Add comments for understanding io_lib_pretty

2 files changed, 22 insertions, 1 deletions

diff --git a/lib/stdlib/src/io_lib_format.erl b/lib/stdlib/src/io_lib_format.erl
index 1da866dc88..c7b75961cb 100644
--- a/lib/stdlib/src/io_lib_format.erl
+++ b/lib/stdlib/src/io_lib_format.erl
@@ -343,7 +343,8 @@ term(T, F, Adj, P0, Pad) ->
 
 %% print(Term, Depth, Field, Adjust, Precision, PadChar, Encoding,
 %%       Indentation)
-%%  Print a term.
+%% Print a term. Field width sets maximum line length, Precision sets
+%% initial indentation.
 
 print(T, D, none, Adj, P, Pad, E, Str, I) ->
     print(T, D, 80, Adj, P, Pad, E, Str, I);
diff --git a/lib/stdlib/src/io_lib_pretty.erl b/lib/stdlib/src/io_lib_pretty.erl
index 16ca2f41dc..94376408d1 100644
--- a/lib/stdlib/src/io_lib_pretty.erl
+++ b/lib/stdlib/src/io_lib_pretty.erl
@@ -97,31 +97,42 @@ print(Term, Col, Ll, D, RecDefFun) ->
 print(Term, Col, Ll, D, M, RecDefFun) ->
     print(Term, Col, Ll, D, M, RecDefFun, latin1, true).
 
+%% D = Depth, default -1 (infinite), or LINEMAX=30 when printing from shell
+%% Col = current column, default 1
+%% Ll = line length/~p field width, default 80
+%% M = CHAR_MAX (-1 if no max, 60 when printing from shell)
 print(_, _, _, 0, _M, _RF, _Enc, _Str) -> "...";
 print(Term, Col, Ll, D, M, RecDefFun, Enc, Str) when Col =< 0 ->
+    %% ensure Col is at least 1
     print(Term, 1, Ll, D, M, RecDefFun, Enc, Str);
 print(Term, Col, Ll, D, M0, RecDefFun, Enc, Str) when is_tuple(Term);
                                                       is_list(Term);
                                                       is_map(Term);
                                                       is_bitstring(Term) ->
+    %% preprocess and compute total number of chars
     If = {_S, Len} = print_length(Term, D, RecDefFun, Enc, Str),
+    %% use Len as CHAR_MAX if M0 = -1
     M = max_cs(M0, Len),
     if
         Len < Ll - Col, Len =< M ->
+            %% write the whole thing on a single line when there is room
             write(If);
         true ->
+            %% compute the indentation TInd for tagged tuples and records
             TInd = while_fail([-1, 4], 
                               fun(I) -> cind(If, Col, Ll, M, I, 0, 0) end, 
                               1),
             pp(If, Col, Ll, M, TInd, indent(Col), 0, 0)
     end;
 print(Term, _Col, _Ll, _D, _M, _RF, _Enc, _Str) ->
+    %% atomic data types (bignums, atoms, ...) are never truncated
     io_lib:write(Term).
 
 %%%
 %%% Local functions
 %%%
 
+%% use M only if nonnegative, otherwise use Len as default value
 max_cs(M, Len) when M < 0 ->
     Len;
 max_cs(M, _Len) ->
@@ -153,6 +164,7 @@ pp({S, _Len}, _Col, _Ll, _M, _TInd, _Ind, _LD, _W) ->
 %%  Print a tagged tuple by indenting the rest of the elements
 %%  differently to the tag. Tuple has size >= 2.
 pp_tag_tuple([{Tag,Tlen} | L], Col, Ll, M, TInd, Ind, LD, W) ->
+    %% this uses TInd
     TagInd = Tlen + 2,
     Tcol = Col + TagInd,
     S = $,,
@@ -207,6 +219,7 @@ pp_field({{field, Name, NameL, F}, _Len}, Col0, Ll, M, TInd, Ind0, LD, W0) ->
     {[Name, " = ", S | pp(F, Col, Ll, M, TInd, Ind, LD, W)], Ll}. % force nl
 
 rec_indent(RInd, TInd, Col0, Ind0, W0) ->
+    %% this uses TInd
     Nl = (TInd > 0) and (RInd > TInd),
     DCol = case Nl of
                true -> TInd;
@@ -285,6 +298,7 @@ pp_binary(S, N, _N0, Ind) ->
             S
     end.
 
+%% write the whole thing on a single line
 write({{tuple, _IsTagged, L}, _}) ->
     [${, write_list(L, $,), $}];
 write({{list, L}, _}) ->
@@ -344,8 +358,10 @@ print_length({}, _D, _RF, _Enc, _Str) ->
 print_length(#{}=M, _D, _RF, _Enc, _Str) when map_size(M) =:= 0 ->
     {"#{}", 3};
 print_length(List, D, RF, Enc, Str) when is_list(List) ->
+    %% only flat lists are "printable"
     case Str andalso printable_list(List, D, Enc) of
         true ->
+            %% print as string, escaping double-quotes in the list
             S = write_string(List, Enc),
             {S, length(S)};
         %% Truncated lists could break some existing code.
@@ -401,6 +417,7 @@ print_length(<<_/bitstring>>=Bin, D, _RF, Enc, Str) ->
     end;    
 print_length(Term, _D, _RF, _Enc, _Str) ->
     S = io_lib:write(Term),
+    %% S can contain unicode, so iolist_size(S) cannot be used here
     {S, lists:flatlength(S)}.
 
 print_length_map(_Map, 1, _RF, _Enc, _Str) ->
@@ -483,6 +500,7 @@ list_length_tail({_, Len}, Acc) ->
 %% ?CHARS printable characters has depth 1.
 -define(CHARS, 4).
 
+%% only flat lists are "printable"
 printable_list(_L, 1, _Enc) ->
     false;
 printable_list(L, _D, latin1) ->
@@ -736,9 +754,11 @@ while_fail([], _F, V) ->
 while_fail([A | As], F, V) ->
     try F(A) catch _ -> while_fail(As, F, V) end.
 
+%% make a string of N spaces
 indent(N) when is_integer(N), N > 0 ->
     chars($\s, N-1).
 
+%% prepend N spaces onto Ind
 indent(1, Ind) -> % Optimization of common case
     [$\s | Ind];
 indent(4, Ind) -> % Optimization of common case