diff --git a/docs/source/plugin-development/plugin-parameters.rst b/docs/source/plugin-development/plugin-parameters.rst
index fd644bc..1625098 100644
--- a/docs/source/plugin-development/plugin-parameters.rst
+++ b/docs/source/plugin-development/plugin-parameters.rst
@@ -40,25 +40,25 @@ a file, a plugin can ask for any of the following:
 - :attr:`~flake8.processor.FileProcessor.previous_logical`
 - :attr:`~flake8.processor.FileProcessor.tokens`
 
-Some properties are set once per file being processed:
+Some properties are set once per file for plugins which iterate itself over
+the data instead of being called on each physical or logical line.
 
 - :attr:`~flake8.processor.FileProcessor.filename`
+- :attr:`~flake8.processor.FileProcessor.file_tokens`
 - :attr:`~flake8.processor.FileProcessor.lines`
 - :attr:`~flake8.processor.FileProcessor.max_line_length`
 - :attr:`~flake8.processor.FileProcessor.total_lines`
 - :attr:`~flake8.processor.FileProcessor.verbose`
 
 These parameters can also be supplied to plugins working on each line
-separately. Additionally, plugins called once per file can also accept ``tree``
-which is not supplied as a parameter of
-:class:`~flake8.processor.FileProcessor`, which will be a parsed abstract
-syntax tree. It is used by plugins like PyFlakes and McCabe.
+separately.
 
-When the plugin is run depends on the first parameter, not counting ``self``.
-It can be either ``physical_line``, ``logical_line`` or ``tree``. If the
-parameter is ``tree``, it is run once per file, otherwise once per physical
-line or logical line respectively. If the plugin is using neither of them it
-won't be run at all.
+Plugins that depend on ``physical_line`` or ``logical_line`` are run on each
+physical or logical line once. These parameters should be the first in the
+list of arguments (with the exception of ``self``). Plugins that need an AST
+(e.g., PyFlakes and McCabe) should depend on ``tree``. These plugins will run
+once per file. The parameters listed above can be combined with
+``physical_line``, ``logical_line``, and ``tree``.
 
 
 Registering Options
diff --git a/src/flake8/processor.py b/src/flake8/processor.py
index 44024e5..8490092 100644
--- a/src/flake8/processor.py
+++ b/src/flake8/processor.py
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ class FileProcessor(object):
     - :attr:`previous_indent_level`
     - :attr:`previous_logical`
     - :attr:`tokens`
+    - :attr:`file_tokens`
     - :attr:`total_lines`
     - :attr:`verbose`
     """
@@ -98,6 +99,26 @@ class FileProcessor(object):
         self.statistics = {
             'logical lines': 0,
         }
+        self._file_tokens = None
+
+    @property
+    def file_tokens(self):
+        """The complete set of tokens for a file.
+
+        Accessing this attribute *may* raise an InvalidSyntax exception.
+
+        :raises: flake8.exceptions.InvalidSyntax
+        """
+        if self._file_tokens is None:
+            line_iter = iter(self.lines)
+            try:
+                self._file_tokens = list(tokenize.generate_tokens(
+                    lambda: next(line_iter)
+                ))
+            except tokenize.TokenError as exc:
+                raise exceptions.InvalidSyntax(exc.message, exception=exc)
+
+        return self._file_tokens
 
     @contextlib.contextmanager
     def inside_multiline(self, line_number):