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authorSverker Eriksson <[email protected]>2016-12-16 20:03:28 +0100
committerSverker Eriksson <[email protected]>2016-12-19 18:26:02 +0100
commitc1eebebee04d7a9585d47583f15bf56b25e96a17 (patch)
tree0d024a155f37252b07c5c4fc06cf09549e026fdf /erts
parent9e334f98679ace2c0fb7b9893c962a9d1a80e41c (diff)
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erts: Add some improvements to erl_nif docs
Diffstat (limited to 'erts')
-rw-r--r--erts/doc/src/erl_nif.xml38
1 files changed, 19 insertions, 19 deletions
diff --git a/erts/doc/src/erl_nif.xml b/erts/doc/src/erl_nif.xml
index 906c1be17b..185ecd9ed9 100644
--- a/erts/doc/src/erl_nif.xml
+++ b/erts/doc/src/erl_nif.xml
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ ok
"Hello world!"</code>
<p>A better solution for a real module is to take advantage of the new
- directive <c>on load</c> (see section
+ directive <c>on_load</c> (see section
<seealso marker="doc/reference_manual:code_loading#on_load">Running a
Function When a Module is Loaded</seealso> in the Erlang Reference
Manual) to load the NIF library automatically when the module is
@@ -135,27 +135,14 @@ ok
away by the compiler, causing loading of the NIF library to fail.</p>
</note>
- <p>A loaded NIF library is tied to the Erlang module code version
- that loaded it. If the module is upgraded with a new version, the
- new Erlang code need to load its own NIF library (or maybe choose not
- to). The new code version can, however, choose to load the
- same NIF library as the old code if it wants to. Sharing the
- dynamic library means that static data defined by the library
- is shared as well. To avoid unintentionally shared static
- data, each Erlang module code can keep its own private data. This
- private data can be set when the NIF library is loaded and
- then retrieved by calling <seealso marker="#enif_priv_data">
- <c>enif_priv_data</c></seealso>.</p>
-
- <p>A NIF library cannot be loaded explicitly. A library is
- automatically unloaded when the module code that it belongs to is purged
- by the code server.</p>
+ <p>Once loaded, a NIF library is persistent. It will not be unloaded
+ until the module code version that it belongs to is purged.</p>
</description>
<section>
<title>Functionality</title>
- <p>All functions that a NIF library needs to do with Erlang are
- performed through the NIF API functions. Functions exist
+ <p>All interaction between NIF code and the Erlang runtime system is
+ performed by calling NIF API functions. Functions exist
for the following functionality:</p>
<taglist>
@@ -286,6 +273,19 @@ return term;</code>
library is postponed as long as there exist resource objects with a
destructor function in the library.</p>
</item>
+ <tag>Module upgrade and static data</tag>
+ <item>
+ <p>A loaded NIF library is tied to the Erlang module instance
+ that loaded it. If the module is upgraded, the new module instance
+ needs to load its own NIF library (or maybe choose not to). The new
+ module instance can, however, choose to load the exact same NIF library
+ as the old code if it wants to. Sharing the dynamic library means that
+ static data defined by the library is shared as well. To avoid
+ unintentionally shared static data between module instances, each Erlang
+ module version can keep its own private data. This private data can be
+ set when the NIF library is loaded and later retrieved by calling
+ <seealso marker="#enif_priv_data"><c>enif_priv_data</c></seealso>.</p>
+ </item>
<tag>Threads and concurrency</tag>
<item>
<p>A NIF is thread-safe without any explicit synchronization as
@@ -525,7 +525,7 @@ return term;</code>
<p><c>load</c> is called when the NIF library is loaded
and no previously loaded library exists for this module.</p>
<p><c>*priv_data</c> can be set to point to some private data
- that the library needs to keep a state between NIF
+ if the library needs to keep a state between NIF
calls. <c>enif_priv_data</c> returns this pointer.
<c>*priv_data</c> is initialized to <c>NULL</c> when <c>load</c> is
called.</p>