diff --git a/docs/json_tutorial.md b/docs/json_tutorial.md
index 65c6c78..668d9de 100644
--- a/docs/json_tutorial.md
+++ b/docs/json_tutorial.md
@@ -427,9 +427,9 @@ I measured memory consumption using a little script called [memusg](https://gist
 | Lark - Earley *(with lexer)* | 42s | 4s | 1167M | 608M |
 | Lark - LALR(1) | 8s | 1.53s | 453M | 266M |
 | Lark - LALR(1) tree-less | 4.76s | 1.23s | 70M | 134M |
-| PyParsing ([Parser](http://pyparsing.wikispaces.com/file/view/jsonParser.py)) | 32s | 3.53s | 443M | 225M |
-| funcparserlib ([Parser](https://github.com/vlasovskikh/funcparserlib/blob/master/funcparserlib/tests/json.py)) | 8.5s | 1.3s | 483M | 293M |
-| Parsimonious ([Parser](https://gist.githubusercontent.com/reclosedev/5222560/raw/5e97cf7eb62c3a3671885ec170577285e891f7d5/parsimonious_json.py)) | ? | 5.7s | ? | 1545M |
+| PyParsing ([Parser](https://github.com/pyparsing/pyparsing/blob/master/examples/jsonParser.py)) | 32s | 3.53s | 443M | 225M |
+| funcparserlib ([Parser](https://github.com/vlasovskikh/funcparserlib/blob/master/tests/json.py)) | 8.5s | 1.3s | 483M | 293M |
+| Parsimonious ([Parser](https://gist.github.com/reclosedev/5222560)) | ? | 5.7s | ? | 1545M |
 
 
 I added a few other parsers for comparison. PyParsing and funcparselib fair pretty well in their memory usage (they don't build a tree), but they can't compete with the run-time speed of LALR(1).
@@ -442,7 +442,7 @@ Once again, shout-out to PyPy for being so effective.
 
 This is the end of the tutorial. I hoped you liked it and learned a little about Lark.
 
-To see what else you can do with Lark, check out the [examples](examples).
+To see what else you can do with Lark, check out the [examples](/examples).
 
 For questions or any other subject, feel free to email me at erezshin at gmail dot com.
 
diff --git a/lark-stubs/lark.pyi b/lark-stubs/lark.pyi
index 27c6863..18748d1 100644
--- a/lark-stubs/lark.pyi
+++ b/lark-stubs/lark.pyi
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ class LarkOptions:
     regex: bool
     debug: bool
     keep_all_tokens: bool
-    propagate_positions: Union[bool, str]
+    propagate_positions: Union[bool, Callable]
     maybe_placeholders: bool
     lexer_callbacks: Dict[str, Callable[[Token], Token]]
     cache: Union[bool, str]
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ class Lark:
         regex: bool = False,
         debug: bool = False,
         keep_all_tokens: bool = False,
-        propagate_positions: Union[bool, str] = False,
+        propagate_positions: Union[bool, Callable] = False,
         maybe_placeholders: bool = False,
         lexer_callbacks: Optional[Dict[str, Callable[[Token], Token]]] = None,
         cache: Union[bool, str] = False,
diff --git a/lark/common.py b/lark/common.py
index 467acf8..cb408d9 100644
--- a/lark/common.py
+++ b/lark/common.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 from warnings import warn
+from copy import deepcopy
 
 from .utils import Serialize
 from .lexer import TerminalDef
@@ -31,6 +32,17 @@ class LexerConf(Serialize):
     def _deserialize(self):
         self.terminals_by_name = {t.name: t for t in self.terminals}
 
+    def __deepcopy__(self, memo=None):
+        return type(self)(
+            deepcopy(self.terminals, memo),
+            self.re_module,
+            deepcopy(self.ignore, memo),
+            deepcopy(self.postlex, memo),
+            deepcopy(self.callbacks, memo),
+            deepcopy(self.g_regex_flags, memo),
+            deepcopy(self.skip_validation, memo),
+            deepcopy(self.use_bytes, memo),
+        )
 
 
 class ParserConf(Serialize):
diff --git a/lark/exceptions.py b/lark/exceptions.py
index 26ffce3..9d326b8 100644
--- a/lark/exceptions.py
+++ b/lark/exceptions.py
@@ -129,6 +129,8 @@ class UnexpectedInput(LarkError):
 
 class UnexpectedEOF(ParseError, UnexpectedInput):
     def __init__(self, expected, state=None, terminals_by_name=None):
+        super(UnexpectedEOF, self).__init__()
+
         self.expected = expected
         self.state = state
         from .lexer import Token
@@ -138,7 +140,6 @@ class UnexpectedEOF(ParseError, UnexpectedInput):
         self.column = -1
         self._terminals_by_name = terminals_by_name
 
-        super(UnexpectedEOF, self).__init__()
 
     def __str__(self):
         message = "Unexpected end-of-input. "
@@ -149,6 +150,8 @@ class UnexpectedEOF(ParseError, UnexpectedInput):
 class UnexpectedCharacters(LexError, UnexpectedInput):
     def __init__(self, seq, lex_pos, line, column, allowed=None, considered_tokens=None, state=None, token_history=None,
                  terminals_by_name=None, considered_rules=None):
+        super(UnexpectedCharacters, self).__init__()
+
         # TODO considered_tokens and allowed can be figured out using state
         self.line = line
         self.column = column
@@ -167,7 +170,6 @@ class UnexpectedCharacters(LexError, UnexpectedInput):
             self.char = seq[lex_pos]
         self._context = self.get_context(seq)
 
-        super(UnexpectedCharacters, self).__init__()
 
     def __str__(self):
         message = "No terminal matches '%s' in the current parser context, at line %d col %d" % (self.char, self.line, self.column)
@@ -190,6 +192,8 @@ class UnexpectedToken(ParseError, UnexpectedInput):
     """
 
     def __init__(self, token, expected, considered_rules=None, state=None, interactive_parser=None, terminals_by_name=None, token_history=None):
+        super(UnexpectedToken, self).__init__()
+        
         # TODO considered_rules and expected can be figured out using state
         self.line = getattr(token, 'line', '?')
         self.column = getattr(token, 'column', '?')
@@ -204,7 +208,6 @@ class UnexpectedToken(ParseError, UnexpectedInput):
         self._terminals_by_name = terminals_by_name
         self.token_history = token_history
 
-        super(UnexpectedToken, self).__init__()
 
     @property
     def accepts(self):
@@ -236,10 +239,10 @@ class VisitError(LarkError):
     """
 
     def __init__(self, rule, obj, orig_exc):
-        self.obj = obj
-        self.orig_exc = orig_exc
-
         message = 'Error trying to process rule "%s":\n\n%s' % (rule, orig_exc)
         super(VisitError, self).__init__(message)
 
+        self.obj = obj
+        self.orig_exc = orig_exc
+
 ###}
diff --git a/lark/lark.py b/lark/lark.py
index 8e879cc..9a4b2d5 100644
--- a/lark/lark.py
+++ b/lark/lark.py
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ class LarkOptions(Serialize):
             Applies the transformer to every parse tree (equivalent to applying it after the parse, but faster)
     propagate_positions
             Propagates (line, column, end_line, end_column) attributes into all tree branches.
-            Accepts ``False``, ``True``, or "ignore_ws", which will trim the whitespace around your trees. 
+            Accepts ``False``, ``True``, or a callable, which will filter which nodes to ignore when propagating.
     maybe_placeholders
             When ``True``, the ``[]`` operator returns ``None`` when not matched.
 
@@ -162,7 +162,7 @@ class LarkOptions(Serialize):
         assert_config(self.parser, ('earley', 'lalr', 'cyk', None))
 
         if self.parser == 'earley' and self.transformer:
-            raise ConfigurationError('Cannot specify an embedded transformer when using the Earley algorithm.'
+            raise ConfigurationError('Cannot specify an embedded transformer when using the Earley algorithm. '
                              'Please use your transformer on the resulting parse tree, or use a different algorithm (i.e. LALR)')
 
         if o:
@@ -451,11 +451,11 @@ class Lark(Serialize):
             d = f
         else:
             d = pickle.load(f)
-        memo = d['memo']
+        memo_json = d['memo']
         data = d['data']
 
-        assert memo
-        memo = SerializeMemoizer.deserialize(memo, {'Rule': Rule, 'TerminalDef': TerminalDef}, {})
+        assert memo_json
+        memo = SerializeMemoizer.deserialize(memo_json, {'Rule': Rule, 'TerminalDef': TerminalDef}, {})
         options = dict(data['options'])
         if (set(kwargs) - _LOAD_ALLOWED_OPTIONS) & set(LarkOptions._defaults):
             raise ConfigurationError("Some options are not allowed when loading a Parser: {}"
@@ -512,11 +512,11 @@ class Lark(Serialize):
 
             Lark.open_from_package(__name__, "example.lark", ("grammars",), parser=...)
         """
-        package = FromPackageLoader(package, search_paths)
-        full_path, text = package(None, grammar_path)
+        package_loader = FromPackageLoader(package, search_paths)
+        full_path, text = package_loader(None, grammar_path)
         options.setdefault('source_path', full_path)
         options.setdefault('import_paths', [])
-        options['import_paths'].append(package)
+        options['import_paths'].append(package_loader)
         return cls(text, **options)
 
     def __repr__(self):
diff --git a/lark/lexer.py b/lark/lexer.py
index a2aefd2..7c2f979 100644
--- a/lark/lexer.py
+++ b/lark/lexer.py
@@ -120,33 +120,33 @@ class Token(Str):
     Attributes:
         type: Name of the token (as specified in grammar)
         value: Value of the token (redundant, as ``token.value == token`` will always be true)
-        pos_in_stream: The index of the token in the text
+        start_pos: The index of the token in the text
         line: The line of the token in the text (starting with 1)
         column: The column of the token in the text (starting with 1)
         end_line: The line where the token ends
         end_column: The next column after the end of the token. For example,
             if the token is a single character with a column value of 4,
             end_column will be 5.
-        end_pos: the index where the token ends (basically ``pos_in_stream + len(token)``)
+        end_pos: the index where the token ends (basically ``start_pos + len(token)``)
     """
     __slots__ = ('type', 'start_pos', 'value', 'line', 'column', 'end_line', 'end_column', 'end_pos')
 
     def __new__(cls, type_, value, start_pos=None, line=None, column=None, end_line=None, end_column=None, end_pos=None, pos_in_stream=None):
         try:
-            self = super(Token, cls).__new__(cls, value)
+            inst = super(Token, cls).__new__(cls, value)
         except UnicodeDecodeError:
             value = value.decode('latin1')
-            self = super(Token, cls).__new__(cls, value)
-
-        self.type = type_
-        self.start_pos = start_pos if start_pos is not None else pos_in_stream
-        self.value = value
-        self.line = line
-        self.column = column
-        self.end_line = end_line
-        self.end_column = end_column
-        self.end_pos = end_pos
-        return self
+            inst = super(Token, cls).__new__(cls, value)
+
+        inst.type = type_
+        inst.start_pos = start_pos if start_pos is not None else pos_in_stream
+        inst.value = value
+        inst.line = line
+        inst.column = column
+        inst.end_line = end_line
+        inst.end_column = end_column
+        inst.end_pos = end_pos
+        return inst
 
     @property
     def pos_in_stream(self):
@@ -214,15 +214,13 @@ class LineCounter:
 
 
 class UnlessCallback:
-    def __init__(self, mres):
-        self.mres = mres
+    def __init__(self, scanner):
+        self.scanner = scanner
 
     def __call__(self, t):
-        for mre, type_from_index in self.mres:
-            m = mre.match(t.value)
-            if m:
-                t.type = type_from_index[m.lastindex]
-                break
+        res = self.scanner.match(t.value, 0)
+        if res:
+            _value, t.type = res
         return t
 
 
@@ -237,6 +235,11 @@ class CallChain:
         return self.callback2(t) if self.cond(t2) else t2
 
 
+def _get_match(re_, regexp, s, flags):
+    m = re_.match(regexp, s, flags)
+    if m:
+        return m.group(0)
+
 def _create_unless(terminals, g_regex_flags, re_, use_bytes):
     tokens_by_type = classify(terminals, lambda t: type(t.pattern))
     assert len(tokens_by_type) <= 2, tokens_by_type.keys()
@@ -248,40 +251,54 @@ def _create_unless(terminals, g_regex_flags, re_, use_bytes):
             if strtok.priority > retok.priority:
                 continue
             s = strtok.pattern.value
-            m = re_.match(retok.pattern.to_regexp(), s, g_regex_flags)
-            if m and m.group(0) == s:
+            if s == _get_match(re_, retok.pattern.to_regexp(), s, g_regex_flags):
                 unless.append(strtok)
                 if strtok.pattern.flags <= retok.pattern.flags:
                     embedded_strs.add(strtok)
         if unless:
-            callback[retok.name] = UnlessCallback(build_mres(unless, g_regex_flags, re_, match_whole=True, use_bytes=use_bytes))
-
-    terminals = [t for t in terminals if t not in embedded_strs]
-    return terminals, callback
-
-
-def _build_mres(terminals, max_size, g_regex_flags, match_whole, re_, use_bytes):
-    # Python sets an unreasonable group limit (currently 100) in its re module
-    # Worse, the only way to know we reached it is by catching an AssertionError!
-    # This function recursively tries less and less groups until it's successful.
-    postfix = '$' if match_whole else ''
-    mres = []
-    while terminals:
-        pattern = u'|'.join(u'(?P<%s>%s)' % (t.name, t.pattern.to_regexp() + postfix) for t in terminals[:max_size])
-        if use_bytes:
-            pattern = pattern.encode('latin-1')
-        try:
-            mre = re_.compile(pattern, g_regex_flags)
-        except AssertionError:  # Yes, this is what Python provides us.. :/
-            return _build_mres(terminals, max_size//2, g_regex_flags, match_whole, re_, use_bytes)
+            callback[retok.name] = UnlessCallback(Scanner(unless, g_regex_flags, re_, match_whole=True, use_bytes=use_bytes))
 
-        mres.append((mre, {i: n for n, i in mre.groupindex.items()}))
-        terminals = terminals[max_size:]
-    return mres
+    new_terminals = [t for t in terminals if t not in embedded_strs]
+    return new_terminals, callback
 
 
-def build_mres(terminals, g_regex_flags, re_, use_bytes, match_whole=False):
-    return _build_mres(terminals, len(terminals), g_regex_flags, match_whole, re_, use_bytes)
+
+class Scanner:
+    def __init__(self, terminals, g_regex_flags, re_, use_bytes, match_whole=False):
+        self.terminals = terminals
+        self.g_regex_flags = g_regex_flags
+        self.re_ = re_
+        self.use_bytes = use_bytes
+        self.match_whole = match_whole
+
+        self.allowed_types = {t.name for t in self.terminals}
+
+        self._mres = self._build_mres(terminals, len(terminals))
+
+    def _build_mres(self, terminals, max_size):
+        # Python sets an unreasonable group limit (currently 100) in its re module
+        # Worse, the only way to know we reached it is by catching an AssertionError!
+        # This function recursively tries less and less groups until it's successful.
+        postfix = '$' if self.match_whole else ''
+        mres = []
+        while terminals:
+            pattern = u'|'.join(u'(?P<%s>%s)' % (t.name, t.pattern.to_regexp() + postfix) for t in terminals[:max_size])
+            if self.use_bytes:
+                pattern = pattern.encode('latin-1')
+            try:
+                mre = self.re_.compile(pattern, self.g_regex_flags)
+            except AssertionError:  # Yes, this is what Python provides us.. :/
+                return self._build_mres(terminals, max_size//2)
+
+            mres.append((mre, {i: n for n, i in mre.groupindex.items()}))
+            terminals = terminals[max_size:]
+        return mres
+
+    def match(self, text, pos):
+        for mre, type_from_index in self._mres:
+            m = mre.match(text, pos)
+            if m:
+                return m.group(0), type_from_index[m.lastindex]
 
 
 def _regexp_has_newline(r):
@@ -341,9 +358,9 @@ class TraditionalLexer(Lexer):
         self.use_bytes = conf.use_bytes
         self.terminals_by_name = conf.terminals_by_name
 
-        self._mres = None
+        self._scanner = None
 
-    def _build(self):
+    def _build_scanner(self):
         terminals, self.callback = _create_unless(self.terminals, self.g_regex_flags, self.re, self.use_bytes)
         assert all(self.callback.values())
 
@@ -354,19 +371,16 @@ class TraditionalLexer(Lexer):
             else:
                 self.callback[type_] = f
 
-        self._mres = build_mres(terminals, self.g_regex_flags, self.re, self.use_bytes)
+        self._scanner = Scanner(terminals, self.g_regex_flags, self.re, self.use_bytes)
 
     @property
-    def mres(self):
-        if self._mres is None:
-            self._build()
-        return self._mres
+    def scanner(self):
+        if self._scanner is None:
+            self._build_scanner()
+        return self._scanner
 
     def match(self, text, pos):
-        for mre, type_from_index in self.mres:
-            m = mre.match(text, pos)
-            if m:
-                return m.group(0), type_from_index[m.lastindex]
+        return self.scanner.match(text, pos)
 
     def lex(self, state, parser_state):
         with suppress(EOFError):
@@ -378,7 +392,7 @@ class TraditionalLexer(Lexer):
         while line_ctr.char_pos < len(lex_state.text):
             res = self.match(lex_state.text, line_ctr.char_pos)
             if not res:
-                allowed = {v for m, tfi in self.mres for v in tfi.values()} - self.ignore_types
+                allowed = self.scanner.allowed_types - self.ignore_types
                 if not allowed:
                     allowed = {"<END-OF-FILE>"}
                 raise UnexpectedCharacters(lex_state.text, line_ctr.char_pos, line_ctr.line, line_ctr.column,
diff --git a/lark/parse_tree_builder.py b/lark/parse_tree_builder.py
index 7a854bc..286038e 100644
--- a/lark/parse_tree_builder.py
+++ b/lark/parse_tree_builder.py
@@ -23,54 +23,59 @@ class ExpandSingleChild:
 
 
 class PropagatePositions:
-    def __init__(self, node_builder):
+    def __init__(self, node_builder, node_filter=None):
         self.node_builder = node_builder
+        self.node_filter = node_filter
 
     def __call__(self, children):
         res = self.node_builder(children)
 
-        # local reference to Tree.meta reduces number of presence checks
         if isinstance(res, Tree):
-            res_meta = res.meta
+            # Calculate positions while the tree is streaming, according to the rule:
+            # - nodes start at the start of their first child's container,
+            #   and end at the end of their last child's container.
+            # Containers are nodes that take up space in text, but have been inlined in the tree.
 
-            src_meta = self._pp_get_meta(children)
-            if src_meta is not None:
-                res_meta.line = src_meta.line
-                res_meta.column = src_meta.column
-                res_meta.start_pos = src_meta.start_pos
-                res_meta.empty = False
+            res_meta = res.meta
 
-            src_meta = self._pp_get_meta(reversed(children))
-            if src_meta is not None:
-                res_meta.end_line = src_meta.end_line
-                res_meta.end_column = src_meta.end_column
-                res_meta.end_pos = src_meta.end_pos
-                res_meta.empty = False
+            first_meta = self._pp_get_meta(children)
+            if first_meta is not None:
+                if not hasattr(res_meta, 'line'):
+                    # meta was already set, probably because the rule has been inlined (e.g. `?rule`)
+                    res_meta.line = getattr(first_meta, 'container_line', first_meta.line)
+                    res_meta.column = getattr(first_meta, 'container_column', first_meta.column)
+                    res_meta.start_pos = getattr(first_meta, 'container_start_pos', first_meta.start_pos)
+                    res_meta.empty = False
+
+                res_meta.container_line = getattr(first_meta, 'container_line', first_meta.line)
+                res_meta.container_column = getattr(first_meta, 'container_column', first_meta.column)
+
+            last_meta = self._pp_get_meta(reversed(children))
+            if last_meta is not None:
+                if not hasattr(res_meta, 'end_line'):
+                    res_meta.end_line = getattr(last_meta, 'container_end_line', last_meta.end_line)
+                    res_meta.end_column = getattr(last_meta, 'container_end_column', last_meta.end_column)
+                    res_meta.end_pos = getattr(last_meta, 'container_end_pos', last_meta.end_pos)
+                    res_meta.empty = False
+
+                res_meta.container_end_line = getattr(last_meta, 'container_end_line', last_meta.end_line)
+                res_meta.container_end_column = getattr(last_meta, 'container_end_column', last_meta.end_column)
 
         return res
 
     def _pp_get_meta(self, children):
         for c in children:
+            if self.node_filter is not None and not self.node_filter(c):
+                continue
             if isinstance(c, Tree):
                 if not c.meta.empty:
                     return c.meta
             elif isinstance(c, Token):
                 return c
 
-class PropagatePositions_IgnoreWs(PropagatePositions):
-    def _pp_get_meta(self, children):
-        for c in children:
-            if isinstance(c, Tree):
-                if not c.meta.empty:
-                    return c.meta
-            elif isinstance(c, Token):
-                if c and not c.isspace():     # Disregard whitespace-only tokens
-                    return c
-
-
 def make_propagate_positions(option):
-    if option == "ignore_ws":
-        return PropagatePositions_IgnoreWs
+    if callable(option):
+        return partial(PropagatePositions, node_filter=option)
     elif option is True:
         return PropagatePositions
     elif option is False:
diff --git a/lark/parser_frontends.py b/lark/parser_frontends.py
index e066d9a..0e53dd5 100644
--- a/lark/parser_frontends.py
+++ b/lark/parser_frontends.py
@@ -39,8 +39,7 @@ class MakeParsingFrontend:
         lexer_conf.lexer_type = self.lexer_type
         return ParsingFrontend(lexer_conf, parser_conf, options)
 
-    @classmethod
-    def deserialize(cls, data, memo, lexer_conf, callbacks, options):
+    def deserialize(self, data, memo, lexer_conf, callbacks, options):
         parser_conf = ParserConf.deserialize(data['parser_conf'], memo)
         parser = LALR_Parser.deserialize(data['parser'], memo, callbacks, options.debug)
         parser_conf.callbacks = callbacks
@@ -92,26 +91,26 @@ class ParsingFrontend(Serialize):
     
     def _verify_start(self, start=None):
         if start is None:
-            start = self.parser_conf.start
-            if len(start) > 1:
-                raise ConfigurationError("Lark initialized with more than 1 possible start rule. Must specify which start rule to parse", start)
-            start ,= start
+            start_decls = self.parser_conf.start
+            if len(start_decls) > 1:
+                raise ConfigurationError("Lark initialized with more than 1 possible start rule. Must specify which start rule to parse", start_decls)
+            start ,= start_decls
         elif start not in self.parser_conf.start:
             raise ConfigurationError("Unknown start rule %s. Must be one of %r" % (start, self.parser_conf.start))
         return start
 
     def parse(self, text, start=None, on_error=None):
-        start = self._verify_start(start)
+        chosen_start = self._verify_start(start)
         stream = text if self.skip_lexer else LexerThread(self.lexer, text)
         kw = {} if on_error is None else {'on_error': on_error}
-        return self.parser.parse(stream, start, **kw)
+        return self.parser.parse(stream, chosen_start, **kw)
     
     def parse_interactive(self, text=None, start=None):
-        start = self._verify_start(start)
+        chosen_start = self._verify_start(start)
         if self.parser_conf.parser_type != 'lalr':
             raise ConfigurationError("parse_interactive() currently only works with parser='lalr' ")
         stream = text if self.skip_lexer else LexerThread(self.lexer, text)
-        return self.parser.parse_interactive(stream, start)
+        return self.parser.parse_interactive(stream, chosen_start)
 
 
 def get_frontend(parser, lexer):
diff --git a/lark/parsers/lalr_parser.py b/lark/parsers/lalr_parser.py
index fe40791..d916b46 100644
--- a/lark/parsers/lalr_parser.py
+++ b/lark/parsers/lalr_parser.py
@@ -178,8 +178,8 @@ class _Parser(object):
             for token in state.lexer.lex(state):
                 state.feed_token(token)
 
-            token = Token.new_borrow_pos('$END', '', token) if token else Token('$END', '', 0, 1, 1)
-            return state.feed_token(token, True)
+            end_token = Token.new_borrow_pos('$END', '', token) if token else Token('$END', '', 0, 1, 1)
+            return state.feed_token(end_token, True)
         except UnexpectedInput as e:
             try:
                 e.interactive_parser = InteractiveParser(self, state, state.lexer)
diff --git a/lark/utils.py b/lark/utils.py
index 70516e6..ea78801 100644
--- a/lark/utils.py
+++ b/lark/utils.py
@@ -73,14 +73,13 @@ class Serialize(object):
         fields = getattr(self, '__serialize_fields__')
         res = {f: _serialize(getattr(self, f), memo) for f in fields}
         res['__type__'] = type(self).__name__
-        postprocess = getattr(self, '_serialize', None)
-        if postprocess:
-            postprocess(res, memo)
+        if hasattr(self, '_serialize'):
+            self._serialize(res, memo)
         return res
 
     @classmethod
     def deserialize(cls, data, memo):
-        namespace = getattr(cls, '__serialize_namespace__', {})
+        namespace = getattr(cls, '__serialize_namespace__', [])
         namespace = {c.__name__:c for c in namespace}
 
         fields = getattr(cls, '__serialize_fields__')
@@ -94,9 +93,10 @@ class Serialize(object):
                 setattr(inst, f, _deserialize(data[f], namespace, memo))
             except KeyError as e:
                 raise KeyError("Cannot find key for class", cls, e)
-        postprocess = getattr(inst, '_deserialize', None)
-        if postprocess:
-            postprocess()
+
+        if hasattr(inst, '_deserialize'):
+            inst._deserialize()
+
         return inst
 
 
@@ -241,17 +241,6 @@ except ImportError:
             pass
 
 
-try:
-    compare = cmp
-except NameError:
-    def compare(a, b):
-        if a == b:
-            return 0
-        elif a > b:
-            return 1
-        return -1
-
-
 class Enumerator(Serialize):
     def __init__(self):
         self.enums = {}
diff --git a/tests/test_parser.py b/tests/test_parser.py
index 58b1ef5..1c3581c 100644
--- a/tests/test_parser.py
+++ b/tests/test_parser.py
@@ -94,6 +94,26 @@ class TestParsers(unittest.TestCase):
         r = g.parse('a')
         self.assertEqual( r.children[0].meta.line, 1 )
 
+    def test_propagate_positions2(self):
+        g = Lark("""start: a
+                    a: b
+                    ?b: "(" t ")"
+                    !t: "t"
+                 """, propagate_positions=True)
+
+        start = g.parse("(t)")
+        a ,= start.children
+        t ,= a.children
+        assert t.children[0] == "t"
+
+        assert t.meta.column == 2
+        assert t.meta.end_column == 3
+
+        assert start.meta.column == a.meta.column == 1
+        assert start.meta.end_column == a.meta.end_column == 4
+
+
+
     def test_expand1(self):
 
         g = Lark("""start: a