Merge pull request #29 from jonas-schievink/errordocs

Document `Error`

src/error.rs

@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ use std::sync::Arc;
 use std::error::Error as StdError;
 use std::result::Result as StdResult;
 
+/// Error type returned by rlua methods.
 #[derive(Debug, Clone)]
 pub enum Error {
     /// Lua syntax error, aka `LUA_ERRSYNTAX` that is NOT an incomplete statement.
@@ -10,29 +11,73 @@ pub enum Error {
     /// Lua syntax error that IS an incomplete statement.  Useful for implementing a REPL.
     IncompleteStatement(String),
     /// Lua runtime error, aka `LUA_ERRRUN`.
+    ///
+    /// The Lua VM returns this error when a builtin operation is performed on incompatible types.
+    /// Among other things, this includes invoking operators on wrong types (such as calling or
+    /// indexing a `nil` value).
     RuntimeError(String),
     /// Lua error from inside an error handler, aka `LUA_ERRERR`.
+    ///
+    /// To prevent an infinite recursion when invoking an error handler, this error will be returned
+    /// instead of invoking the error handler.
     ErrorError(String),
-    /// A generic Rust -> Lua conversion error.
+    /// A Rust value could not be converted to a Lua value.
     ToLuaConversionError(String),
-    /// A generic Lua -> Rust conversion error.
+    /// A Lua value could not be converted to the expected Rust type.
     FromLuaConversionError(String),
-    /// A `Thread` was resumed and the coroutine was no longer active.
+    /// [`Thread::resume`] was called on an inactive coroutine.
+    ///
+    /// A coroutine is inactive if its main function has returned or if an error has occured inside
+    /// the coroutine.
+    ///
+    /// [`Thread::status`] can be used to check if the coroutine can be resumed without causing this
+    /// error.
+    ///
+    /// [`Thread::resume`]: struct.Thread.html#method.resume
+    /// [`Thread::status`]: struct.Thread.html#method.status
     CoroutineInactive,
-    /// An `AnyUserData` is not the expected type in a borrow.
+    /// An [`AnyUserData`] is not the expected type in a borrow.
+    ///
+    /// This error can only happen when manually using [`AnyUserData`], or when implementing
+    /// metamethods for binary operators. Refer to the documentation of [`UserDataMethods`] for
+    /// details.
+    ///
+    /// [`AnyUserData`]: struct.AnyUserData.html
+    /// [`UserDataMethods`]: struct.UserDataMethods.html
     UserDataTypeMismatch,
-    /// An `AnyUserData` immutable borrow failed because it is already borrowed mutably.
+    /// An [`AnyUserData`] immutable borrow failed because it is already borrowed mutably.
+    ///
+    /// This error can occur when a method on a [`UserData`] type calls back into Lua, which then
+    /// tries to call a method on the same [`UserData`] type. Consider restructuring your API to
+    /// prevent these errors.
+    ///
+    /// [`AnyUserData`]: struct.AnyUserData.html
+    /// [`UserData`]: trait.UserData.html
     UserDataBorrowError,
-    /// An `AnyUserData` mutable borrow failed because it is already borrowed.
+    /// An [`AnyUserData`] mutable borrow failed because it is already borrowed.
+    ///
+    /// This error can occur when a method on a [`UserData`] type calls back into Lua, which then
+    /// tries to call a method on the same [`UserData`] type. Consider restructuring your API to
+    /// prevent these errors.
+    ///
+    /// [`AnyUserData`]: struct.AnyUserData.html
+    /// [`UserData`]: trait.UserData.html
     UserDataBorrowMutError,
-    /// Lua error that originated as a Error in a callback.  The first field is the lua error as
-    /// a string, the second field is the Arc holding the original Error.
+    /// A Rust callback returned `Err`, raising the contained `Error` as a Lua error.
+    ///
+    /// The first field is the Lua traceback, the second field holds the original error.
     CallbackError(String, Arc<Error>),
-    /// Any custom external error type, mostly useful for returning external error types from
-    /// callbacks.
+    /// A custom error.
+    ///
+    /// This can be used for returning user-defined errors from callbacks.
+    ///
+    /// Returning `Err(ExternalError(...))` from a Rust callback will raise the error as a Lua
+    /// error. The Rust code that originally invoked the Lua code then receives a `CallbackError`,
+    /// from which the original error (and a stack traceback) can be recovered.
     ExternalError(Arc<StdError + Send + Sync>),
 }
 
+/// A specialized `Result` type used by rlua's API.
 pub type Result<T> = StdResult<T, Error>;
 
 impl fmt::Display for Error {

src/lua.rs

@@ -766,16 +766,18 @@ impl<'lua> Function<'lua> {
 }
 
 /// Status of a Lua thread (or coroutine).
-///
-/// A `Thread` is `Active` before the coroutine function finishes, Dead after it finishes, and in
-/// Error state if error has been called inside the coroutine.
 #[derive(Debug, Copy, Clone, Eq, PartialEq)]
 pub enum ThreadStatus {
     /// The thread has finished executing.
     Dead,
-    /// The thread is currently running or suspended because it has called `coroutine.yield`.
+    /// The thread was just created, is currently running or is suspended because it has called
+    /// `coroutine.yield`.
+    ///
+    /// If a thread is in this state, it can be resumed by calling [`Thread::resume`].
+    ///
+    /// [`Thread::resume`]: struct.Thread.html#method.resume
     Active,
-    /// The thread has thrown an error during execution.
+    /// The thread has raised a Lua error during execution.
     Error,
 }
 
@@ -1161,13 +1163,22 @@ pub trait UserData: 'static + Sized {
     fn add_methods(_methods: &mut UserDataMethods<Self>) {}
 }
 
-/// Handle to an internal Lua userdata for any type that implements `UserData`.
+/// Handle to an internal Lua userdata for any type that implements [`UserData`].
 ///
-/// Similar to `std::any::Any`, this provides an interface for dynamic type checking via the `is`
-/// and `borrow` methods.
+/// Similar to `std::any::Any`, this provides an interface for dynamic type checking via the [`is`]
+/// and [`borrow`] methods.
 ///
 /// Internally, instances are stored in a `RefCell`, to best match the mutable semantics of the Lua
 /// language.
+///
+/// # Note
+///
+/// This API should only be used when necessary. Implementing [`UserData`] already allows defining
+/// methods which check the type and acquire a borrow behind the scenes.
+///
+/// [`UserData`]: trait.UserData.html
+/// [`is`]: #method.is
+/// [`borrow`]: #method.borrow
 #[derive(Clone, Debug)]
 pub struct AnyUserData<'lua>(LuaRef<'lua>);