1 files changed, 16 insertions, 19 deletions

diff --git a/generic/tclParse.c b/generic/tclParse.c
index 132e804..7f32cfa 100644
--- a/generic/tclParse.c
+++ b/generic/tclParse.c
@@ -220,6 +220,10 @@ Tcl_ParseCommand(
 				 * point to char after terminating one. */
     int scanned;
 
+    if (numBytes < 0 && start) {
+	numBytes = strlen(start);
+    }
+    TclParseInit(interp, start, numBytes, parsePtr);
     if ((start == NULL) && (numBytes != 0)) {
 	if (interp != NULL) {
 	    Tcl_SetObjResult(interp, Tcl_NewStringObj(
@@ -227,10 +231,6 @@ Tcl_ParseCommand(
 	}
 	return TCL_ERROR;
     }
-    if (numBytes < 0) {
-	numBytes = strlen(start);
-    }
-    TclParseInit(interp, start, numBytes, parsePtr);
     parsePtr->commentStart = NULL;
     parsePtr->commentSize = 0;
     parsePtr->commandStart = NULL;
@@ -1347,16 +1347,15 @@ Tcl_ParseVarName(
     int varIndex;
     unsigned array;
 
-    if ((numBytes == 0) || (start == NULL)) {
-	return TCL_ERROR;
-    }
-    if (numBytes < 0) {
+    if (numBytes < 0 && start) {
 	numBytes = strlen(start);
     }
-
     if (!append) {
 	TclParseInit(interp, start, numBytes, parsePtr);
     }
+    if ((numBytes == 0) || (start == NULL)) {
+	return TCL_ERROR;
+    }
 
     /*
      * Generate one token for the variable, an additional token for the name,
@@ -1629,16 +1628,15 @@ Tcl_ParseBraces(
     const char *src;
     int startIndex, level, length;
 
-    if ((numBytes == 0) || (start == NULL)) {
-	return TCL_ERROR;
-    }
-    if (numBytes < 0) {
+    if (numBytes < 0 && start) {
 	numBytes = strlen(start);
     }
-
     if (!append) {
 	TclParseInit(interp, start, numBytes, parsePtr);
     }
+    if ((numBytes == 0) || (start == NULL)) {
+	return TCL_ERROR;
+    }
 
     src = start;
     startIndex = parsePtr->numTokens;
@@ -1827,16 +1825,15 @@ Tcl_ParseQuotedString(
 				 * the quoted string's terminating close-quote
 				 * if the parse succeeds. */
 {
-    if ((numBytes == 0) || (start == NULL)) {
-	return TCL_ERROR;
-    }
-    if (numBytes < 0) {
+    if (numBytes < 0 && start) {
 	numBytes = strlen(start);
     }
-
     if (!append) {
 	TclParseInit(interp, start, numBytes, parsePtr);
     }
+    if ((numBytes == 0) || (start == NULL)) {
+	return TCL_ERROR;
+    }
 
     if (TCL_OK != ParseTokens(start+1, numBytes-1, TYPE_QUOTE, TCL_SUBST_ALL,
 	    parsePtr)) {