src/xdisp.c (handle_stop): Improve commentary.

2 files changed, 44 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/src/ChangeLog b/src/ChangeLog
index 3a2e03aa99c..4c774468e5e 100644
--- a/src/ChangeLog
+++ b/src/ChangeLog
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 2014-08-18  Eli Zaretskii  <eliz@gnu.org>
 
+        * xdisp.c (handle_stop): Improve commentary.
+
         * indent.c (Fvertical_motion): Fix vertical motion up through a
         display property after a newline.  (Bug#18276)
 
diff --git a/src/xdisp.c b/src/xdisp.c
index e60a9d341c6..6ce8e3fff18 100644
--- a/src/xdisp.c
+++ b/src/xdisp.c
@@ -3414,6 +3414,48 @@ handle_stop (struct it *it)
   if (it->selective_display_ellipsis_p)
     it->saved_face_id = it->face_id;
 
+  /* Here's the description of the semantics of, and the logic behind,
+     the various HANDLED_* statuses:
+
+     HANDLED_NORMALLY means the handler did its job, and the loop
+     should proceed to calling the next handler in order.
+
+     HANDLED_RECOMPUTE_PROPS means the handler caused a significant
+     change in the properties and overlays at current position, so the
+     loop should be restarted, to re-invoke the handlers that were
+     already called.  This happens when fontification-functions were
+     called by handle_fontified_prop, and actually fontified
+     something.  Another case where HANDLED_RECOMPUTE_PROPS is
+     returned is when we discover overlay strings that need to be
+     displayed right away.  The loop below will continue for as long
+     as the status is HANDLED_RECOMPUTE_PROPS.
+
+     HANDLED_RETURN means return immediately to the caller, to
+     continue iteration without calling any further handlers.  This is
+     used when we need to act on some property right away, for example
+     when we need to display the ellipsis or a replacing display
+     property, such as display string or image.
+
+     HANDLED_OVERLAY_STRING_CONSUMED means an overlay string was just
+     consumed, and the handler switched to the next overlay string.
+     This signals the loop below to refrain from looking for more
+     overlays before all the overlay strings of the current overlay
+     are processed.
+
+     Some of the handlers called by the loop push the iterator state
+     onto the stack (see 'push_it'), and arrange for the iteration to
+     continue with another object, such as an image, a display string,
+     or an overlay string.  In most such cases, it->stop_charpos is
+     set to the first character of the string, so that when the
+     iteration resumes, this function will immediately be called
+     again, to examine the properties at the beginning of the string.
+
+     When a display or overlay string is exhausted, the iterator state
+     is popped (see 'pop_it'), and iteration continues with the
+     previous object.  Again, in many such cases this function is
+     called again to find the next position where properties might
+     change.  */
+
   do
     {
       handled = HANDLED_NORMALLY;