFile, "total objects: %d\n", tablePtr->numEntries);
+	fprintf(outFile, "total objects: %lu\n", tablePtr->numEntries);
 	for (hPtr = Tcl_FirstHashEntry(tablePtr, &hSearch); hPtr != NULL;
 		hPtr = Tcl_NextHashEntry(&hSearch)) {
 	    ObjData *objData = Tcl_GetHashValue(hPtr);
@@ -1341,11 +1341,11 @@ TclFreeObj(
     /*
      * Invalidate the string rep first so we can use the bytes value for our
      * pointer chain, and signal an obj deletion (as opposed to shimmering)
-     * with 'length == -1'.
+     * with 'length == TCL_STRLEN'.
      */
 
     TclInvalidateStringRep(objPtr);
-    objPtr->length = -1;
+    objPtr->length = TCL_STRLEN;
 
     if (ObjDeletePending(context)) {
 	PushObjToDelete(context, objPtr);
@@ -1409,11 +1409,11 @@ TclFreeObj(
     /*
      * Invalidate the string rep first so we can use the bytes value for our
      * pointer chain, and signal an obj deletion (as opposed to shimmering)
-     * with 'length == -1'.
+     * with 'length == TCL_STRLEN'.
      */
 
     TclInvalidateStringRep(objPtr);
-    objPtr->length = -1;
+    objPtr->length = TCL_STRLEN;
 
     if (!objPtr->typePtr || !objPtr->typePtr->freeIntRepProc) {
 	/*
@@ -1515,7 +1515,7 @@ int
 TclObjBeingDeleted(
     Tcl_Obj *objPtr)
 {
-    return (objPtr->length == -1);
+    return (objPtr->length == TCL_STRLEN);
 }
 
 /*
@@ -1638,7 +1638,7 @@ Tcl_GetString(
 		objPtr->typePtr->name);
     }
     objPtr->typePtr->updateStringProc(objPtr);
-    if (objPtr->bytes == NULL || objPtr->length < 0
+    if (objPtr->bytes == NULL || objPtr->length == TCL_STRLEN
 	    || objPtr->bytes[objPtr->length] != '\0') {
 	Tcl_Panic("UpdateStringProc for type '%s' "
 		"failed to create a valid string rep", objPtr->typePtr->name);
@@ -1909,7 +1909,8 @@ Tcl_GetBooleanFromObj(
 	}
 #endif
     } while ((ParseBoolean(objPtr) == TCL_OK) || (TCL_OK ==
-	    TclParseNumber(interp, objPtr, "boolean value", NULL,-1,NULL,0)));
+	    TclParseNumber(interp, objPtr, "boolean value", NULL, TCL_STRLEN,
+                    NULL, 0)));
     return TCL_ERROR;
 }
 
@@ -1980,7 +1981,7 @@ SetBooleanFromAny(
 
 	TclNewLiteralStringObj(msg, "expected boolean value but got \"");
 	Tcl_AppendLimitedToObj(msg, str, length, 50, "");
-	Tcl_AppendToObj(msg, "\"", -1);
+	Tcl_AppendToObj(msg, "\"", TCL_STRLEN);
 	Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, msg);
 	Tcl_SetErrorCode(interp, "TCL", "VALUE", "BOOLEAN", NULL);
     }
@@ -2270,7 +2271,8 @@ Tcl_GetDoubleFromObj(
 	    if (TclIsNaN(objPtr->internalRep.doubleValue)) {
 		if (interp != NULL) {
 		    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(
-			    "floating point value is Not a Number", -1));
+			    "floating point value is Not a Number",
+                            TCL_STRLEN));
                     Tcl_SetErrorCode(interp, "TCL", "VALUE", "DOUBLE", "NAN",
                             NULL);
 		}
@@ -2325,8 +2327,8 @@ SetDoubleFromAny(
     Tcl_Interp *interp,		/* Used for error reporting if not NULL. */
     register Tcl_Obj *objPtr)	/* The object to convert. */
 {
-    return TclParseNumber(interp, objPtr, "floating-point number", NULL, -1,
-	    NULL, 0);
+    return TclParseNumber(interp, objPtr, "floating-point number", NULL,
+            TCL_STRLEN, NULL, 0);
 }
 
 /*
@@ -2355,7 +2357,7 @@ UpdateStringOfDouble(
     register Tcl_Obj *objPtr)	/* Double obj with string rep to update. */
 {
     char buffer[TCL_DOUBLE_SPACE];
-    register int len;
+    register size_t len;
 
     Tcl_PrintDouble(NULL, objPtr->internalRep.doubleValue, buffer);
     len = strlen(buffer);
@@ -2490,9 +2492,9 @@ Tcl_GetIntFromObj(
     }
     if ((ULONG_MAX > UINT_MAX) && ((l > UINT_MAX) || (l < -(long)UINT_MAX))) {
 	if (interp != NULL) {
-	    const char *s =
+	    static const char *s =
 		    "integer value too large to represent as non-long integer";
-	    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(s, -1));
+	    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(s, TCL_STRLEN));
 	    Tcl_SetErrorCode(interp, "ARITH", "IOVERFLOW", s, NULL);
 	}
 	return TCL_ERROR;
@@ -2552,7 +2554,7 @@ UpdateStringOfInt(
     register Tcl_Obj *objPtr)	/* Int object whose string rep to update. */
 {
     char buffer[TCL_INTEGER_SPACE];
-    register int len;
+    register size_t len;
 
     len = TclFormatInt(buffer, objPtr->internalRep.longValue);
 
@@ -2809,15 +2811,15 @@ Tcl_GetLongFromObj(
 	tooLarge:
 #endif
 	    if (interp != NULL) {
-		const char *s = "integer value too large to represent";
-		Tcl_Obj *msg = Tcl_NewStringObj(s, -1);
+		static const char *s = "integer value too large to represent";
+		Tcl_Obj *msg = Tcl_NewStringObj(s, TCL_STRLEN);
 
 		Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, msg);
 		Tcl_SetErrorCode(interp, "ARITH", "IOVERFLOW", s, NULL);
 	    }
 	    return TCL_ERROR;
 	}
-    } while (TclParseNumber(interp, objPtr, "integer", NULL, -1, NULL,
+    } while (TclParseNumber(interp, objPtr, "integer", NULL, TCL_STRLEN, NULL,
 	    TCL_PARSE_INTEGER_ONLY)==TCL_OK);
     return TCL_ERROR;
 }
@@ -2847,7 +2849,7 @@ UpdateStringOfWideInt(
     register Tcl_Obj *objPtr)	/* Int object whose string rep to update. */
 {
     char buffer[TCL_INTEGER_SPACE+2];
-    register unsigned len;
+    register size_t len;
     register Tcl_WideInt wideVal = objPtr->internalRep.wideValue;
 
     /*
@@ -3106,15 +3108,15 @@ Tcl_GetWideIntFromObj(
 		}
 	    }
 	    if (interp != NULL) {
-		const char *s = "integer value too large to represent";
-		Tcl_Obj *msg = Tcl_NewStringObj(s, -1);
+		static const char *s = "integer value too large to represent";
+		Tcl_Obj *msg = Tcl_NewStringObj(s, TCL_STRLEN);
 
 		Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, msg);
 		Tcl_SetErrorCode(interp, "ARITH", "IOVERFLOW", s, NULL);
 	    }
 	    return TCL_ERROR;
 	}
-    } while (TclParseNumber(interp, objPtr, "integer", NULL, -1, NULL,
+    } while (TclParseNumber(interp, objPtr, "integer", NULL, TCL_STRLEN, NULL,
 	    TCL_PARSE_INTEGER_ONLY)==TCL_OK);
     return TCL_ERROR;
 }
@@ -3408,7 +3410,7 @@ GetBignumFromObj(
 	    }
 	    return TCL_ERROR;
 	}
-    } while (TclParseNumber(interp, objPtr, "integer", NULL, -1, NULL,
+    } while (TclParseNumber(interp, objPtr, "integer", NULL, TCL_STRLEN, NULL,
 	    TCL_PARSE_INTEGER_ONLY)==TCL_OK);
     return TCL_ERROR;
 }
@@ -3660,8 +3662,8 @@ TclGetNumberFromObj(
 	    *clientDataPtr = bigPtr;
 	    return TCL_OK;
 	}
-    } while (TCL_OK ==
-	    TclParseNumber(interp, objPtr, "number", NULL, -1, NULL, 0));
+    } while (TCL_OK == TclParseNumber(interp, objPtr, "number", NULL,
+            TCL_STRLEN, NULL, 0));
     return TCL_ERROR;
 }
 
@@ -3967,7 +3969,7 @@ TclCompareObjKeys(
     Tcl_Obj *objPtr1 = keyPtr;
     Tcl_Obj *objPtr2 = (Tcl_Obj *) hPtr->key.oneWordValue;
     register const char *p1, *p2;
-    register int l1, l2;
+    register size_t l1, l2;
 
     /*
      * If the object pointers are the same then they match.
@@ -4497,12 +4499,12 @@ Tcl_RepresentationCmd(
     }
 
     if (objv[1]->bytes) {
-        Tcl_AppendToObj(descObj, ", string representation \"", -1);
+        Tcl_AppendToObj(descObj, ", string representation \"", TCL_STRLEN);
 	Tcl_AppendLimitedToObj(descObj, objv[1]->bytes, objv[1]->length,
                 16, "...");
-	Tcl_AppendToObj(descObj, "\"", -1);
+	Tcl_AppendToObj(descObj, "\"", TCL_STRLEN);
     } else {
-	Tcl_AppendToObj(descObj, ", no string representation", -1);
+	Tcl_AppendToObj(descObj, ", no string representation", TCL_STRLEN);
     }
 
     Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, descObj);
diff --git a/generic/tclParse.c b/generic/tclParse.c
index c505130..a06bec5 100644
--- a/generic/tclParse.c
+++ b/generic/tclParse.c
@@ -187,11 +187,14 @@ void
 TclParseInit(
     Tcl_Interp *interp,		/* Interpreter to use for error reporting */
     const char *start,		/* Start of string to be parsed. */
-    size_t numBytes,		/* Total number of bytes in string. If (size_t)-1,
-				 * the script consists of all bytes up to the
-				 * first null character. */
+    size_t numBytes,		/* Total number of bytes in string. If
+				 * TCL_STRLEN, the script consists of all
+				 * bytes up to the first null character. */
     Tcl_Parse *parsePtr)	/* Points to struct to initialize */
 {
+    if (numBytes == TCL_STRLEN) {
+	numBytes = strlen(start);
+    }
     parsePtr->numWords = 0;
     parsePtr->tokenPtr = parsePtr->staticTokens;
     parsePtr->numTokens = 0;
@@ -259,7 +262,7 @@ Tcl_ParseCommand(
     if ((start == NULL) && (numBytes != 0)) {
 	if (interp != NULL) {
 	    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(
-		    "can't parse a NULL pointer", -1));
+		    "can't parse a NULL pointer", TCL_STRLEN));
 	}
 	return TCL_ERROR;
     }
@@ -570,13 +573,13 @@ Tcl_ParseCommand(
 	if (src[-1] == '"') {
 	    if (interp != NULL) {
 		Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(
-			"extra characters after close-quote", -1));
+			"extra characters after close-quote", TCL_STRLEN));
 	    }
 	    parsePtr->errorType = TCL_PARSE_QUOTE_EXTRA;
 	} else {
 	    if (interp != NULL) {
 		Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(
-			"extra characters after close-brace", -1));
+			"extra characters after close-brace", TCL_STRLEN));
 	    }
 	    parsePtr->errorType = TCL_PARSE_BRACE_EXTRA;
 	}
@@ -1177,7 +1180,7 @@ ParseTokens(
 		if (numBytes == 0) {
 		    if (parsePtr->interp != NULL) {
 			Tcl_SetObjResult(parsePtr->interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(
-				"missing close-bracket", -1));
+				"missing close-bracket", TCL_STRLEN));
 		    }
 		    parsePtr->errorType = TCL_PARSE_MISSING_BRACKET;
 		    parsePtr->term = tokenPtr->start;
@@ -1413,7 +1416,7 @@ Tcl_ParseVarName(
 	if (numBytes == 0) {
 	    if (parsePtr->interp != NULL) {
 		Tcl_SetObjResult(parsePtr->interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(
-			"missing close-brace for variable name", -1));
+			"missing close-brace for variable name", TCL_STRLEN));
 	    }
 	    parsePtr->errorType = TCL_PARSE_MISSING_VAR_BRACE;
 	    parsePtr->term = tokenPtr->start-1;
@@ -1481,7 +1484,7 @@ Tcl_ParseVarName(
 	    if ((parsePtr->term == src+numBytes) || (*parsePtr->term != ')')){
 		if (parsePtr->interp != NULL) {
 		    Tcl_SetObjResult(parsePtr->interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(
-			    "missing )", -1));
+			    "missing )", TCL_STRLEN));
 		}
 		parsePtr->errorType = TCL_PARSE_MISSING_PAREN;
 		parsePtr->term = src;
@@ -1548,7 +1551,7 @@ Tcl_ParseVar(
     int code;
     Tcl_Parse *parsePtr = TclStackAlloc(interp, sizeof(Tcl_Parse));
 
-    if (Tcl_ParseVarName(interp, start, -1, parsePtr, 0) != TCL_OK) {
+    if (Tcl_ParseVarName(interp, start, TCL_STRLEN, parsePtr, 0) != TCL_OK) {
 	TclStackFree(interp, parsePtr);
 	return NULL;
     }
@@ -1758,7 +1761,7 @@ Tcl_ParseBraces(
     }
 
     Tcl_SetObjResult(parsePtr->interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(
-	    "missing close-brace", -1));
+	    "missing close-brace", TCL_STRLEN));
 
     /*
      * Guess if the problem is due to comments by searching the source string
@@ -1781,7 +1784,8 @@ Tcl_ParseBraces(
 	    case '#' :
 		if (openBrace && TclIsSpaceProc(src[-1])) {
 		    Tcl_AppendToObj(Tcl_GetObjResult(parsePtr->interp),
-			    ": possible unbalanced brace in comment", -1);
+			    ": possible unbalanced brace in comment",
+			    TCL_STRLEN);
 		    goto error;
 		}
 		break;
@@ -1861,7 +1865,7 @@ Tcl_ParseQuotedString(
     if (*parsePtr->term != '"') {
 	if (parsePtr->interp != NULL) {
 	    Tcl_SetObjResult(parsePtr->interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(
-		    "missing \"", -1));
+		    "missing \"", TCL_STRLEN));
 	}
 	parsePtr->errorType = TCL_PARSE_MISSING_QUOTE;
 	parsePtr->term = start;
diff --git a/generic/tclPathObj.c b/generic/tclPathObj.c
index 7b6a972..0935615 100644
--- a/generic/tclPathObj.c
+++ b/generic/tclPathObj.c
@@ -228,6 +228,7 @@ TclFSNormalizeAbsolutePath(
 
 		if (retVal == NULL) {
 		    const char *path = TclGetString(pathPtr);
+
 		    retVal = Tcl_NewStringObj(path, dirSep - path);
 		    Tcl_IncrRefCount(retVal);
 		}
@@ -705,7 +706,7 @@ TclPathPart(
 		return pathPtr;
 	    } else {
 		Tcl_Obj *root = Tcl_NewStringObj(fileName,
-			(int) (length - strlen(extension)));
+			length - strlen(extension));
 
 		Tcl_IncrRefCount(root);
 		return root;
@@ -782,7 +783,7 @@ GetExtension(
     if (extension == NULL) {
 	ret = Tcl_NewObj();
     } else {
-	ret = Tcl_NewStringObj(extension, -1);
+	ret = Tcl_NewStringObj(extension, TCL_STRLEN);
     }
     Tcl_IncrRefCount(ret);
     return ret;
@@ -1493,7 +1494,8 @@ MakePathFromNormalized(
 	    if (pathPtr->typePtr->updateStringProc == NULL) {
 		if (interp != NULL) {
 		    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(
-			    "can't find object string representation", -1));
+			    "can't find object string representation",
+			    TCL_STRLEN));
 		    Tcl_SetErrorCode(interp, "TCL", "VALUE", "PATH", "WTF",
 			    NULL);
 		}
@@ -2376,7 +2378,7 @@ SetFsPathFromAny(
 		if (interp) {
 		    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(
 			    "couldn't find HOME environment variable to"
-			    " expand path", -1));
+			    " expand path", TCL_STRLEN));
 		    Tcl_SetErrorCode(interp, "TCL", "VALUE", "PATH",
 			    "HOMELESS", NULL);
 		}
@@ -2446,7 +2448,7 @@ SetFsPathFromAny(
 		 */
 
 		Tcl_Obj *joined;
-		Tcl_Obj *rest = Tcl_NewStringObj(name+split+1, -1);
+		Tcl_Obj *rest = Tcl_NewStringObj(name+split+1, TCL_STRLEN);
 
 		Tcl_IncrRefCount(transPtr);
 		joined = Tcl_FSJoinToPath(transPtr, 1, &rest);
diff --git a/generic/tclPipe.c b/generic/tclPipe.c
index 7220569..b635a61 100644
--- a/generic/tclPipe.c
+++ b/generic/tclPipe.c
@@ -347,7 +347,8 @@ TclCleanupChildren(
 			    "child suspended: %s\n", p));
 		} else {
 		    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(
-			    "child wait status didn't make sense\n", -1));
+			    "child wait status didn't make sense\n",
+			    TCL_STRLEN));
 		    Tcl_SetErrorCode(interp, "TCL", "OPERATION", "EXEC",
 			    "ODDWAITRESULT", msg1, NULL);
 		}
@@ -372,7 +373,7 @@ TclCleanupChildren(
 
 	    Tcl_Seek(errorChan, (Tcl_WideInt)0, SEEK_SET);
 	    objPtr = Tcl_NewObj();
-	    count = Tcl_ReadChars(errorChan, objPtr, -1, 0);
+	    count = Tcl_ReadChars(errorChan, objPtr, TCL_STRLEN, 0);
 	    if (count < 0) {
 		result = TCL_ERROR;
 		Tcl_DecrRefCount(objPtr);
@@ -398,7 +399,7 @@ TclCleanupChildren(
 
     if ((abnormalExit != 0) && (anyErrorInfo == 0) && (interp != NULL)) {
 	Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(
-		"child process exited abnormally", -1));
+		"child process exited abnormally", TCL_STRLEN));
     }
     return result;
 }
@@ -549,7 +550,7 @@ TclCreatePipeline(
 	    if (*p == '\0') {
 		if ((i == (lastBar + 1)) || (i == (argc - 1))) {
 		    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(
-			    "illegal use of | or |& in command", -1));
+			    "illegal use of | or |& in command", TCL_STRLEN));
 		    Tcl_SetErrorCode(interp, "TCL", "OPERATION", "EXEC",
 			    "PIPESYNTAX", NULL);
 		    goto error;
@@ -731,7 +732,7 @@ TclCreatePipeline(
 	 */
 
 	Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(
-		"illegal use of | or |& in command", -1));
+		"illegal use of | or |& in command", TCL_STRLEN));
 	Tcl_SetErrorCode(interp, "TCL", "OPERATION", "EXEC", "PIPESYNTAX",
 		NULL);
 	goto error;
@@ -1084,7 +1085,7 @@ Tcl_OpenCommandChannel(
 	if ((flags & TCL_STDOUT) && (outPipe == NULL)) {
 	    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(
 		    "can't read output from command:"
-		    " standard output was redirected", -1));
+		    " standard output was redirected", TCL_STRLEN));
 	    Tcl_SetErrorCode(interp, "TCL", "OPERATION", "EXEC",
 		    "BADREDIRECT", NULL);
 	    goto error;
@@ -1092,7 +1093,7 @@ Tcl_OpenCommandChannel(
 	if ((flags & TCL_STDIN) && (inPipe == NULL)) {
 	    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(
 		    "can't write input to command:"
-		    " standard input was redirected", -1));
+		    " standard input was redirected", TCL_STRLEN));
 	    Tcl_SetErrorCode(interp, "TCL", "OPERATION", "EXEC",
 		    "BADREDIRECT", NULL);
 	    goto error;
@@ -1104,7 +1105,7 @@ Tcl_OpenCommandChannel(
 
     if (channel == NULL) {
 	Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(
-		"pipe for command could not be created", -1));
+		"pipe for command could not be created", TCL_STRLEN));
 	Tcl_SetErrorCode(interp, "TCL", "OPERATION", "EXEC", "NOPIPE", NULL);
 	goto error;
     }
diff --git a/generic/tclPkg.c b/generic/tclPkg.c
index baa1d5d..b7d12b6 100644
--- a/generic/tclPkg.c
+++ b/generic/tclPkg.c
@@ -303,7 +303,7 @@ Tcl_PkgRequireEx(
 		!= CheckVersionAndConvert(interp, version, NULL, NULL)) {
 	    return NULL;
 	}
-	ov = Tcl_NewStringObj(version, -1);
+	ov = Tcl_NewStringObj(version, TCL_STRLEN);
 	if (exact) {
 	    Tcl_AppendStringsToObj(ov, "-", version, NULL);
 	}
@@ -332,7 +332,7 @@ Tcl_PkgRequireProc(
     if (result == NULL) {
 	return TCL_ERROR;
     }
-    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(result, -1));
+    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(result, TCL_STRLEN));
     return TCL_OK;
 }
 
@@ -488,7 +488,7 @@ PkgRequireCore(
 	    pkgPtr->clientData = versionToProvide;
 	    Tcl_Preserve(script);
 	    Tcl_Preserve(versionToProvide);
-	    code = Tcl_EvalEx(interp, script, -1, TCL_EVAL_GLOBAL);
+	    code = Tcl_EvalEx(interp, script, TCL_STRLEN, TCL_EVAL_GLOBAL);
 	    Tcl_Release(script);
 
 	    pkgPtr = FindPackage(interp, name);
@@ -584,7 +584,7 @@ PkgRequireCore(
 	script = ((Interp *) interp)->packageUnknown;
 	if (script != NULL) {
 	    Tcl_DStringInit(&command);
-	    Tcl_DStringAppend(&command, script, -1);
+	    Tcl_DStringAppend(&command, script, TCL_STRLEN);
 	    Tcl_DStringAppendElement(&command, name);
 	    AddRequirementsToDString(&command, reqc, reqv);
 
@@ -856,7 +856,7 @@ Tcl_PackageObjCmd(
 		if (objc == 4) {
 		    ckfree(argv3i);
 		    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp,
-			    Tcl_NewStringObj(availPtr->script, -1));
+			    Tcl_NewStringObj(availPtr->script, TCL_STRLEN));
 		    return TCL_OK;
 		}
 		Tcl_EventuallyFree(availPtr->script, TCL_DYNAMIC);
@@ -898,7 +898,7 @@ Tcl_PackageObjCmd(
 		pkgPtr = Tcl_GetHashValue(hPtr);
 		if ((pkgPtr->version != NULL) || (pkgPtr->availPtr != NULL)) {
 		    Tcl_ListObjAppendElement(NULL,resultObj, Tcl_NewStringObj(
-			    Tcl_GetHashKey(tablePtr, hPtr), -1));
+			    Tcl_GetHashKey(tablePtr, hPtr), TCL_STRLEN));
 		}
 	    }
 	    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, resultObj);
@@ -962,7 +962,7 @@ Tcl_PackageObjCmd(
 		pkgPtr = Tcl_GetHashValue(hPtr);
 		if (pkgPtr->version != NULL) {
 		    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp,
-			    Tcl_NewStringObj(pkgPtr->version, -1));
+			    Tcl_NewStringObj(pkgPtr->version, TCL_STRLEN));
 		}
 	    }
 	    return TCL_OK;
@@ -1002,7 +1002,7 @@ Tcl_PackageObjCmd(
 	     * Create a new-style requirement for the exact version.
 	     */
 
-	    ov = Tcl_NewStringObj(version, -1);
+	    ov = Tcl_NewStringObj(version, TCL_STRLEN);
 	    Tcl_AppendStringsToObj(ov, "-", version, NULL);
 	    version = NULL;
 	    argv3 = TclGetString(objv[3]);
@@ -1025,7 +1025,7 @@ Tcl_PackageObjCmd(
 	if (objc == 2) {
 	    if (iPtr->packageUnknown != NULL) {
 		Tcl_SetObjResult(interp,
-			Tcl_NewStringObj(iPtr->packageUnknown, -1));
+			Tcl_NewStringObj(iPtr->packageUnknown, TCL_STRLEN));
 	    }
 	} else if (objc == 3) {
 	    if (iPtr->packageUnknown != NULL) {
@@ -1076,8 +1076,8 @@ Tcl_PackageObjCmd(
 	 * Always return current value.
 	 */
 
-	Tcl_SetObjResult(interp,
-		Tcl_NewStringObj(pkgPreferOptions[iPtr->packagePrefer], -1));
+	Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(
+		pkgPreferOptions[iPtr->packagePrefer], TCL_STRLEN));
 	break;
     }
     case PKG_VCOMPARE:
@@ -1123,7 +1123,7 @@ Tcl_PackageObjCmd(
 		for (availPtr = pkgPtr->availPtr; availPtr != NULL;
 			availPtr = availPtr->nextPtr) {
 		    Tcl_ListObjAppendElement(NULL, resultObj,
-			    Tcl_NewStringObj(availPtr->version, -1));
+			    Tcl_NewStringObj(availPtr->version, TCL_STRLEN));
 		}
 	    }
 	    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, resultObj);
diff --git a/generic/tclRegexp.c b/generic/tclRegexp.c
index 266fd82..1a2edc4 100644
--- a/generic/tclRegexp.c
+++ b/generic/tclRegexp.c
@@ -682,7 +682,7 @@ TclRegAbout(
     for (inf=infonames ; inf->bit != 0 ; inf++) {
 	if (regexpPtr->re.re_info & inf->bit) {
 	    Tcl_ListObjAppendElement(NULL, infoObj,
-		    Tcl_NewStringObj(inf->text, -1));
+		    Tcl_NewStringObj(inf->text, TCL_STRLEN));
 	}
     }
     Tcl_ListObjAppendElement(NULL, resultObj, infoObj);
diff --git a/generic/tclResult.c b/generic/tclResult.c
index d05dc6f..5aa6785 100644
--- a/generic/tclResult.c
+++ b/generic/tclResult.c
@@ -1027,7 +1027,8 @@ Tcl_SetErrorCodeVA(
 	if (elem == NULL) {
 	    break;
 	}
-	Tcl_ListObjAppendElement(NULL, errorObj, Tcl_NewStringObj(elem, -1));
+	Tcl_ListObjAppendElement(NULL, errorObj,
+                Tcl_NewStringObj(elem, TCL_STRLEN));
     }
     Tcl_SetObjErrorCode(interp, errorObj);
 }
@@ -1586,7 +1587,7 @@ Tcl_GetReturnOptions(
     }
 
     if (result == TCL_ERROR) {
-	Tcl_AddObjErrorInfo(interp, "", -1);
+	Tcl_AddObjErrorInfo(interp, "", TCL_STRLEN);
         Tcl_DictObjPut(NULL, options, keys[KEY_ERRORSTACK], iPtr->errorStack);
     }
     if (iPtr->errorCode) {
diff --git a/generic/tclScan.c b/generic/tclScan.c
index 59725b3..723c6b8 100644
--- a/generic/tclScan.c
+++ b/generic/tclScan.c
@@ -334,7 +334,7 @@ ValidateFormat(
 	mixedXPG:
 	    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(
 		    "cannot mix \"%\" and \"%n$\" conversion specifiers",
-		    -1));
+		    TCL_STRLEN));
 	    Tcl_SetErrorCode(interp, "TCL", "FORMAT", "MIXEDSPECTYPES", NULL);
 	    goto error;
 	}
@@ -381,7 +381,7 @@ ValidateFormat(
 	    if (flags & SCAN_WIDTH) {
 		Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(
 			"field width may not be specified in %c conversion",
-			-1));
+			TCL_STRLEN));
 		Tcl_SetErrorCode(interp, "TCL", "FORMAT", "BADWIDTH", NULL);
 		goto error;
 	    }
@@ -394,9 +394,10 @@ ValidateFormat(
 	    invalidFieldSize:
 		buf[Tcl_UniCharToUtf(ch, buf)] = '\0';
 		errorMsg = Tcl_NewStringObj(
-			"field size modifier may not be specified in %", -1);
-		Tcl_AppendToObj(errorMsg, buf, -1);
-		Tcl_AppendToObj(errorMsg, " conversion", -1);
+			"field size modifier may not be specified in %",
+			TCL_STRLEN);
+		Tcl_AppendToObj(errorMsg, buf, TCL_STRLEN);
+		Tcl_AppendToObj(errorMsg, " conversion", TCL_STRLEN);
 		Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, errorMsg);
 		Tcl_SetErrorCode(interp, "TCL", "FORMAT", "BADSIZE", NULL);
 		goto error;
@@ -416,7 +417,7 @@ ValidateFormat(
 	case 'u':
 	    if (flags & SCAN_BIG) {
 		Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(
-			"unsigned bignum scans are invalid", -1));
+			"unsigned bignum scans are invalid", TCL_STRLEN));
 		Tcl_SetErrorCode(interp, "TCL", "FORMAT", "BADUNSIGNED",NULL);
 		goto error;
 	    }
@@ -453,15 +454,15 @@ ValidateFormat(
 	    break;
 	badSet:
 	    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(
-		    "unmatched [ in format string", -1));
+		    "unmatched [ in format string", TCL_STRLEN));
 	    Tcl_SetErrorCode(interp, "TCL", "FORMAT", "BRACKET", NULL);
 	    goto error;
 	default:
 	    buf[Tcl_UniCharToUtf(ch, buf)] = '\0';
 	    errorMsg = Tcl_NewStringObj(
-		    "bad scan conversion character \"", -1);
-	    Tcl_AppendToObj(errorMsg, buf, -1);
-	    Tcl_AppendToObj(errorMsg, "\"", -1);
+		    "bad scan conversion character \"", TCL_STRLEN);
+	    Tcl_AppendToObj(errorMsg, buf, TCL_STRLEN);
+	    Tcl_AppendToObj(errorMsg, "\"", TCL_STRLEN);
 	    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, errorMsg);
 	    Tcl_SetErrorCode(interp, "TCL", "FORMAT", "BADTYPE", NULL);
 	    goto error;
@@ -509,7 +510,7 @@ ValidateFormat(
 	if (nassign[i] > 1) {
 	    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(
 		    "variable is assigned by multiple \"%n$\" conversion specifiers",
-		    -1));
+		    TCL_STRLEN));
 	    Tcl_SetErrorCode(interp, "TCL", "FORMAT", "POLYASSIGNED", NULL);
 	    goto error;
 	} else if (!xpgSize && (nassign[i] == 0)) {
@@ -520,7 +521,7 @@ ValidateFormat(
 
 	    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(
 		    "variable is not assigned by any conversion specifiers",
-		    -1));
+		    TCL_STRLEN));
 	    Tcl_SetErrorCode(interp, "TCL", "FORMAT", "UNASSIGNED", NULL);
 	    goto error;
 	}
@@ -532,12 +533,12 @@ ValidateFormat(
   badIndex:
     if (gotXpg) {
 	Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(
-		"\"%n$\" argument index out of range", -1));
+		"\"%n$\" argument index out of range", TCL_STRLEN));
 	Tcl_SetErrorCode(interp, "TCL", "FORMAT", "INDEXRANGE", NULL);
     } else {
 	Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(
 		"different numbers of variable names and field specifiers",
-		-1));
+		TCL_STRLEN));
 	Tcl_SetErrorCode(interp, "TCL", "FORMAT", "FIELDVARMISMATCH", NULL);
     }
 
@@ -926,7 +927,7 @@ Tcl_ScanObjCmd(
 		if ((flags & SCAN_UNSIGNED) && (wideValue < 0)) {
 		    sprintf(buf, "%" TCL_LL_MODIFIER "u",
 			    (Tcl_WideUInt)wideValue);
-		    Tcl_SetStringObj(objPtr, buf, -1);
+		    Tcl_SetStringObj(objPtr, buf, TCL_STRLEN);
 		} else {
 		    Tcl_SetWideIntObj(objPtr, wideValue);
 		}
@@ -940,7 +941,7 @@ Tcl_ScanObjCmd(
 		}
 		if ((flags & SCAN_UNSIGNED) && (value < 0)) {
 		    sprintf(buf, "%lu", value);	/* INTL: ISO digit */
-		    Tcl_SetStringObj(objPtr, buf, -1);
+		    Tcl_SetStringObj(objPtr, buf, TCL_STRLEN);
 		} else {
 		    Tcl_SetLongObj(objPtr, value);
 		}
diff --git a/generic/tclStrToD.c b/generic/tclStrToD.c
index 270012b..0cfccd2 100755
--- a/generic/tclStrToD.c
+++ b/generic/tclStrToD.c
@@ -383,9 +383,9 @@ static Tcl_WideUInt	Nokia770Twiddle(Tcl_WideUInt w);
  *	the first byte to be scanned. If bytes is NULL, then objPtr must be
  *	non-NULL, and the string representation of objPtr will be scanned
  *	(generated first, if necessary). The numBytes argument determines the
- *	number of bytes to be scanned. If numBytes is negative, the first NUL
- *	byte encountered will terminate the scan. If numBytes is non-negative,
- *	then no more than numBytes bytes will be scanned.
+ *	number of bytes to be scanned. If numBytes is TCL_STRLEN, the first
+ *	NUL byte encountered will terminate the scan. If numBytes is
+ *	non-negative, then no more than numBytes bytes will be scanned.
  *
  *	The argument flags is an input that controls the numeric formats
  *	recognized by the parser. The flag bits are:
@@ -1382,7 +1382,8 @@ TclParseNumber(
 	    Tcl_AppendLimitedToObj(msg, bytes, numBytes, 50, "");
 	    Tcl_AppendToObj(msg, "\"", TCL_STRLEN);
 	    if (state == BAD_OCTAL) {
-		Tcl_AppendToObj(msg, " (looks like invalid octal number)", -1);
+		Tcl_AppendToObj(msg, " (looks like invalid octal number)",
+			TCL_STRLEN);
 	    }
 	    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, msg);
 	    Tcl_SetErrorCode(interp, "TCL", "VALUE", "NUMBER", NULL);
@@ -4508,9 +4509,9 @@ Tcl_InitBignumFromDouble(
 
     if (TclIsInfinite(d)) {
 	if (interp != NULL) {
-	    const char *s = "integer value too large to represent";
+	    static const char *s = "integer value too large to represent";
 
-	    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(s, -1));
+	    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(s, TCL_STRLEN));
 	    Tcl_SetErrorCode(interp, "ARITH", "IOVERFLOW", s, NULL);
 	}
 	return TCL_ERROR;
diff --git a/generic/tclStringObj.c b/generic/tclStringObj.c
index 23f1052..b54dc35 100644
--- a/generic/tclStringObj.c
+++ b/generic/tclStringObj.c
@@ -753,8 +753,9 @@ Tcl_SetStringObj(
     const char *bytes,		/* Points to the first of the length bytes
 				 * used to initialize the object. */
     size_t length)		/* The number of bytes to copy from "bytes"
-				 * when initializing the object. If negative,
-				 * use bytes up to the first NUL byte.*/
+				 * when initializing the object. If
+				 * TCL_STRLEN, use bytes up to the first NUL
+				 * byte.*/
 {
     if (Tcl_IsShared(objPtr)) {
 	Tcl_Panic("%s called with shared object", "Tcl_SetStringObj");
@@ -2529,7 +2530,7 @@ AppendPrintfToObjVA(
 		}
 
 		Tcl_ListObjAppendElement(NULL, list,
-			Tcl_NewStringObj(bytes , (int)(end - bytes)));
+			Tcl_NewStringObj(bytes, (size_t)(end - bytes)));
 
 		break;
 	    }
diff --git a/generic/tclTest.c b/generic/tclTest.c
index 780d720..a59a652 100644
--- a/generic/tclTest.c
+++ b/generic/tclTest.c
@@ -913,7 +913,7 @@ TestasyncCmd(
 		break;
 	    }
 	}
-	Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(argv[3], -1));
+	Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(argv[3], TCL_STRLEN));
 	Tcl_MutexUnlock(&asyncTestMutex);
 	return code;
 #ifdef TCL_THREADS
@@ -1155,8 +1155,8 @@ CmdDelProc1(
     ClientData clientData)	/* String to save. */
 {
     Tcl_DStringInit(&delString);
-    Tcl_DStringAppend(&delString, "CmdDelProc1 ", -1);
-    Tcl_DStringAppend(&delString, (char *) clientData, -1);
+    Tcl_DStringAppend(&delString, "CmdDelProc1 ", TCL_STRLEN);
+    Tcl_DStringAppend(&delString, (char *) clientData, TCL_STRLEN);
 }
 
 static void
@@ -1164,8 +1164,8 @@ CmdDelProc2(
     ClientData clientData)	/* String to save. */
 {
     Tcl_DStringInit(&delString);
-    Tcl_DStringAppend(&delString, "CmdDelProc2 ", -1);
-    Tcl_DStringAppend(&delString, (char *) clientData, -1);
+    Tcl_DStringAppend(&delString, "CmdDelProc2 ", TCL_STRLEN);
+    Tcl_DStringAppend(&delString, (char *) clientData, TCL_STRLEN);
 }
 
 /*
@@ -1401,7 +1401,7 @@ ObjTraceProc(
     const char *word = Tcl_GetString(objv[0]);
 
     if (!strcmp(word, "Error")) {
-	Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(command, -1));
+	Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(command, TCL_STRLEN));
 	return TCL_ERROR;
     } else if (!strcmp(word, "Break")) {
 	return TCL_BREAK;
@@ -1761,14 +1761,15 @@ TestdoubledigitsObjCmd(
     if (status != TCL_OK
 	|| Tcl_GetIntFromObj(interp, objv[2], &ndigits) != TCL_OK
 	|| Tcl_GetIndexFromObj(interp, objv[3], options, "conversion type",
-			       TCL_EXACT, &type) != TCL_OK) {
+		TCL_EXACT, &type) != TCL_OK) {
 	fprintf(stderr, "bad value? %g\n", d);
 	return TCL_ERROR;
     }
     type = types[type];
     if (objc > 4) {
 	if (strcmp(Tcl_GetString(objv[4]), "shorten")) {
-	    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj("bad flag", -1));
+	    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj("bad flag",
+                    TCL_STRLEN));
 	    return TCL_ERROR;
 	}
 	type |= TCL_DD_SHORTEN_FLAG;
@@ -3086,7 +3087,7 @@ TestlinkCmd(
 	    }
 	}
 	if (argv[6][0] != 0) {
-	    tmp = Tcl_NewStringObj(argv[6], -1);
+	    tmp = Tcl_NewStringObj(argv[6], TCL_STRLEN);
 	    if (Tcl_GetWideIntFromObj(interp, tmp, &wideVar) != TCL_OK) {
 		Tcl_DecrRefCount(tmp);
 		return TCL_ERROR;
@@ -3144,7 +3145,7 @@ TestlinkCmd(
 	}
 	if (argv[15][0]) {
 	    Tcl_WideInt w;
-	    tmp = Tcl_NewStringObj(argv[15], -1);
+	    tmp = Tcl_NewStringObj(argv[15], TCL_STRLEN);
 	    if (Tcl_GetWideIntFromObj(interp, tmp, &w) != TCL_OK) {
 		Tcl_DecrRefCount(tmp);
 		return TCL_ERROR;
@@ -3194,7 +3195,7 @@ TestlinkCmd(
 	    Tcl_UpdateLinkedVar(interp, "string");
 	}
 	if (argv[6][0] != 0) {
-	    tmp = Tcl_NewStringObj(argv[6], -1);
+	    tmp = Tcl_NewStringObj(argv[6], TCL_STRLEN);
 	    if (Tcl_GetWideIntFromObj(interp, tmp, &wideVar) != TCL_OK) {
 		Tcl_DecrRefCount(tmp);
 		return TCL_ERROR;
@@ -3261,7 +3262,7 @@ TestlinkCmd(
 	}
 	if (argv[15][0]) {
 	    Tcl_WideInt w;
-	    tmp = Tcl_NewStringObj(argv[15], -1);
+	    tmp = Tcl_NewStringObj(argv[15], TCL_STRLEN);
 	    if (Tcl_GetWideIntFromObj(interp, tmp, &w) != TCL_OK) {
 		Tcl_DecrRefCount(tmp);
 		return TCL_ERROR;
@@ -3335,7 +3336,7 @@ TestlocaleCmd(
     }
     locale = setlocale(lcTypes[index], locale);
     if (locale) {
-	Tcl_SetStringObj(Tcl_GetObjResult(interp), locale, -1);
+	Tcl_SetStringObj(Tcl_GetObjResult(interp), locale, TCL_STRLEN);
     }
     return TCL_OK;
 }
@@ -3697,15 +3698,14 @@ PrintParse(
 	    break;
 	}
 	Tcl_ListObjAppendElement(NULL, objPtr,
-		Tcl_NewStringObj(typeString, -1));
+		Tcl_NewStringObj(typeString, TCL_STRLEN));
 	Tcl_ListObjAppendElement(NULL, objPtr,
 		Tcl_NewStringObj(tokenPtr->start, tokenPtr->size));
 	Tcl_ListObjAppendElement(NULL, objPtr,
 		Tcl_NewIntObj(tokenPtr->numComponents));
     }
-    Tcl_ListObjAppendElement(NULL, objPtr,
-	    Tcl_NewStringObj(parsePtr->commandStart + parsePtr->commandSize,
-	    -1));
+    Tcl_ListObjAppendElement(NULL, objPtr, Tcl_NewStringObj(
+            parsePtr->commandStart + parsePtr->commandSize, TCL_STRLEN));
 }
 
 /*
@@ -4820,7 +4820,7 @@ GetTimesCmd(
 
     /* TclGetString 100000 times */
     fprintf(stderr, "TclGetStringFromObj of \"12345\" 100000 times\n");
-    objPtr = Tcl_NewStringObj("12345", -1);
+    objPtr = Tcl_NewStringObj("12345", TCL_STRLEN);
     Tcl_GetTime(&start);
     for (i = 0;  i < 100000;  i++) {
 	(void) TclGetString(objPtr);
@@ -5119,7 +5119,7 @@ TestsaveresultCmd(
 	Tcl_SetResult(interp, (char *)"dynamic result", TestsaveresultFree);
 	break;
     case RESULT_OBJECT:
-	objPtr = Tcl_NewStringObj("object result", -1);
+	objPtr = Tcl_NewStringObj("object result", TCL_STRLEN);
 	Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, objPtr);
 	break;
     }
@@ -5386,7 +5386,7 @@ TestChannelCmd(
 
     if ((cmdName[0] == 's') && (strncmp(cmdName, "setchannelerror", len) == 0)) {
 
-	Tcl_Obj *msg = Tcl_NewStringObj(argv[3],-1);
+	Tcl_Obj *msg = Tcl_NewStringObj(argv[3], TCL_STRLEN);
 
 	Tcl_IncrRefCount(msg);
 	Tcl_SetChannelError(chan, msg);
@@ -5399,7 +5399,7 @@ TestChannelCmd(
     }
     if ((cmdName[0] == 's') && (strncmp(cmdName, "setchannelerrorinterp", len) == 0)) {
 
-	Tcl_Obj *msg = Tcl_NewStringObj(argv[3],-1);
+	Tcl_Obj *msg = Tcl_NewStringObj(argv[3], TCL_STRLEN);
 
 	Tcl_IncrRefCount(msg);
 	Tcl_SetChannelErrorInterp(interp, msg);
@@ -5747,7 +5747,7 @@ TestChannelCmd(
 	}
 
 	return TclChannelTransform(interp, chan,
-		Tcl_NewStringObj(argv[4], -1));
+		Tcl_NewStringObj(argv[4], TCL_STRLEN));
     }
 
     if ((cmdName[0] == 'u') && (strncmp(cmdName, "unstack", len) == 0)) {
@@ -5839,7 +5839,7 @@ TestChannelEventCmd(
 	esPtr->chanPtr = chanPtr;
 	esPtr->interp = interp;
 	esPtr->mask = mask;
-	esPtr->scriptPtr = Tcl_NewStringObj(argv[4], -1);
+	esPtr->scriptPtr = Tcl_NewStringObj(argv[4], TCL_STRLEN);
 	Tcl_IncrRefCount(esPtr->scriptPtr);
 
 	Tcl_CreateChannelHandler((Tcl_Channel) chanPtr, mask,
@@ -5906,10 +5906,11 @@ TestChannelEventCmd(
 	     esPtr = esPtr->nextPtr) {
 	    if (esPtr->mask) {
 		Tcl_ListObjAppendElement(interp, resultListPtr, Tcl_NewStringObj(
-		    (esPtr->mask == TCL_READABLE) ? "readable" : "writable", -1));
+		    (esPtr->mask == TCL_READABLE) ? "readable" : "writable",
+                    TCL_STRLEN));
 	    } else {
 		Tcl_ListObjAppendElement(interp, resultListPtr,
-			Tcl_NewStringObj("none", -1));
+			Tcl_NewStringObj("none", TCL_STRLEN));
 	    }
 	    Tcl_ListObjAppendElement(interp, resultListPtr, esPtr->scriptPtr);
 	}
@@ -6133,7 +6134,7 @@ TestFilesystemObjCmd(
 	res = Tcl_FSUnregister(&testReportingFilesystem);
 	msg = (res == TCL_OK) ? "unregistered" : "failed";
     }
-    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(msg , -1));
+    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(msg , TCL_STRLEN));
     return res;
 }
 
@@ -6220,7 +6221,7 @@ TestReport(
 	Tcl_DString ds;
 
 	Tcl_DStringInit(&ds);
-	Tcl_DStringAppend(&ds, "lappend filesystemReport ", -1);
+	Tcl_DStringAppend(&ds, "lappend filesystemReport ", TCL_STRLEN);
 	Tcl_DStringStartSublist(&ds);
 	Tcl_DStringAppendElement(&ds, cmd);
 	if (path != NULL) {
@@ -6505,7 +6506,7 @@ TestSimpleFilesystemObjCmd(
 	res = Tcl_FSUnregister(&simpleFilesystem);
 	msg = (res == TCL_OK) ? "unregistered" : "failed";
     }
-    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(msg , -1));
+    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(msg , TCL_STRLEN));
     return res;
 }
 
@@ -6532,7 +6533,7 @@ SimpleRedirect(
 	Tcl_IncrRefCount(pathPtr);
 	return pathPtr;
     }
-    origPtr = Tcl_NewStringObj(str+10,-1);
+    origPtr = Tcl_NewStringObj(str+10, TCL_STRLEN);
     Tcl_IncrRefCount(origPtr);
     return origPtr;
 }
@@ -6571,7 +6572,7 @@ SimpleMatchInDirectory(
 	    Tcl_Obj *gElt, *nElt;
 
 	    Tcl_ListObjIndex(NULL, resPtr, j, &gElt);
-	    nElt = Tcl_NewStringObj("simplefs:/",10);
+	    nElt = Tcl_NewStringObj("simplefs:/", 10);
 	    Tcl_AppendObjToObj(nElt, gElt);
 	    Tcl_ListObjAppendElement(NULL, resultPtr, nElt);
 	}
@@ -6634,7 +6635,7 @@ SimpleListVolumes(void)
     /* Add one new volume */
     Tcl_Obj *retVal;
 
-    retVal = Tcl_NewStringObj("simplefs:/", -1);
+    retVal = Tcl_NewStringObj("simplefs:/", TCL_STRLEN);
     Tcl_IncrRefCount(retVal);
     return retVal;
 }
@@ -6707,7 +6708,7 @@ TestcpuidCmd(
     status = TclWinCPUID((unsigned) index, regs);
     if (status != TCL_OK) {
 	Tcl_SetObjResult(interp,
-		Tcl_NewStringObj("operation not available", -1));
+		Tcl_NewStringObj("operation not available", TCL_STRLEN));
 	return status;
     }
     for (i=0 ; i<4 ; ++i) {
@@ -6753,7 +6754,8 @@ TestHashSystemHashCmd(
 	hPtr = Tcl_CreateHashEntry(&hash, INT2PTR(i), &isNew);
 	if (!isNew) {
 	    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewIntObj(i));
-	    Tcl_AppendToObj(Tcl_GetObjResult(interp)," creation problem",-1);
+	    Tcl_AppendToObj(Tcl_GetObjResult(interp), " creation problem",
+                    TCL_STRLEN);
 	    Tcl_DeleteHashTable(&hash);
 	    return TCL_ERROR;
 	}
@@ -6770,13 +6772,15 @@ TestHashSystemHashCmd(
 	hPtr = Tcl_FindHashEntry(&hash, (char *) INT2PTR(i));
 	if (hPtr == NULL) {
 	    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewIntObj(i));
-	    Tcl_AppendToObj(Tcl_GetObjResult(interp)," lookup problem",-1);
+	    Tcl_AppendToObj(Tcl_GetObjResult(interp), " lookup problem",
+                    TCL_STRLEN);
 	    Tcl_DeleteHashTable(&hash);
 	    return TCL_ERROR;
 	}
 	if (PTR2INT(Tcl_GetHashValue(hPtr)) != i+42) {
 	    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewIntObj(i));
-	    Tcl_AppendToObj(Tcl_GetObjResult(interp)," value problem",-1);
+	    Tcl_AppendToObj(Tcl_GetObjResult(interp), " value problem",
+                    TCL_STRLEN);
 	    Tcl_DeleteHashTable(&hash);
 	    return TCL_ERROR;
 	}
@@ -6896,18 +6900,18 @@ TestconcatobjCmd(
      */
 
     Tcl_SetObjResult(interp,
-	    Tcl_NewStringObj("Tcl_ConcatObj is unsafe:", -1));
+	    Tcl_NewStringObj("Tcl_ConcatObj is unsafe:", TCL_STRLEN));
 
     emptyPtr = Tcl_NewObj();
 
-    list1Ptr = Tcl_NewStringObj("foo bar sum", -1);
+    list1Ptr = Tcl_NewStringObj("foo bar sum", TCL_STRLEN);
     Tcl_ListObjLength(NULL, list1Ptr, &len);
     if (list1Ptr->bytes != NULL) {
 	ckfree(list1Ptr->bytes);
 	list1Ptr->bytes = NULL;
     }
 
-    list2Ptr = Tcl_NewStringObj("eeny meeny", -1);
+    list2Ptr = Tcl_NewStringObj("eeny meeny", TCL_STRLEN);
     Tcl_ListObjLength(NULL, list2Ptr, &len);
     if (list2Ptr->bytes != NULL) {
 	ckfree(list2Ptr->bytes);
@@ -7354,7 +7358,7 @@ InterpCompiledVarResolver(
  	resVarInfo->vInfo.fetchProc = MyCompiledVarFetch;
  	resVarInfo->vInfo.deleteProc = MyCompiledVarFree;
  	resVarInfo->var = NULL;
- 	resVarInfo->nameObj = Tcl_NewStringObj(name, -1);
+ 	resVarInfo->nameObj = Tcl_NewStringObj(name, TCL_STRLEN);
  	Tcl_IncrRefCount(resVarInfo->nameObj);
  	*rPtr = &resVarInfo->vInfo;
  	return TCL_OK;
diff --git a/generic/tclTestObj.c b/generic/tclTestObj.c
index 2a69903..754a8bf 100644
--- a/generic/tclTestObj.c
+++ b/generic/tclTestObj.c
@@ -1176,7 +1176,7 @@ TeststringobjCmd(
 		SetVarToObj(varPtr, varIndex, Tcl_DuplicateObj(varPtr[varIndex]));
 	    }
 	    string = Tcl_GetString(objv[3]);
-	    Tcl_AppendToObj(varPtr[varIndex], string, length);
+	    Tcl_AppendToObj(varPtr[varIndex], string, (size_t) length);
 	    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, varPtr[varIndex]);
 	    break;
 	case 1:				/* appendstrings */
diff --git a/generic/tclThreadTest.c b/generic/tclThreadTest.c
index 9a17f30..ccd9649 100644
--- a/generic/tclThreadTest.c
+++ b/generic/tclThreadTest.c
@@ -663,10 +663,10 @@ ThreadErrorProc(
     errorInfo = Tcl_GetVar(interp, "errorInfo", TCL_GLOBAL_ONLY);
     if (errorProcString == NULL) {
 	errChannel = Tcl_GetStdChannel(TCL_STDERR);
-	Tcl_WriteChars(errChannel, "Error from thread ", -1);
-	Tcl_WriteChars(errChannel, buf, -1);
+	Tcl_WriteChars(errChannel, "Error from thread ", TCL_STRLEN);
+	Tcl_WriteChars(errChannel, buf, TCL_STRLEN);
 	Tcl_WriteChars(errChannel, "\n", 1);
-	Tcl_WriteChars(errChannel, errorInfo, -1);
+	Tcl_WriteChars(errChannel, errorInfo, TCL_STRLEN);
 	Tcl_WriteChars(errChannel, "\n", 1);
     } else {
 	argv[0] = errorProcString;
@@ -991,7 +991,8 @@ ThreadCancel(
     Tcl_MutexUnlock(&threadMutex);
     Tcl_ResetResult(interp);
     return Tcl_CancelEval(tsdPtr->interp,
-    	(result != NULL) ? Tcl_NewStringObj(result, -1) : NULL, 0, flags);
+	    (result != NULL) ? Tcl_NewStringObj(result, TCL_STRLEN) : NULL,
+	    0, flags);
 }
 
 /*
diff --git a/generic/tclTimer.c b/generic/tclTimer.c
index e772005..94eb2d0 100644
--- a/generic/tclTimer.c
+++ b/generic/tclTimer.c
@@ -980,7 +980,8 @@ Tcl_AfterObjCmd(
             Tcl_ListObjAppendElement(interp, resultListPtr,
                     afterPtr->commandPtr);
             Tcl_ListObjAppendElement(interp, resultListPtr, Tcl_NewStringObj(
-		    (afterPtr->token == NULL) ? "idle" : "timer", -1));
+		    (afterPtr->token == NULL) ? "idle" : "timer",
+                    TCL_STRLEN));
             Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, resultListPtr);
         }
 	break;
diff --git a/generic/tclTrace.c b/generic/tclTrace.c
index e64b5b5..92b1faf 100644
--- a/generic/tclTrace.c
+++ b/generic/tclTrace.c
@@ -1993,7 +1993,7 @@ TraceVarProc(
 	     */
 
 	    Tcl_DStringInit(&cmd);
-	    Tcl_DStringAppend(&cmd, tvarPtr->command, (int) tvarPtr->length);
+	    Tcl_DStringAppend(&cmd, tvarPtr->command, tvarPtr->length);
 	    Tcl_DStringAppendElement(&cmd, name1);
 	    Tcl_DStringAppendElement(&cmd, (name2 ? name2 : ""));
 #ifndef TCL_REMOVE_OBSOLETE_TRACES
diff --git a/generic/tclUtil.c b/generic/tclUtil.c
index 3d839bc..5b792d9 100644
--- a/generic/tclUtil.c
+++ b/generic/tclUtil.c
@@ -3964,12 +3964,12 @@ TclGetProcessGlobalValue(
 	    Tcl_UtfToExternalDString(pgvPtr->encoding, pgvPtr->value,
 		    pgvPtr->numBytes, &native);
 	    Tcl_ExternalToUtfDString(current, Tcl_DStringValue(&native),
-	    Tcl_DStringLength(&native), &newValue);
+		    Tcl_DStringLength(&native), &newValue);
 	    Tcl_DStringFree(&native);
 	    ckfree(pgvPtr->value);
 	    pgvPtr->value = ckalloc(Tcl_DStringLength(&newValue) + 1);
 	    memcpy(pgvPtr->value, Tcl_DStringValue(&newValue),
-		    (size_t) Tcl_DStringLength(&newValue) + 1);
+		    Tcl_DStringLength(&newValue) + 1);
 	    Tcl_DStringFree(&newValue);
 	    Tcl_FreeEncoding(pgvPtr->encoding);
 	    pgvPtr->encoding = current;
diff --git a/generic/tclVar.c b/generic/tclVar.c
index b5137a3..40ada3f 100644
--- a/generic/tclVar.c
+++ b/generic/tclVar.c
@@ -254,7 +254,7 @@ TclVarHashCreateVar(
     Tcl_Obj *keyPtr;
     Var *varPtr;
 
-    keyPtr = Tcl_NewStringObj(key, -1);
+    keyPtr = Tcl_NewStringObj(key, TCL_STRLEN);
     Tcl_IncrRefCount(keyPtr);
     varPtr = VarHashCreateVar(tablePtr, keyPtr, newPtr);
     Tcl_DecrRefCount(keyPtr);
@@ -386,7 +386,7 @@ TclLookupVar(
     Tcl_Obj *part1Ptr;
     Var *varPtr;
 
-    part1Ptr = Tcl_NewStringObj(part1, -1);
+    part1Ptr = Tcl_NewStringObj(part1, TCL_STRLEN);
     Tcl_IncrRefCount(part1Ptr);
 
     varPtr = TclObjLookupVar(interp, part1Ptr, part2, flags, msg,
@@ -464,7 +464,7 @@ TclObjLookupVar(
     Var *resPtr;
 
     if (part2) {
-	part2Ptr = Tcl_NewStringObj(part2, -1);
+	part2Ptr = Tcl_NewStringObj(part2, TCL_STRLEN);
 	Tcl_IncrRefCount(part2Ptr);
     } else {
 	part2Ptr = NULL;
@@ -619,7 +619,7 @@ TclObjLookupVarEx(
 	    }
 	    part2 = newPart2 = part1Ptr->internalRep.twoPtrValue.ptr2;
 	    if (newPart2) {
-		part2Ptr = Tcl_NewStringObj(newPart2, -1);
+		part2Ptr = Tcl_NewStringObj(newPart2, TCL_STRLEN);
 		Tcl_IncrRefCount(part2Ptr);
 	    }
 	    part1Ptr = part1Ptr->internalRep.twoPtrValue.ptr1;
@@ -662,10 +662,10 @@ TclObjLookupVarEx(
 		len1 = i;
 
 		newPart2 = ckalloc(len2 + 1);
-		memcpy(newPart2, part2, (unsigned) len2);
+		memcpy(newPart2, part2, len2);
 		*(newPart2+len2) = '\0';
 		part2 = newPart2;
-		part2Ptr = Tcl_NewStringObj(newPart2, -1);
+		part2Ptr = Tcl_NewStringObj(newPart2, TCL_STRLEN);
 		Tcl_IncrRefCount(part2Ptr);
 
 		/*
@@ -982,7 +982,7 @@ TclLookupSimpleVar(
 		    return NULL;
 		}
 		if (tail != varName) {
-		    tailPtr = Tcl_NewStringObj(tail, -1);
+		    tailPtr = Tcl_NewStringObj(tail, TCL_STRLEN);
 		} else {
 		    tailPtr = varNamePtr;
 		}
@@ -1213,7 +1213,7 @@ Tcl_GetVar(
 {
     Tcl_Obj *varNamePtr, *resultPtr;
 
-    varNamePtr = Tcl_NewStringObj(varName, -1);
+    varNamePtr = Tcl_NewStringObj(varName, TCL_STRLEN);
     Tcl_IncrRefCount(varNamePtr);
     resultPtr = Tcl_ObjGetVar2(interp, varNamePtr, NULL, flags);
     TclDecrRefCount(varNamePtr);
@@ -1261,10 +1261,10 @@ Tcl_GetVar2(
 {
     Tcl_Obj *resultPtr, *part1Ptr, *part2Ptr;
 
-    part1Ptr = Tcl_NewStringObj(part1, -1);
+    part1Ptr = Tcl_NewStringObj(part1, TCL_STRLEN);
     Tcl_IncrRefCount(part1Ptr);
     if (part2) {
-	part2Ptr = Tcl_NewStringObj(part2, -1);
+	part2Ptr = Tcl_NewStringObj(part2, TCL_STRLEN);
 	Tcl_IncrRefCount(part2Ptr);
     } else {
 	part2Ptr = NULL;
@@ -1318,10 +1318,10 @@ Tcl_GetVar2Ex(
 {
     Tcl_Obj *part1Ptr, *part2Ptr, *resPtr;
 
-    part1Ptr = Tcl_NewStringObj(part1, -1);
+    part1Ptr = Tcl_NewStringObj(part1, TCL_STRLEN);
     Tcl_IncrRefCount(part1Ptr);
     if (part2) {
-	part2Ptr = Tcl_NewStringObj(part2, -1);
+	part2Ptr = Tcl_NewStringObj(part2, TCL_STRLEN);
 	Tcl_IncrRefCount(part2Ptr);
     } else {
 	part2Ptr = NULL;
@@ -1564,9 +1564,9 @@ Tcl_SetVar(
 {
     Tcl_Obj *valuePtr, *varNamePtr, *varValuePtr;
 
-    varNamePtr = Tcl_NewStringObj(varName, -1);
+    varNamePtr = Tcl_NewStringObj(varName, TCL_STRLEN);
     Tcl_IncrRefCount(varNamePtr);
-    valuePtr = Tcl_NewStringObj(newValue, -1);
+    valuePtr = Tcl_NewStringObj(newValue, TCL_STRLEN);
     Tcl_IncrRefCount(valuePtr);
 
     varValuePtr = Tcl_ObjSetVar2(interp, varNamePtr, NULL, valuePtr, flags);
@@ -1623,15 +1623,15 @@ Tcl_SetVar2(
     Tcl_Obj *valuePtr, *part1Ptr, *part2Ptr;
     Tcl_Obj *varValuePtr;
 
-    part1Ptr = Tcl_NewStringObj(part1, -1);
+    part1Ptr = Tcl_NewStringObj(part1, TCL_STRLEN);
     Tcl_IncrRefCount(part1Ptr);
     if (part2 != NULL) {
-	part2Ptr = Tcl_NewStringObj(part2, -1);
+	part2Ptr = Tcl_NewStringObj(part2, TCL_STRLEN);
 	Tcl_IncrRefCount(part2Ptr);
     } else {
 	part2Ptr = NULL;
     }
-    valuePtr = Tcl_NewStringObj(newValue, -1);
+    valuePtr = Tcl_NewStringObj(newValue, TCL_STRLEN);
     Tcl_IncrRefCount(valuePtr);
 
     varValuePtr = Tcl_ObjSetVar2(interp, part1Ptr, part2Ptr, valuePtr, flags);
@@ -1701,10 +1701,10 @@ Tcl_SetVar2Ex(
 {
     Tcl_Obj *part1Ptr, *part2Ptr, *resPtr;
 
-    part1Ptr = Tcl_NewStringObj(part1, -1);
+    part1Ptr = Tcl_NewStringObj(part1, TCL_STRLEN);
     Tcl_IncrRefCount(part1Ptr);
     if (part2) {
-	part2Ptr = Tcl_NewStringObj(part2, -1);
+	part2Ptr = Tcl_NewStringObj(part2, TCL_STRLEN);
 	Tcl_IncrRefCount(part2Ptr);
     } else {
 	part2Ptr = NULL;
@@ -2175,7 +2175,7 @@ Tcl_UnsetVar(
     int result;
     Tcl_Obj *varNamePtr;
 
-    varNamePtr = Tcl_NewStringObj(varName, -1);
+    varNamePtr = Tcl_NewStringObj(varName, TCL_STRLEN);
     Tcl_IncrRefCount(varNamePtr);
 
     /*
@@ -2223,10 +2223,10 @@ Tcl_UnsetVar2(
     int result;
     Tcl_Obj *part1Ptr, *part2Ptr = NULL;
 
-    part1Ptr = Tcl_NewStringObj(part1, -1);
+    part1Ptr = Tcl_NewStringObj(part1, TCL_STRLEN);
     Tcl_IncrRefCount(part1Ptr);
     if (part2) {
-	part2Ptr = Tcl_NewStringObj(part2, -1);
+	part2Ptr = Tcl_NewStringObj(part2, TCL_STRLEN);
 	Tcl_IncrRefCount(part2Ptr);
     }
 
@@ -2938,7 +2938,7 @@ TclArraySet(
 	}
 	if (elemLen & 1) {
 	    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(
-		    "list must have an even number of elements", -1));
+		    "list must have an even number of elements", TCL_STRLEN));
 	    Tcl_SetErrorCode(interp, "TCL", "ARGUMENT", "FORMAT", NULL);
 	    return TCL_ERROR;
 	}
@@ -4035,10 +4035,10 @@ ArrayStatsCmd(
     stats = Tcl_HashStats((Tcl_HashTable *) varPtr->value.tablePtr);
     if (stats == NULL) {
 	Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(
-		"error reading array statistics", -1));
+		"error reading array statistics", TCL_STRLEN));
 	return TCL_ERROR;
     }
-    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(stats, -1));
+    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(stats, TCL_STRLEN));
     ckfree(stats);
     return TCL_OK;
 }
@@ -4372,7 +4372,7 @@ TclPtrMakeUpvar(
     int result;
 
     if (myName) {
-	myNamePtr = Tcl_NewStringObj(myName, -1);
+	myNamePtr = Tcl_NewStringObj(myName, TCL_STRLEN);
 	Tcl_IncrRefCount(myNamePtr);
     } else {
 	myNamePtr = NULL;
@@ -4456,7 +4456,7 @@ TclPtrObjMakeUpvar(
 
     if (varPtr == otherPtr) {
 	Tcl_SetObjResult((Tcl_Interp *) iPtr, Tcl_NewStringObj(
-		"can't upvar from variable to itself", -1));
+		"can't upvar from variable to itself", TCL_STRLEN));
 	Tcl_SetErrorCode(interp, "TCL", "UPVAR", "SELF", NULL);
 	return TCL_ERROR;
     }
@@ -4544,9 +4544,9 @@ Tcl_UpVar(
 	return TCL_ERROR;
     }
 
-    varNamePtr = Tcl_NewStringObj(varName, -1);
+    varNamePtr = Tcl_NewStringObj(varName, TCL_STRLEN);
     Tcl_IncrRefCount(varNamePtr);
-    localNamePtr = Tcl_NewStringObj(localNameStr, -1);
+    localNamePtr = Tcl_NewStringObj(localNameStr, TCL_STRLEN);
     Tcl_IncrRefCount(localNamePtr);
 
     result = ObjMakeUpvar(interp, framePtr, varNamePtr, NULL, 0,
@@ -4598,9 +4598,9 @@ Tcl_UpVar2(
 	return TCL_ERROR;
     }
 
-    part1Ptr = Tcl_NewStringObj(part1, -1);
+    part1Ptr = Tcl_NewStringObj(part1, TCL_STRLEN);
     Tcl_IncrRefCount(part1Ptr);
-    localNamePtr = Tcl_NewStringObj(localNameStr, -1);
+    localNamePtr = Tcl_NewStringObj(localNameStr, TCL_STRLEN);
     Tcl_IncrRefCount(localNamePtr);
 
     result = ObjMakeUpvar(interp, framePtr, part1Ptr, part2, 0,
@@ -4653,7 +4653,7 @@ Tcl_GetVariableFullName(
 
     nsPtr = TclGetVarNsPtr(varPtr);
     if (nsPtr) {
-	Tcl_AppendToObj(objPtr, nsPtr->fullName, -1);
+	Tcl_AppendToObj(objPtr, nsPtr->fullName, TCL_STRLEN);
 	if (nsPtr != iPtr->globalNsPtr) {
 	    Tcl_AppendToObj(objPtr, "::", 2);
 	}
@@ -4738,7 +4738,7 @@ Tcl_GlobalObjCmd(
 	if (tail == varName) {
 	    tailPtr = objPtr;
 	} else {
-	    tailPtr = Tcl_NewStringObj(tail, -1);
+	    tailPtr = Tcl_NewStringObj(tail, TCL_STRLEN);
 	    Tcl_IncrRefCount(tailPtr);
 	}
 
@@ -4889,7 +4889,7 @@ Tcl_VariableObjCmd(
 	    if (tail == varName) {
 		tailPtr = varNamePtr;
 	    } else {
-		tailPtr = Tcl_NewStringObj(tail, -1);
+		tailPtr = Tcl_NewStringObj(tail, TCL_STRLEN);
 		Tcl_IncrRefCount(tailPtr);
 	    }
 
@@ -5514,10 +5514,10 @@ TclVarErrMsg(
 {
     Tcl_Obj *part1Ptr = NULL, *part2Ptr = NULL;
 
-    part1Ptr = Tcl_NewStringObj(part1, -1);
+    part1Ptr = Tcl_NewStringObj(part1, TCL_STRLEN);
     Tcl_IncrRefCount(part1Ptr);
     if (part2) {
-	part2Ptr = Tcl_NewStringObj(part2, -1);
+	part2Ptr = Tcl_NewStringObj(part2, TCL_STRLEN);
 	Tcl_IncrRefCount(part2Ptr);
     } else {
 	part2 = NULL;
@@ -5790,7 +5790,7 @@ Tcl_FindNamespaceVar(
 				 * and TCL_NAMESPACE_ONLY are given,
 				 * TCL_GLOBAL_ONLY is ignored. */
 {
-    Tcl_Obj *namePtr = Tcl_NewStringObj(name, -1);
+    Tcl_Obj *namePtr = Tcl_NewStringObj(name, TCL_STRLEN);
     Tcl_Var var;
 
     Tcl_IncrRefCount(namePtr);
@@ -5887,7 +5887,7 @@ ObjFindNamespaceVar(
 
     varPtr = NULL;
     if (simpleName != name) {
-	simpleNamePtr = Tcl_NewStringObj(simpleName, -1);
+	simpleNamePtr = Tcl_NewStringObj(simpleName, TCL_STRLEN);
 	Tcl_IncrRefCount(simpleNamePtr);
     } else {
 	simpleNamePtr = namePtr;
@@ -5981,7 +5981,7 @@ TclInfoVarsCmd(
 	    if (simplePattern == pattern) {
 		simplePatternPtr = objv[1];
 	    } else {
-		simplePatternPtr = Tcl_NewStringObj(simplePattern, -1);
+		simplePatternPtr = Tcl_NewStringObj(simplePattern,TCL_STRLEN);
 	    }
 	    Tcl_IncrRefCount(simplePatternPtr);
 	}
@@ -6166,7 +6166,7 @@ TclInfoGlobalsCmd(
 	if (pattern == TclGetString(objv[1])) {
 	    patternPtr = objv[1];
 	} else {
-	    patternPtr = Tcl_NewStringObj(pattern, -1);
+	    patternPtr = Tcl_NewStringObj(pattern, TCL_STRLEN);
 	}
 	Tcl_IncrRefCount(patternPtr);
 
diff --git a/generic/tclZlib.c b/generic/tclZlib.c
index e2a9610..698262d 100644
--- a/generic/tclZlib.c
+++ b/generic/tclZlib.c
@@ -184,8 +184,8 @@ static int		ZlibPushSubcmd(Tcl_Interp *interp, size_t objc,
 			    Tcl_Obj *const objv[]);
 static inline size_t	ResultCopy(ZlibChannelData *cd, char *buf,
 			    size_t toRead);
-static int		ResultGenerate(ZlibChannelData *cd, int n, int flush,
-			    int *errorCodePtr);
+static int		ResultGenerate(ZlibChannelData *cd, size_t n,
+			    int flush, int *errorCodePtr);
 static Tcl_Channel	ZlibStackChannelTransform(Tcl_Interp *interp,
 			    int mode, int format, int level, int limit,
 			    Tcl_Channel channel, Tcl_Obj *gzipHeaderDictPtr,
@@ -259,7 +259,8 @@ ConvertError(
 	 */
 
     case Z_ERRNO:
-	Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(Tcl_PosixError(interp),-1));
+	Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(Tcl_PosixError(interp),
+		TCL_STRLEN));
 	return;
 
 	/*
@@ -310,7 +311,7 @@ ConvertError(
 	sprintf(codeStrBuf, "%d", code);
 	break;
     }
-    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(zError(code), -1));
+    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(zError(code), TCL_STRLEN));
 
     /*
      * Tricky point! We might pass NULL twice here (and will when the error
@@ -347,7 +348,7 @@ ConvertErrorToList(
 	return Tcl_NewListObj(3, objv);
     case Z_ERRNO:
 	TclNewLiteralStringObj(objv[2], "POSIX");
-	objv[3] = Tcl_NewStringObj(Tcl_ErrnoId(), -1);
+	objv[3] = Tcl_NewStringObj(Tcl_ErrnoId(), TCL_STRLEN);
 	return Tcl_NewListObj(4, objv);
     case Z_NEED_DICT:
 	TclNewLiteralStringObj(objv[2], "NEED_DICT");
@@ -402,7 +403,7 @@ GetValue(
     const char *nameStr,
     Tcl_Obj **valuePtrPtr)
 {
-    Tcl_Obj *name = Tcl_NewStringObj(nameStr, -1);
+    Tcl_Obj *name = Tcl_NewStringObj(nameStr, TCL_STRLEN);
     int result = Tcl_DictObjGet(interp, dictObj, name, valuePtrPtr);
 
     TclDecrRefCount(name);
@@ -525,7 +526,7 @@ SetValue(
     const char *key,
     Tcl_Obj *value)
 {
-    Tcl_Obj *keyObj = Tcl_NewStringObj(key, -1);
+    Tcl_Obj *keyObj = Tcl_NewStringObj(key, TCL_STRLEN);
 
     Tcl_IncrRefCount(keyObj);
     Tcl_DictObjPut(NULL, dictObj, keyObj, value);
@@ -552,8 +553,8 @@ ExtractHeader(
 	    }
 	}
 
-	Tcl_ExternalToUtfDString(latin1enc, (char *) headerPtr->comment, -1,
-		&tmp);
+	Tcl_ExternalToUtfDString(latin1enc, (char *) headerPtr->comment,
+		TCL_STRLEN, &tmp);
 	SetValue(dictObj, "comment", TclDStringToObj(&tmp));
     }
     SetValue(dictObj, "crc", Tcl_NewBooleanObj(headerPtr->hcrc));
@@ -569,8 +570,8 @@ ExtractHeader(
 	    }
 	}
 
-	Tcl_ExternalToUtfDString(latin1enc, (char *) headerPtr->name, -1,
-		&tmp);
+	Tcl_ExternalToUtfDString(latin1enc, (char *) headerPtr->name,
+		TCL_STRLEN, &tmp);
 	SetValue(dictObj, "filename", TclDStringToObj(&tmp));
     }
     if (headerPtr->os != 255) {
@@ -580,8 +581,8 @@ ExtractHeader(
 	SetValue(dictObj, "time", Tcl_NewLongObj((long) headerPtr->time));
     }
     if (headerPtr->text != Z_UNKNOWN) {
-	SetValue(dictObj, "type",
-		Tcl_NewStringObj(headerPtr->text ? "text" : "binary", -1));
+	SetValue(dictObj, "type", Tcl_NewStringObj(
+		headerPtr->text ? "text" : "binary", TCL_STRLEN));
     }
 
     if (latin1enc != NULL) {
@@ -783,7 +784,7 @@ Tcl_ZlibStreamInit(
 	if (Tcl_GetCommandInfo(interp, Tcl_DStringValue(&cmdname),
 		&cmdinfo) == 1) {
 	    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(
-		    "BUG: Stream command name already exists", -1));
+		    "BUG: Stream command name already exists", TCL_STRLEN));
 	    Tcl_SetErrorCode(interp, "TCL", "BUG", "EXISTING_CMD", NULL);
 	    Tcl_DStringFree(&cmdname);
 	    goto error;
@@ -1167,7 +1168,7 @@ Tcl_ZlibStreamPut(
     if (zshPtr->streamEnd) {
 	if (zshPtr->interp) {
 	    Tcl_SetObjResult(zshPtr->interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(
-		    "already past compressed stream end", -1));
+		    "already past compressed stream end", TCL_STRLEN));
 	    Tcl_SetErrorCode(zshPtr->interp, "TCL", "ZIP", "CLOSED", NULL);
 	}
 	return TCL_ERROR;
@@ -1393,7 +1394,7 @@ Tcl_ZlibStreamGet(
 		if (zshPtr->interp) {
 		    Tcl_SetObjResult(zshPtr->interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(
 			    "unexpected zlib internal state during"
-			    " decompression", -1));
+			    " decompression", TCL_STRLEN));
 		    Tcl_SetErrorCode(zshPtr->interp, "TCL", "ZIP", "STATE",
 			    NULL);
 		}
@@ -2145,7 +2146,8 @@ ZlibCmd(
     return TCL_ERROR;
 
   badLevel:
-    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj("level must be 0 to 9", -1));
+    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj("level must be 0 to 9",
+	    TCL_STRLEN));
     Tcl_SetErrorCode(interp, "TCL", "VALUE", "COMPRESSIONLEVEL", NULL);
     if (extraInfoStr) {
 	Tcl_AddErrorInfo(interp, extraInfoStr);
@@ -2288,7 +2290,8 @@ ZlibStreamSubcmd(
     } else if (Tcl_GetIntFromObj(interp, levelObj, &level) != TCL_OK) {
 	return TCL_ERROR;
     } else if (level < 0 || level > 9) {
-	Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj("level must be 0 to 9",-1));
+	Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj("level must be 0 to 9",
+		TCL_STRLEN));
 	Tcl_SetErrorCode(interp, "TCL", "VALUE", "COMPRESSIONLEVEL", NULL);
 	Tcl_AddErrorInfo(interp, "\n    (in -level option)");
 	return TCL_ERROR;
@@ -2398,13 +2401,15 @@ ZlibPushSubcmd(
 
     if (mode == TCL_ZLIB_STREAM_DEFLATE && !(chanMode & TCL_WRITABLE)) {
 	Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(
-		"compression may only be applied to writable channels", -1));
+		"compression may only be applied to writable channels",
+		TCL_STRLEN));
 	Tcl_SetErrorCode(interp, "TCL", "ZIP", "UNWRITABLE", NULL);
 	return TCL_ERROR;
     }
     if (mode == TCL_ZLIB_STREAM_INFLATE && !(chanMode & TCL_READABLE)) {
 	Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(
-		"decompression may only be applied to readable channels",-1));
+		"decompression may only be applied to readable channels",
+		TCL_STRLEN));
 	Tcl_SetErrorCode(interp, "TCL", "ZIP", "UNREADABLE", NULL);
 	return TCL_ERROR;
     }
@@ -2438,7 +2443,7 @@ ZlibPushSubcmd(
 	    }
 	    if (level < 0 || level > 9) {
 		Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(
-			"level must be 0 to 9", -1));
+			"level must be 0 to 9", TCL_STRLEN));
 		Tcl_SetErrorCode(interp, "TCL", "VALUE", "COMPRESSIONLEVEL",
 			NULL);
 		goto genericOptionError;
@@ -2460,7 +2465,7 @@ ZlibPushSubcmd(
 	    if (format == TCL_ZLIB_FORMAT_GZIP) {
 		Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(
 			"a compression dictionary may not be set in the "
-			"gzip format", -1));
+			"gzip format", TCL_STRLEN));
 		Tcl_SetErrorCode(interp, "TCL", "ZIP", "BADOPT", NULL);
 		goto genericOptionError;
 	    }
@@ -2668,7 +2673,7 @@ ZlibStreamAddCmd(
 	    if (i == objc-2) {
 		Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(
 			"\"-buffer\" option must be followed by integer "
-			"decompression buffersize", -1));
+			"decompression buffersize", TCL_STRLEN));
 		Tcl_SetErrorCode(interp, "TCL", "ZIP", "NOVAL", NULL);
 		return TCL_ERROR;
 	    }
@@ -2687,7 +2692,7 @@ ZlibStreamAddCmd(
 	    if (i == objc-2) {
 		Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(
 			"\"-dictionary\" option must be followed by"
-			" compression dictionary bytes", -1));
+			" compression dictionary bytes", TCL_STRLEN));
 		Tcl_SetErrorCode(interp, "TCL", "ZIP", "NOVAL", NULL);
 		return TCL_ERROR;
 	    }
@@ -2698,7 +2703,7 @@ ZlibStreamAddCmd(
 	if (flush == -2) {
 	    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(
 		    "\"-flush\", \"-fullflush\" and \"-finalize\" options"
-		    " are mutually exclusive", -1));
+		    " are mutually exclusive", TCL_STRLEN));
 	    Tcl_SetErrorCode(interp, "TCL", "ZIP", "EXCLUSIVE", NULL);
 	    return TCL_ERROR;
 	}
@@ -2792,7 +2797,7 @@ ZlibStreamPutCmd(
 	    if (i == objc-2) {
 		Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(
 			"\"-dictionary\" option must be followed by"
-			" compression dictionary bytes", -1));
+			" compression dictionary bytes", TCL_STRLEN));
 		Tcl_SetErrorCode(interp, "TCL", "ZIP", "NOVAL", NULL);
 		return TCL_ERROR;
 	    }
@@ -2802,7 +2807,7 @@ ZlibStreamPutCmd(
 	if (flush == -2) {
 	    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(
 		    "\"-flush\", \"-fullflush\" and \"-finalize\" options"
-		    " are mutually exclusive", -1));
+		    " are mutually exclusive", TCL_STRLEN));
 	    Tcl_SetErrorCode(interp, "TCL", "ZIP", "EXCLUSIVE", NULL);
 	    return TCL_ERROR;
 	}
@@ -2848,7 +2853,8 @@ ZlibStreamHeaderCmd(
     } else if (zshPtr->mode != TCL_ZLIB_STREAM_INFLATE
 	    || zshPtr->format != TCL_ZLIB_FORMAT_GZIP) {
 	Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(
-		"only gunzip streams can produce header information", -1));
+		"only gunzip streams can produce header information",
+		TCL_STRLEN));
 	Tcl_SetErrorCode(interp, "TCL", "ZIP", "BADOP", NULL);
 	return TCL_ERROR;
     }
@@ -2962,8 +2968,8 @@ ZlibTransformInput(
     ZlibChannelData *cd = instanceData;
     Tcl_DriverInputProc *inProc =
 	    Tcl_ChannelInputProc(Tcl_GetChannelType(cd->parent));
-    size_t readBytes, copied;
-    ssize_t gotBytes;
+    size_t copied;
+    ssize_t readBytes, gotBytes;
 
     if (cd->mode == TCL_ZLIB_STREAM_DEFLATE) {
 	return inProc(Tcl_GetChannelInstanceData(cd->parent), buf, toRead,
@@ -3011,7 +3017,7 @@ ZlibTransformInput(
 	 *	it is EOF, try flushing the data out of the decompressor.
 	 */
 
-	if (readBytes != (size_t)-1) {
+	if (readBytes < 0) {
 	    /*
 	     * Report errors to caller. The state of the seek system is
 	     * unchanged!
@@ -3143,11 +3149,12 @@ ZlibTransformOutput(
     }
 
     errObj = Tcl_NewListObj(0, NULL);
-    Tcl_ListObjAppendElement(NULL, errObj, Tcl_NewStringObj("-errorcode",-1));
+    Tcl_ListObjAppendElement(NULL, errObj,
+	    Tcl_NewStringObj("-errorcode", TCL_STRLEN));
     Tcl_ListObjAppendElement(NULL, errObj,
 	    ConvertErrorToList(e, cd->outStream.adler));
     Tcl_ListObjAppendElement(NULL, errObj,
-	    Tcl_NewStringObj(cd->outStream.msg, -1));
+	    Tcl_NewStringObj(cd->outStream.msg, TCL_STRLEN));
     Tcl_SetChannelError(cd->parent, errObj);
     *errorCodePtr = EINVAL;
     return -1;
@@ -3263,7 +3270,7 @@ ZlibTransformSetOption(			/* not used */
 		return TCL_ERROR;
 	    } else if (newLimit < 1 || newLimit > MAX_BUFFER_SIZE) {
 		Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(
-			"-limit must be between 1 and 65536", -1));
+			"-limit must be between 1 and 65536", TCL_STRLEN));
 		Tcl_SetErrorCode(interp, "TCL", "VALUE", "READLIMIT", NULL);
 		return TCL_ERROR;
 	    }
@@ -3337,7 +3344,7 @@ ZlibTransformGetOption(
 	    Tcl_DStringAppendElement(dsPtr, "-checksum");
 	    Tcl_DStringAppendElement(dsPtr, buf);
 	} else {
-	    Tcl_DStringAppend(dsPtr, buf, -1);
+	    Tcl_DStringAppend(dsPtr, buf, TCL_STRLEN);
 	    return TCL_OK;
 	}
     }
@@ -3667,7 +3674,8 @@ ZlibStackChannelTransform(
     }
     cd->chan = chan;
     cd->parent = Tcl_GetStackedChannel(chan);
-    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(Tcl_GetChannelName(chan), -1));
+    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(
+	    Tcl_GetChannelName(chan), TCL_STRLEN));
     return chan;
 
   error:
@@ -3764,7 +3772,7 @@ ResultCopy(
 static int
 ResultGenerate(
     ZlibChannelData *cd,
-    int n,
+    size_t n,
     int flush,
     int *errorCodePtr)
 {
@@ -3838,11 +3846,12 @@ ResultGenerate(
 
   handleError:
     errObj = Tcl_NewListObj(0, NULL);
-    Tcl_ListObjAppendElement(NULL, errObj, Tcl_NewStringObj("-errorcode",-1));
+    Tcl_ListObjAppendElement(NULL, errObj,
+	    Tcl_NewStringObj("-errorcode", TCL_STRLEN));
     Tcl_ListObjAppendElement(NULL, errObj,
 	    ConvertErrorToList(e, cd->inStream.adler));
     Tcl_ListObjAppendElement(NULL, errObj,
-	    Tcl_NewStringObj(cd->inStream.msg, -1));
+	    Tcl_NewStringObj(cd->inStream.msg, TCL_STRLEN));
     Tcl_SetChannelError(cd->parent, errObj);
     *errorCodePtr = EINVAL;
     return TCL_ERROR;
@@ -3910,7 +3919,7 @@ Tcl_ZlibStreamInit(
     Tcl_Obj *dictObj,
     Tcl_ZlibStream *zshandle)
 {
-    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj("unimplemented", -1));
+    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj("unimplemented", TCL_STRLEN));
     Tcl_SetErrorCode(interp, "TCL", "UNIMPLEMENTED", NULL);
     return TCL_ERROR;
 }
@@ -3976,7 +3985,7 @@ Tcl_ZlibDeflate(
     int level,
     Tcl_Obj *gzipHeaderDictObj)
 {
-    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj("unimplemented", -1));
+    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj("unimplemented", TCL_STRLEN));
     Tcl_SetErrorCode(interp, "TCL", "UNIMPLEMENTED", NULL);
     return TCL_ERROR;
 }
@@ -3989,7 +3998,7 @@ Tcl_ZlibInflate(
     int bufferSize,
     Tcl_Obj *gzipHeaderDictObj)
 {
-    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj("unimplemented", -1));
+    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj("unimplemented", TCL_STRLEN));
     Tcl_SetErrorCode(interp, "TCL", "UNIMPLEMENTED", NULL);
     return TCL_ERROR;
 }