docs: Document the slot module

src/lib.rs

@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 mod lock;
+/// A slot in memory for communicating between a producer and a consumer.
 mod slot;
 mod util;
 

src/slot.rs

@@ -5,16 +5,34 @@ use lock::Lock;
 /// A slot in memory intended to represent the communication channel between one
 /// producer and one consumer.
 ///
-/// Each slot contains space for a piece of data, `T`, and space for callbacks.
-/// The callbacks can be run when the data is either full or empty.
+/// Each slot contains space for a piece of data of type `T`, and can have callbacks
+/// registered to run when the slot is either full or empty.
+///
+/// # Registering callbacks
+///
+/// [`on_empty`](#method.on_empty) registers a callback to run when the slot
+/// becomes empty, and [`on_full`](#method.on_full) registers one to run when it
+/// becomes full. In both cases, the callback will run immediately if possible.
+///
+/// At most one callback can be registered at any given time: it is an error to
+/// attempt to register a callback with `on_full` if one is currently registered
+/// via `on_empty`, or any other combination.
+///
+/// # Cancellation
+///
+/// Registering a callback returns a `Token` which can be used to
+/// [`cancel`](#method.cancel) the callback. Cancellation is best-effort:
+/// cancelling a callback that has already run is not an error, and does not
+/// signal this to the caller of `cancel`.
 pub struct Slot<T> {
     state: AtomicUsize,
     slot: Lock<Option<T>>,
     on_full: Lock<Option<Box<FnBox<T>>>>,
     on_empty: Lock<Option<Box<FnBox<T>>>>,
 }
 
-/// Error value returned from erroneous calls to `try_produce`.
+/// Error value returned from erroneous calls to `try_produce`, which contains
+/// the value that was passed to `try_produce`.
 #[derive(Debug, PartialEq)]
 pub struct TryProduceError<T>(T);
 
@@ -30,8 +48,17 @@ pub struct OnFullError(());
 #[derive(Debug, PartialEq)]
 pub struct OnEmptyError(());
 
+/// A `Token` represents a registered callback, and can be used to cancel the callback.
 pub struct Token(usize);
 
+/// Slot state: the lowest 3 bits are flags; the remaining bits are used to
+/// store the `Token` for the currently registered callback. The special token
+/// value 0 means no callback is registered.
+///
+/// The flags are:
+///   - `DATA`: the `Slot` contains a value
+///   - `ON_FULL`: the `Slot` has an `on_full` callback registered
+///   - `ON_EMPTY`: the `Slot` has an `on_empty` callback registered
 struct State(usize);
 
 fn _is_send<T: Send>() {}
@@ -49,6 +76,9 @@ const STATE_BITS: usize = 3;
 const STATE_MASK: usize = (1 << STATE_BITS) - 1;
 
 impl<T: 'static> Slot<T> {
+    /// Creates a new `Slot` containing `val`, which may be `None` to create an
+    /// empty `Slot`.
+    // TODO: Separate this into `new`, and `with_value` functions?
     pub fn new(val: Option<T>) -> Slot<T> {
         Slot {
             state: AtomicUsize::new(if val.is_some() {DATA} else {0}),
@@ -59,6 +89,14 @@ impl<T: 'static> Slot<T> {
     }
 
     // PRODUCER
+    /// Attempts to store `t` in the slot.
+    ///
+    /// This method is to be called by the producer.
+    ///
+    /// # Errors
+    ///
+    /// Returns `Err` if the slot is already full. The value you attempted to
+    /// store is included in the error value.
     pub fn try_produce(&self, t: T) -> Result<(), TryProduceError<T>> {
         let mut state = State(self.state.load(Ordering::SeqCst));
         assert!(!state.flag(ON_EMPTY));
@@ -90,15 +128,26 @@ impl<T: 'static> Slot<T> {
     }
 
     // PRODUCER
+    /// Registers `f` as a callback to run when the slot becomes empty. The
+    /// callback will run immediately if the slot is already empty.
+    ///
+    /// This method is to be called by the producer.
+    ///
+    /// # Panics
+    ///
+    /// Panics if another callback was already registered via `on_empty` or
+    /// `on_full`.
     pub fn on_empty<F>(&self, f: F) -> Token
         where F: FnOnce(&Slot<T>) + Send + 'static
     {
         let mut state = State(self.state.load(Ordering::SeqCst));
+        // TODO: return OnEmptyError instead of assert.
         assert!(!state.flag(ON_EMPTY));
         if !state.flag(DATA) {
             f(self);
             return Token(0)
         }
+        // TODO: return OnEmptyError instead of assert?
         assert!(!state.flag(ON_FULL));
         let mut slot = self.on_empty.try_lock().expect("on_empty interference");
         assert!(slot.is_none());
@@ -129,6 +178,13 @@ impl<T: 'static> Slot<T> {
     }
 
     // CONSUMER
+    /// Attempts to consume the value stored in the slot.
+    ///
+    /// This method is to be called by the consumer.
+    ///
+    /// # Errors
+    ///
+    /// Returns `Err` if the slot is already empty.
     pub fn try_consume(&self) -> Result<T, TryConsumeError> {
         let mut state = State(self.state.load(Ordering::SeqCst));
         assert!(!state.flag(ON_FULL));
@@ -160,15 +216,26 @@ impl<T: 'static> Slot<T> {
     }
 
     // CONSUMER
+    /// Registers `f` as a callback to run when the slot becomes full. The
+    /// callback will run immediately if the slot is already full.
+    ///
+    /// This method is to be called by the consumer.
+    ///
+    /// # Panics
+    ///
+    /// Panics if another callback was already registered via `on_empty` or
+    /// `on_full`.
     pub fn on_full<F>(&self, f: F) -> Token
         where F: FnOnce(&Slot<T>) + Send + 'static
     {
         let mut state = State(self.state.load(Ordering::SeqCst));
+        // TODO: return OnFullError instead of assert.
         assert!(!state.flag(ON_FULL));
         if state.flag(DATA) {
             f(self);
             return Token(0)
         }
+        // TODO: return OnFullError instead of assert?
         assert!(!state.flag(ON_EMPTY));
         let mut slot = self.on_full.try_lock().expect("on_full interference");
         assert!(slot.is_none());
@@ -198,6 +265,8 @@ impl<T: 'static> Slot<T> {
         }
     }
 
+    /// Cancels the callback associated with `token`. Returns successfully even
+    /// if the callback had already run; see [Cancellation](#cancellation).
     pub fn cancel(&self, token: Token) {
         let token = token.0;
         if token == 0 {
@@ -241,6 +310,7 @@ impl<T: 'static> Slot<T> {
 }
 
 impl<T> TryProduceError<T> {
+    /// Extracts the value that was attempted to be produced.
     pub fn into_inner(self) -> T {
         self.0
     }