New descriptions for savepv*(), as suggested by Gisle Aas.

p4raw-id: //depot/perl@15798

1 files changed, 10 insertions, 6 deletions

diff --git a/util.c b/util.c
index f0bddb97bb..88d0c4c661 100644
--- a/util.c
+++ b/util.c
@@ -883,7 +883,10 @@ Perl_ibcmp_locale(pTHX_ const char *s1, const char *s2, register I32 len)
 
 =for apidoc savepv
 
-Copy a string to a safe spot.  This does not use an SV.
+Perl's version of C<strdup()>. Returns a pointer to a newly allocated
+string which is a duplicate of C<pv>. The size of the string is
+determined by C<strlen()>. The memory allocated for the new string can
+be freed with the C<Safefree()> function.
 
 =cut
 */
@@ -904,9 +907,10 @@ Perl_savepv(pTHX_ const char *pv)
 /*
 =for apidoc savepvn
 
-Copy a string to a safe spot.  The C<len> indicates number of bytes to
-copy. If pointer is NULL allocate space for a string of size specified.
-This does not use an SV.
+Perl's version of what C<strndup()> would be if it existed. Returns a
+pointer to a newly allocated string which is a duplicate of the first
+C<len> bytes from C<pv>. The memory allocated for the new string can be
+freed with the C<Safefree()> function.
 
 =cut
 */
@@ -931,8 +935,8 @@ Perl_savepvn(pTHX_ const char *pv, register I32 len)
 /*
 =for apidoc savesharedpv
 
-Copy a string to a safe spot in memory shared between threads.
-This does not use an SV.
+A version of C<savepv()> which allocates the duplicate string in memory
+which is shared between threads.
 
 =cut
 */