[project @ 2002-05-09 13:16:29 by simonmar]

[ghc-base.git] / Foreign / Marshal / Alloc.hs

diff --git a/Foreign/Marshal/Alloc.hs b/Foreign/Marshal/Alloc.hs
index eb4b04b..e5c3aa3 100644 (file)
--- a/Foreign/Marshal/Alloc.hs
+++ b/Foreign/Marshal/Alloc.hs
@@ -3,19 +3,18 @@
 -- |
 -- Module      :  Foreign.Marshal.Alloc
 -- Copyright   :  (c) The FFI task force 2001
--- License     :  BSD-style (see the file libraries/core/LICENSE)
+-- License     :  BSD-style (see the file libraries/base/LICENSE)
 -- 
 -- Maintainer  :  ffi@haskell.org
 -- Stability   :  provisional
 -- Portability :  portable
 --
--- $Id: Alloc.hs,v 1.6 2002/04/24 16:31:44 simonmar Exp $
---
 -- Marshalling support: basic routines for memory allocation
 --
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 module Foreign.Marshal.Alloc (
+  -- * Allocation
   malloc,       -- :: Storable a =>        IO (Ptr a)
   mallocBytes,  -- ::               Int -> IO (Ptr a)
 
@@ -45,7 +44,9 @@ import GHC.Base
 -- exported functions
 -- ------------------
 
--- allocate space for storable type
+-- |Allocate space for storable type.  The size of the area allocated
+-- is determined by the 'sizeOf' method from the instance of
+-- 'Storable' for the appropriate type.
 --
 malloc :: Storable a => IO (Ptr a)
 malloc  = doMalloc undefined
@@ -53,16 +54,16 @@ malloc  = doMalloc undefined
     doMalloc       :: Storable a => a -> IO (Ptr a)
     doMalloc dummy  = mallocBytes (sizeOf dummy)
 
--- allocate given number of bytes of storage
+-- |Allocate given number of bytes of storage, equivalent to C\'s @malloc()@.
 --
 mallocBytes      :: Int -> IO (Ptr a)
 mallocBytes size  = failWhenNULL "malloc" (_malloc (fromIntegral size))
 
--- temporarily allocate space for a storable type
+-- |Temporarily allocate space for a storable type.
 --
--- * the pointer passed as an argument to the function must *not* escape from
---   this function; in other words, in `alloca f' the allocated storage must
---   not be used after `f' returns
+-- * the pointer passed as an argument to the function must /not/ escape from
+--   this function; in other words, in @alloca f@ the allocated storage must
+--   not be used after @f@ returns
 --
 alloca :: Storable a => (Ptr a -> IO b) -> IO b
 alloca  = doAlloca undefined
@@ -70,11 +71,11 @@ alloca  = doAlloca undefined
     doAlloca       :: Storable a => a -> (Ptr a -> IO b) -> IO b
     doAlloca dummy  = allocaBytes (sizeOf dummy)
 
--- temporarily allocate the given number of bytes of storage
+-- |Temporarily allocate the given number of bytes of storage.
 --
--- * the pointer passed as an argument to the function must *not* escape from
---   this function; in other words, in `allocaBytes n f' the allocated storage
---   must not be used after `f' returns
+-- * the pointer passed as an argument to the function must /not/ escape from
+--   this function; in other words, in @allocaBytes n f@ the allocated storage
+--   must not be used after @f@ returns
 --
 #ifdef __GLASGOW_HASKELL__
 allocaBytes :: Int -> (Ptr a -> IO b) -> IO b
@@ -92,13 +93,15 @@ allocaBytes      :: Int -> (Ptr a -> IO b) -> IO b
 allocaBytes size  = bracket (mallocBytes size) free
 #endif
 
--- adjust a malloc'ed storage area to the given size
+-- |Adjust a malloc\'ed storage area to the given size (equivalent to
+-- C\'s @realloc()@).
 --
 reallocBytes          :: Ptr a -> Int -> IO (Ptr a)
 reallocBytes ptr size  = 
   failWhenNULL "realloc" (_realloc ptr (fromIntegral size))
 
--- free malloc'ed storage
+-- |Free malloc\'ed storage (equivalent to
+-- C\'s @free()@)
 --
 free :: Ptr a -> IO ()
 free  = _free