diff --git a/src/Buffer.test.ts b/src/Buffer.test.ts
index 5a43a5fe..1bd1ea38 100644
--- a/src/Buffer.test.ts
+++ b/src/Buffer.test.ts
@@ -355,33 +355,26 @@ describe('Buffer', () => {
       terminal.write = (s: string): void => {
         oldWrite(s);
         (terminal as any)._innerWrite();
-      }
+      };
     });
-    function wholeString(terminal: ITerminal, range : {first: number, last: number}): string {
-      let result = '';
-      for (let i = range.first; i <= range.last; ++i) {
-        result += terminal.buffer.translateBufferLineToString(i, i == range.last);
-      }
-      return result;
-    }
     it('multiline ascii', function(): void {
       const input = 'This is ASCII text spanning multiple lines.';
       terminal.write(input);
-      const s = wholeString(terminal, terminal.buffer.getWrappedRangeForLine(0));
+      const s = terminal.buffer.contents(true).toArray()[0];
       assert.equal(input, s);
       for (let i = 0; i < input.length; ++i) {
         const bufferIndex = terminal.buffer.stringIndexToBufferIndex(0, i);
-        assert.deepEqual([(i/terminal.cols) | 0, i % terminal.cols], bufferIndex);
+        assert.deepEqual([(i / terminal.cols) | 0, i % terminal.cols], bufferIndex);
       }
     });
     it('combining e\u0301 in a sentence', function(): void {
       const input = 'Sitting in the cafe\u0301 drinking coffee.';
       terminal.write(input);
-      const s = wholeString(terminal, terminal.buffer.getWrappedRangeForLine(0));
+      const s = terminal.buffer.contents(true).toArray()[0];
       assert.equal(input, s);
       for (let i = 0; i < 19; ++i) {
         const bufferIndex = terminal.buffer.stringIndexToBufferIndex(0, i);
-        assert.deepEqual([(i/terminal.cols) | 0, i % terminal.cols], bufferIndex);
+        assert.deepEqual([(i / terminal.cols) | 0, i % terminal.cols], bufferIndex);
       }
       // string index 18 & 19 point to combining char e\u0301 ---> same buffer Index
       assert.deepEqual(
@@ -390,28 +383,28 @@ describe('Buffer', () => {
       // after the combining char every string index has an offset of -1
       for (let i = 19; i < input.length; ++i) {
         const bufferIndex = terminal.buffer.stringIndexToBufferIndex(0, i);
-        assert.deepEqual([((i - 1)/terminal.cols) | 0, (i - 1) % terminal.cols], bufferIndex);
+        assert.deepEqual([((i - 1) / terminal.cols) | 0, (i - 1) % terminal.cols], bufferIndex);
       }
     });
     it('multiline combining e\u0301', function(): void {
       const input = 'e\u0301e\u0301e\u0301e\u0301e\u0301e\u0301e\u0301e\u0301e\u0301e\u0301e\u0301e\u0301e\u0301e\u0301e\u0301';
       terminal.write(input);
-      const s = wholeString(terminal, terminal.buffer.getWrappedRangeForLine(0));
+      const s = terminal.buffer.contents(true).toArray()[0];
       assert.equal(input, s);
-      // every buffer cell index contains 2 string indices 
+      // every buffer cell index contains 2 string indices
       for (let i = 0; i < input.length; ++i) {
         const bufferIndex = terminal.buffer.stringIndexToBufferIndex(0, i);
-        assert.deepEqual([((i >> 1)/terminal.cols) | 0, (i >> 1) % terminal.cols], bufferIndex);
+        assert.deepEqual([((i >> 1) / terminal.cols) | 0, (i >> 1) % terminal.cols], bufferIndex);
       }
     });
     it('surrogate char in a sentence', function(): void {
       const input = 'The 𝄞 is a clef widely used in modern notation.';
       terminal.write(input);
-      const s = wholeString(terminal, terminal.buffer.getWrappedRangeForLine(0));
+      const s = terminal.buffer.contents(true).toArray()[0];
       assert.equal(input, s);
       for (let i = 0; i < 5; ++i) {
         const bufferIndex = terminal.buffer.stringIndexToBufferIndex(0, i);
-        assert.deepEqual([(i/terminal.cols) | 0, i % terminal.cols], bufferIndex);
+        assert.deepEqual([(i / terminal.cols) | 0, i % terminal.cols], bufferIndex);
       }
       // string index 4 & 5 point to surrogate char 𝄞 ---> same buffer Index
       assert.deepEqual(
@@ -420,53 +413,53 @@ describe('Buffer', () => {
       // after the combining char every string index has an offset of -1
       for (let i = 5; i < input.length; ++i) {
         const bufferIndex = terminal.buffer.stringIndexToBufferIndex(0, i);
-        assert.deepEqual([((i - 1)/terminal.cols) | 0, (i - 1) % terminal.cols], bufferIndex);
+        assert.deepEqual([((i - 1) / terminal.cols) | 0, (i - 1) % terminal.cols], bufferIndex);
       }
     });
     it('multiline surrogate char', function(): void {
       const input = '𝄞𝄞𝄞𝄞𝄞𝄞𝄞𝄞𝄞𝄞𝄞𝄞𝄞𝄞𝄞𝄞𝄞𝄞𝄞𝄞𝄞𝄞𝄞𝄞𝄞𝄞𝄞';
       terminal.write(input);
-      const s = wholeString(terminal, terminal.buffer.getWrappedRangeForLine(0));
+      const s = terminal.buffer.contents(true).toArray()[0];
       assert.equal(input, s);
-      // every buffer cell index contains 2 string indices 
+      // every buffer cell index contains 2 string indices
       for (let i = 0; i < input.length; ++i) {
         const bufferIndex = terminal.buffer.stringIndexToBufferIndex(0, i);
-        assert.deepEqual([((i >> 1)/terminal.cols) | 0, (i >> 1) % terminal.cols], bufferIndex);
+        assert.deepEqual([((i >> 1) / terminal.cols) | 0, (i >> 1) % terminal.cols], bufferIndex);
       }
     });
     it('surrogate char with combining', function(): void {
       // eye of Ra with acute accent - string length of 3
       const input = '𓂀\u0301 - the eye hiroglyph with an acute accent.';
       terminal.write(input);
-      const s = wholeString(terminal, terminal.buffer.getWrappedRangeForLine(0));
+      const s = terminal.buffer.contents(true).toArray()[0];
       assert.equal(input, s);
       // index 0..2 should map to 0
       assert.deepEqual([0, 0], terminal.buffer.stringIndexToBufferIndex(0, 1));
       assert.deepEqual([0, 0], terminal.buffer.stringIndexToBufferIndex(0, 2));
       for (let i = 2; i < input.length; ++i) {
         const bufferIndex = terminal.buffer.stringIndexToBufferIndex(0, i);
-        assert.deepEqual([((i - 2)/terminal.cols) | 0, (i - 2) % terminal.cols], bufferIndex);
+        assert.deepEqual([((i - 2) / terminal.cols) | 0, (i - 2) % terminal.cols], bufferIndex);
       }
     });
     it('multiline surrogate with combining', function(): void {
       const input = '𓂀\u0301𓂀\u0301𓂀\u0301𓂀\u0301𓂀\u0301𓂀\u0301𓂀\u0301𓂀\u0301𓂀\u0301𓂀\u0301𓂀\u0301𓂀\u0301𓂀\u0301𓂀\u0301';
       terminal.write(input);
-      const s = wholeString(terminal, terminal.buffer.getWrappedRangeForLine(0));
+      const s = terminal.buffer.contents(true).toArray()[0];
       assert.equal(input, s);
-      // every buffer cell index contains 3 string indices 
+      // every buffer cell index contains 3 string indices
       for (let i = 0; i < input.length; ++i) {
         const bufferIndex = terminal.buffer.stringIndexToBufferIndex(0, i);
-        assert.deepEqual([(((i / 3) | 0) /terminal.cols) | 0, ((i / 3) | 0) % terminal.cols], bufferIndex);
+        assert.deepEqual([(((i / 3) | 0) / terminal.cols) | 0, ((i / 3) | 0) % terminal.cols], bufferIndex);
       }
     });
     it('fullwidth chars', function(): void {
       const input = 'These １２３ are some fat numbers.';
       terminal.write(input);
-      const s = wholeString(terminal, terminal.buffer.getWrappedRangeForLine(0));
+      const s = terminal.buffer.contents(true).toArray()[0];
       assert.equal(input, s);
       for (let i = 0; i < 6; ++i) {
         const bufferIndex = terminal.buffer.stringIndexToBufferIndex(0, i);
-        assert.deepEqual([(i/terminal.cols) | 0, i % terminal.cols], bufferIndex);
+        assert.deepEqual([(i / terminal.cols) | 0, i % terminal.cols], bufferIndex);
       }
       // string index 6, 7, 8 take 2 cells
       assert.deepEqual([0, 8], terminal.buffer.stringIndexToBufferIndex(0, 7));
@@ -474,23 +467,23 @@ describe('Buffer', () => {
       // rest of the string has offset of +3
       for (let i = 9; i < input.length; ++i) {
         const bufferIndex = terminal.buffer.stringIndexToBufferIndex(0, i);
-        assert.deepEqual([((i + 3)/terminal.cols) | 0, (i + 3) % terminal.cols], bufferIndex);
+        assert.deepEqual([((i + 3) / terminal.cols) | 0, (i + 3) % terminal.cols], bufferIndex);
       }
     });
     it('multiline fullwidth chars', function(): void {
       const input = '１２３４５６７８９０１２３４５６７８９０';
       terminal.write(input);
-      const s = wholeString(terminal, terminal.buffer.getWrappedRangeForLine(0));
+      const s = terminal.buffer.contents(true).toArray()[0];
       assert.equal(input, s);
       for (let i = 9; i < input.length; ++i) {
         const bufferIndex = terminal.buffer.stringIndexToBufferIndex(0, i);
-        assert.deepEqual([((i << 1)/terminal.cols) | 0, (i << 1) % terminal.cols], bufferIndex);
+        assert.deepEqual([((i << 1) / terminal.cols) | 0, (i << 1) % terminal.cols], bufferIndex);
       }
     });
     it('fullwidth combining with emoji - match emoji cell', function(): void {
       const input = 'Lots of ￥\u0301 make me 😃.';
       terminal.write(input);
-      const s = wholeString(terminal, terminal.buffer.getWrappedRangeForLine(0));
+      const s = terminal.buffer.contents(true).toArray()[0];
       assert.equal(input, s);
       const stringIndex = s.match(/😃/).index;
       const bufferIndex = terminal.buffer.stringIndexToBufferIndex(0, stringIndex);
diff --git a/src/Buffer.ts b/src/Buffer.ts
index cb7d3b87..bc146a15 100644
--- a/src/Buffer.ts
+++ b/src/Buffer.ts
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
  */
 
 import { CircularList } from './common/CircularList';
-import { CharData, ITerminal, IBuffer, IBufferLine } from './Types';
+import { CharData, ITerminal, IBuffer, IBufferLine, BufferIndex, IBufferStringIterator } from './Types';
 import { EventEmitter } from './common/EventEmitter';
 import { IMarker } from 'xterm';
 import { BufferLine } from './BufferLine';
@@ -194,12 +194,12 @@ export class Buffer implements IBuffer {
     this.scrollBottom = newRows - 1;
   }
 
-  public stringIndexToBufferIndex(lineIndex: number, stringIndex: number): number[] {
+  public stringIndexToBufferIndex(lineIndex: number, stringIndex: number): BufferIndex {
     if (!stringIndex) {
       return [lineIndex, 0];
     }
     while (stringIndex) {
-      let line = this.lines.get(lineIndex);
+      const line = this.lines.get(lineIndex);
       if (!line) {
         [-1, -1];
       }
@@ -360,6 +360,10 @@ export class Buffer implements IBuffer {
     // TODO: This could probably be optimized by relying on sort order and trimming the array using .length
     this.markers.splice(this.markers.indexOf(marker), 1);
   }
+
+  public contents(trimRight: boolean, startIndex?: number, endIndex?: number): IBufferStringIterator {
+    return new BufferStringIterator(this, trimRight, startIndex, endIndex);
+  }
 }
 
 export class Marker extends EventEmitter implements IMarker {
@@ -386,3 +390,34 @@ export class Marker extends EventEmitter implements IMarker {
     super.dispose();
   }
 }
+
+export class BufferStringIterator implements IBufferStringIterator {
+  private _start: number;
+  private _end: number;
+  private _current: number;
+  constructor (private _buffer: IBuffer, private _trimRight: boolean, startIndex?: number, endIndex?: number) {
+    this._start = startIndex || 0;
+    this._end = endIndex || this._buffer.lines.length;
+    this._current = this._start;
+  }
+  public hasNext(): boolean {
+    return this._current < this._end;
+  }
+  public next(withRanges: boolean = false): string | [{first: number, last: number}, string] {
+    const range = this._buffer.getWrappedRangeForLine(this._current);
+    let result = '';
+    for (let i = range.first; i <= range.last; ++i) {
+      result += this._buffer.translateBufferLineToString(i, (this._trimRight) ? i === range.last : false);
+    }
+    this._current = range.last;
+    this._current++;
+    return (withRanges) ? [range, result] : result;
+  }
+  toArray(): string[] {
+    const result: string[] = [];
+    while (this.hasNext()) {
+      result.push(this.next() as string);
+    }
+    return result;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/Types.ts b/src/Types.ts
index 820a8b89..5782f2c9 100644
--- a/src/Types.ts
+++ b/src/Types.ts
@@ -19,6 +19,9 @@ export type LinkMatcherValidationCallback = (uri: string, callback: (isValid: bo
 
 export type CharacterJoinerHandler = (text: string) => [number, number][];
 
+// BufferIndex denotes a position in the buffer: [rowIndex, colIndex]
+export type BufferIndex = [number, number];
+
 export const enum LinkHoverEventTypes {
   HOVER = 'linkhover',
   TOOLTIP = 'linktooltip',
@@ -265,6 +268,12 @@ export interface ITerminalOptions extends IPublicTerminalOptions {
   useFlowControl?: boolean;
 }
 
+export interface IBufferStringIterator {
+  hasNext(): boolean;
+  next(withRanges: boolean): string | [{first: number, last: number}, string];
+  toArray(): string[];
+}
+
 export interface IBuffer {
   readonly lines: ICircularList<IBufferLine>;
   ydisp: number;
@@ -283,6 +292,7 @@ export interface IBuffer {
   nextStop(x?: number): number;
   prevStop(x?: number): number;
   stringIndexToBufferIndex(lineIndex: number, stringIndex: number): number[];
+  contents(trimRight: boolean, startIndex?: number, endIndex?: number): IBufferStringIterator;
 }
 
 export interface IBufferSet extends IEventEmitter {