erl_interface: Editorial changes

1 files changed, 127 insertions, 131 deletions

diff --git a/lib/erl_interface/doc/src/erl_marshal.xml b/lib/erl_interface/doc/src/erl_marshal.xml
index c70bdb53e1..30b7281a51 100644
--- a/lib/erl_interface/doc/src/erl_marshal.xml
+++ b/lib/erl_interface/doc/src/erl_marshal.xml
@@ -28,244 +28,240 @@
     <docno></docno>
     <approved>Bjarne D&auml;cker</approved>
     <checked>Torbj&ouml;rn T&ouml;rnkvist</checked>
-    <date>980703</date>
+    <date>1998-07-03</date>
     <rev>A</rev>
     <file>erl_marshal.xml</file>
   </header>
   <lib>erl_marshal</lib>
-  <libsummary>Encoding and Decoding of Erlang terms</libsummary>
+  <libsummary>Encoding and decoding of Erlang terms.</libsummary>
   <description>
     <p>This module contains functions for encoding Erlang terms into
       a sequence of bytes, and for decoding Erlang terms from a
       sequence of bytes.</p>
   </description>
+
   <funcs>
     <func>
       <name><ret>int</ret><nametext>erl_compare_ext(bufp1, bufp2)</nametext></name>
-      <fsummary>Compares encoded byte sequences.</fsummary>
+      <fsummary>Compare encoded byte sequences.</fsummary>
       <type>
         <v>unsigned char *bufp1,*bufp2;</v>
       </type>
       <desc>
-        <p>This function compares two encoded terms.
-          </p>
-        <p><c><![CDATA[bufp1]]></c> is a buffer containing an encoded Erlang
-          term term1.
-          </p>
-        <p><c><![CDATA[bufp2]]></c> is a buffer containing an encoded Erlang
-          term term2.
-          </p>
-        <p>The function returns 0 if the terms are equal, -1 if term1
-          is less than term2, or 1 if term2 is less than term1.
-          </p>
+        <p>Compares two encoded terms.</p>
+        <list type="bulleted">
+          <item><c><![CDATA[bufp1]]></c> is a buffer containing an encoded
+            Erlang term term1.</item>
+          <item><c><![CDATA[bufp2]]></c> is a buffer containing an encoded
+            Erlang term term2.</item>
+        </list>
+        <p>Returns <c>0</c> if the terms are equal, <c>-1</c> if
+          <c>term1</c> &lt; <c>term2</c>, or <c>1</c> if <c>term2</c> &lt;
+          term1.</p>
       </desc>
     </func>
+
     <func>
       <name><ret>ETERM *</ret><nametext>erl_decode(bufp)</nametext></name>
       <name><ret>ETERM *</ret><nametext>erl_decode_buf(bufpp)</nametext></name>
-      <fsummary>Converts a term from Erlang external format.</fsummary>
+      <fsummary>Convert a term from Erlang external format.</fsummary>
       <type>
         <v>unsigned char *bufp;</v>
         <v>unsigned char **bufpp;</v>
       </type>
       <desc>
-        <p><c><![CDATA[erl_decode()]]></c> and <c><![CDATA[erl_decode_buf()]]></c> decode
+        <p><c><![CDATA[erl_decode()]]></c> and
+          <c><![CDATA[erl_decode_buf()]]></c> decode
           the contents of a buffer and return the corresponding
-          Erlang term.  <c><![CDATA[erl_decode_buf()]]></c> provides a simple
+          Erlang term. <c><![CDATA[erl_decode_buf()]]></c> provides a simple
           mechanism for dealing with several encoded terms stored
           consecutively in the buffer.</p>
-        <p><c><![CDATA[bufp]]></c> is a pointer to a buffer containing one or
-          more encoded Erlang terms.
-          </p>
-        <p><c><![CDATA[bufpp]]></c> is the address of a buffer pointer. The buffer
-          contains one or more consecutively encoded Erlang terms.
-          Following a successful call to  <c><![CDATA[erl_decode_buf()]]></c>,
-          <c><![CDATA[bufpp]]></c> will be updated so that it points to the next
-          encoded term.
-          </p>
+        <list type="bulleted">
+          <item>
+            <p><c><![CDATA[bufp]]></c> is a pointer to a buffer containing one
+              or more encoded Erlang terms.</p>
+          </item>
+          <item>
+            <p><c><![CDATA[bufpp]]></c> is the address of a buffer pointer. The
+              buffer contains one or more consecutively encoded Erlang terms.
+              Following a successful call to
+              <c><![CDATA[erl_decode_buf()]]></c>, <c><![CDATA[bufpp]]></c> is
+              updated so that it points to the next encoded term.</p>
+          </item>
+        </list>
         <p><c><![CDATA[erl_decode()]]></c> returns an Erlang term
-          corresponding to the contents of <c><![CDATA[bufp]]></c> on success, or
-          NULL on failure. <c><![CDATA[erl_decode_buf()]]></c> returns an Erlang
+          corresponding to the contents of <c><![CDATA[bufp]]></c> on success,
+          otherwise <c>NULL</c>. <c><![CDATA[erl_decode_buf()]]></c>
+          returns an Erlang
           term corresponding to the first of the consecutive terms in
-          <c><![CDATA[bufpp]]></c> and moves <c><![CDATA[bufpp]]></c> forward to point to the
+          <c><![CDATA[bufpp]]></c> and moves <c><![CDATA[bufpp]]></c> forward
+          to point to the
           next term in the buffer. On failure, each of the functions
-          returns NULL.
-          </p>
+          return <c>NULL</c>.</p>
       </desc>
     </func>
+
     <func>
       <name><ret>int</ret><nametext>erl_encode(term, bufp)</nametext></name>
       <name><ret>int</ret><nametext>erl_encode_buf(term, bufpp)</nametext></name>
-      <fsummary>Converts a term into Erlang external format.</fsummary>
+      <fsummary>Convert a term into Erlang external format.</fsummary>
       <type>
         <v>ETERM *term;</v>
         <v>unsigned char *bufp;</v>
         <v>unsigned char **bufpp;</v>
       </type>
       <desc>
-        <p><c><![CDATA[erl_encode()]]></c> and  <c><![CDATA[erl_encode_buf()]]></c> encode
+        <p><c><![CDATA[erl_encode()]]></c> and
+          <c><![CDATA[erl_encode_buf()]]></c> encode
           Erlang terms into external format for storage or transmission.
           <c><![CDATA[erl_encode_buf()]]></c> provides a simple mechanism for
-          encoding several terms consecutively in the same
-          buffer.
-          </p>
-        <p><c>term</c> is an Erlang term to be encoded.
-          </p>
-        <p><c>bufp</c> is a pointer to a buffer containing one or
-          more encoded Erlang terms.
-          </p>
-        <p><c>bufpp</c> is a pointer to a pointer to a buffer
-          containing one or more consecutively encoded Erlang terms.
-          Following a successful call to  <c><![CDATA[erl_encode_buf()]]></c>,
-          <c>bufpp</c> will be updated so that it points to the
-          position for the next encoded term.
-          </p>
-        <p>
-	  These functions returns the number of bytes written to buffer
-	  if successful, otherwise returns 0.
-	</p>
-        <p>Note that no bounds checking is done on the buffer. It is
-          the caller's responsibility to make sure that the buffer is
+          encoding several terms consecutively in the same buffer.</p>
+        <list type="bulleted">
+          <item>
+            <p><c>term</c> is an Erlang term to be encoded.</p>
+          </item>
+          <item>
+            <p><c>bufp</c> is a pointer to a buffer containing one or
+              more encoded Erlang terms.</p>
+          </item>
+          <item>
+            <p><c>bufpp</c> is a pointer to a pointer to a buffer
+              containing one or more consecutively encoded Erlang terms.
+              Following a successful call to
+              <c><![CDATA[erl_encode_buf()]]></c>, <c>bufpp</c> is updated so
+              that it points to the
+              position for the next encoded term.</p>
+          </item>
+        </list>
+        <p>These functions return the number of bytes written to buffer
+	  on success, otherwise <c>0</c>.</p>
+        <p>Notice that no bounds checking is done on the buffer. It is
+          the caller's responsibility to ensure that the buffer is
           large enough to hold the encoded terms. You can either use a
-          static buffer that is large enough to hold the terms you
-          expect to need in your program, or use <c><![CDATA[erl_term_len()]]></c>
-          to determine the exact requirements for a given term.
-          </p>
+          static buffer that is large enough to hold the terms you expect
+          to need in your program, or use <c><![CDATA[erl_term_len()]]></c>
+          to determine the exact requirements for a given term.</p>
         <p>The following can help you estimate the buffer
-          requirements for a term. Note that this information is
-          implementation specific, and may change in future versions.
-          If you are unsure, use <c><![CDATA[erl_term_len()]]></c>.
-          </p>
+          requirements for a term. Notice that this information is
+          implementation-specific, and can change in future versions.
+          If you are unsure, use <c><![CDATA[erl_term_len()]]></c>.</p>
         <p>Erlang terms are encoded with a 1 byte tag that
           identifies the type of object, a 2- or 4-byte length field,
-          and then the data itself. Specifically:
-          </p>
+          and then the data itself. Specifically:</p>
         <taglist>
           <tag><c><![CDATA[Tuples]]></c></tag>
-          <item>need 5 bytes, plus the space for each element.</item>
+          <item>Need 5 bytes, plus the space for each element.</item>
           <tag><c><![CDATA[Lists]]></c></tag>
-          <item>need 5 bytes, plus the space for each element, and 1
-           additional byte for the empty list at the end.</item>
+          <item>Need 5 bytes, plus the space for each element, and 1
+            more byte for the empty list at the end.</item>
           <tag><c><![CDATA[Strings and atoms]]></c></tag>
-          <item>need 3 bytes, plus 1 byte for each character (the
-           terminating 0 is not encoded). Really long strings (more
-           than 64k characters) are encoded as lists. Atoms cannot
-           contain more than 256 characters.</item>
+          <item>Need 3 bytes, plus 1 byte for each character (the
+            terminating 0 is not encoded). Really long strings (more
+            than 64k characters) are encoded as lists. Atoms cannot
+            contain more than 256 characters.</item>
           <tag><c><![CDATA[Integers]]></c></tag>
-          <item>need 5 bytes.</item>
+          <item>Need 5 bytes.</item>
           <tag><c><![CDATA[Characters]]></c></tag>
-          <item>(integers &lt; 256) need 2 bytes.</item>
+          <item>(Integers &lt; 256) need 2 bytes.</item>
           <tag><c><![CDATA[Floating point numbers]]></c></tag>
-          <item>need 32 bytes.</item>
+          <item>Need 32 bytes.</item>
           <tag><c><![CDATA[Pids]]></c></tag>
-          <item>need 10 bytes, plus the space for the node name, which
-           is an atom.</item>
+          <item>Need 10 bytes, plus the space for the node name, which
+            is an atom.</item>
           <tag><c><![CDATA[Ports and Refs]]></c></tag>
-          <item>need 6 bytes, plus the space for the node name, which
-           is an atom.</item>
+          <item>Need 6 bytes, plus the space for the node name, which
+            is an atom.</item>
         </taglist>
-        <p>The total space required will be the result calculated
-          from the information above, plus 1 additional byte for a
-          version identifier.
-          </p>
+        <p>The total space required is the result calculated
+          from the information above, plus 1 more byte for a 
+          version identifier.</p>
       </desc>
     </func>
+
     <func>
       <name><ret>int</ret><nametext>erl_ext_size(bufp)</nametext></name>
-      <fsummary>Counts elements in encoded term.</fsummary>
+      <fsummary>Count elements in encoded term.</fsummary>
       <type>
         <v>unsigned char *bufp;</v>
       </type>
       <desc>
-        <p>This function returns the number of elements in an
-          encoded term.</p>
+        <p>Returns the number of elements in an encoded term.</p>
       </desc>
     </func>
+
     <func>
       <name><ret>unsigned char</ret><nametext>erl_ext_type(bufp)</nametext></name>
-      <fsummary>Determines type of an encoded byte sequence.</fsummary>
+      <fsummary>Determine type of an encoded byte sequence.</fsummary>
       <type>
         <v>unsigned char *bufp;</v>
       </type>
       <desc>
-        <p>This function identifies and returns the type of Erlang term encoded
-          in a buffer. It will skip a trailing <em>magic</em> identifier.
-          Returns <c><![CDATA[0]]></c> if the type can't be determined or one of</p>
+        <p>Identifies and returns the type of Erlang term encoded
+          in a buffer. It skips a trailing <em>magic</em> identifier.</p>
+        <p>Returns <c><![CDATA[0]]></c> if the type cannot be determined or
+          one of:</p>
         <list type="bulleted">
-          <item>
-            <p>ERL_INTEGER</p>
+          <item><c>ERL_INTEGER</c>
           </item>
-          <item>
-            <p>ERL_ATOM</p>
+          <item><c>ERL_ATOM</c>
           </item>
-          <item>
-            <p>ERL_PID <c><![CDATA[/* Erlang process identifier */]]></c></p>
+          <item><c>ERL_PID</c> (Erlang process identifier)
           </item>
-          <item>
-            <p>ERL_PORT</p>
+          <item><c>ERL_PORT</c>
           </item>
-          <item>
-            <p>ERL_REF <c><![CDATA[/* Erlang reference */]]></c></p>
+          <item><c>ERL_REF</c> (Erlang reference)
           </item>
-          <item>
-            <p>ERL_EMPTY_LIST</p>
+          <item><c>ERL_EMPTY_LIST</c>
           </item>
-          <item>
-            <p>ERL_LIST</p>
+          <item><c>ERL_LIST</c>
           </item>
-          <item>
-            <p>ERL_TUPLE</p>
+          <item><c>ERL_TUPLE</c>
           </item>
-          <item>
-            <p>ERL_FLOAT</p>
+          <item><c>ERL_FLOAT</c>
           </item>
-          <item>
-            <p>ERL_BINARY</p>
+          <item><c>ERL_BINARY</c>
           </item>
-          <item>
-            <p>ERL_FUNCTION</p>
+          <item><c>ERL_FUNCTION</c>
           </item>
         </list>
       </desc>
     </func>
+
     <func>
       <name><ret>unsigned char *</ret><nametext>erl_peek_ext(bufp, pos)</nametext></name>
-      <fsummary>Steps over encoded term.</fsummary>
+      <fsummary>Step over encoded term.</fsummary>
       <type>
         <v>unsigned char *bufp;</v>
         <v>int pos;</v>
       </type>
       <desc>
         <p>This function is used for stepping over one or more
-          encoded terms in a buffer, in order to directly access a
-          later term.
-          </p>
-        <p><c><![CDATA[bufp]]></c> is a pointer to a buffer containing one or
-          more encoded Erlang terms.
-          </p>
-        <p><c><![CDATA[pos]]></c> indicates how many terms to step over in the
-          buffer.
-          </p>
-        <p>The function returns a pointer to a sub-term that can be
-          used in a subsequent call to <c><![CDATA[erl_decode()]]></c> in order to retrieve
-          the term at that position. If there is no term, or <c><![CDATA[pos]]></c>
-          would exceed the size of the terms in the buffer, NULL is returned.
-          </p>
+          encoded terms in a buffer, to directly access later term.</p>
+        <list type="bulleted">
+          <item><c><![CDATA[bufp]]></c> is a pointer to a buffer containing one
+            or more encoded Erlang terms.</item>
+          <item><c><![CDATA[pos]]></c> indicates how many terms to step over in
+            the buffer.</item>
+        </list>
+        <p>Returns a pointer to a subterm that can be
+          used in a later call to <c><![CDATA[erl_decode()]]></c> to retrieve
+          the term at that position. If there is no term, or
+          <c><![CDATA[pos]]></c> would exceed the size of the terms in the
+          buffer, <c>NULL</c> is returned.</p>
       </desc>
     </func>
+
     <func>
       <name><ret>int</ret><nametext>erl_term_len(t)</nametext></name>
-      <fsummary>Determines encoded size of term.</fsummary>
+      <fsummary>Determine encoded size of term.</fsummary>
       <type>
         <v>ETERM *t;</v>
       </type>
       <desc>
-        <p>This function determines the buffer space that would be
+        <p>Determines the buffer space that would be
           needed by <c><![CDATA[t]]></c> if it were encoded into Erlang external
-          format by <c><![CDATA[erl_encode()]]></c>.
-          </p>
-        <p>The size in bytes is returned.
-          </p>
+          format by <c><![CDATA[erl_encode()]]></c>.</p>
+        <p>Returns the size in bytes.</p>
       </desc>
     </func>
   </funcs>