Documentation for Aura Consensus Extension (#2074)

srml/aura/src/lib.rs

@@ -14,7 +14,54 @@
 // You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 // along with Substrate.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 
-//! Consensus extension module for Aura consensus. This manages offline reporting.
+//! # Aura Module
+//!
+//! ## Overview
+//!
+//! The Aura module extends Aura consensus by managing offline reporting.
+//!
+//! ## Interface
+//!
+//! ### Public Functions
+//!
+//! See the [`Module`](./struct.Module.html) struct for details on publicly available functions.
+//!
+//! ## Usage
+//!
+//! ### Prerequisites
+//!
+//! Use of this module implies selection of the Aura algorithm.
+//!
+//! ### Simple Code Snippet
+//!
+//! Instantiate a report of skipped authorities:
+//!
+//! ```rust,ignore
+//! let mut report = AuraReport {
+//! 	start_slot: 6, // The first skipped slot
+//! 	skipped: 3,   // The number of authorities skipped
+//! }
+//! ```
+//!
+//! See the `tests.rs` file in this module's directory for other simple code snippets that may make this module's
+//! functionalities clearer.
+//!
+//! ## Related Modules
+//!
+//! - [`staking`](../srml_staking/index.html): The Staking module is called in Aura to enforce slashing
+//!  if validators miss a certain number of slots (see the [`StakingSlasher`](./struct.StakingSlasher.html)
+//!  struct and associated method).
+//! - [`timestamp`](../srml_timestamp/index.html): The Timestamp module is used in Aura to track
+//! consensus rounds (via `slots`).
+//! - [`consensus`](../srml_consensus/index.html): The Consensus module does not relate directly to Aura,
+//!  but serves to manage offline reporting by implementing `ProvideInherent` in a similar way.
+//!
+//! ## References
+//!
+//! If you're interested in hacking on this module, it is useful to understand the interaction with
+//! `substrate/core/inherents/src/lib.rs` and, specifically, the required implementation of
+//! [`ProvideInherent`](../substrate_inherents/trait.ProvideInherent.html) and
+//! [`ProvideInherentData`](../substrate_inherents/trait.ProvideInherentData.html) to create and check inherents.
 
 #![cfg_attr(not(feature = "std"), no_std)]
 
@@ -35,13 +82,13 @@ use inherents::{InherentDataProviders, ProvideInherentData};
 mod mock;
 mod tests;
 
-/// The aura inherent identifier.
+/// The Aura inherent identifier.
 pub const INHERENT_IDENTIFIER: InherentIdentifier = *b"auraslot";
 
-/// The type of the aura inherent.
+/// The type of the Aura inherent.
 pub type InherentType = u64;
 
-/// Auxiliary trait to extract aura inherent data.
+/// Auxiliary trait to extract Aura inherent data.
 pub trait AuraInherentData {
 	/// Get aura inherent data.
 	fn aura_inherent_data(&self) -> result::Result<InherentType, RuntimeString>;
@@ -107,7 +154,7 @@ impl ProvideInherentData for InherentDataProvider {
 	}
 }
 
-/// Something which can handle Aura consensus reports.
+/// Something that can handle Aura consensus reports.
 pub trait HandleReport {
 	fn handle_report(report: AuraReport);
 }
@@ -123,7 +170,7 @@ pub trait Trait: timestamp::Trait {
 
 decl_storage! {
 	trait Store for Module<T: Trait> as Aura {
-		// The last timestamp.
+		/// The last timestamp.
 		LastTimestamp get(last) build(|_| T::Moment::sa(0)): T::Moment;
 	}
 }
@@ -132,7 +179,7 @@ decl_module! {
 	pub struct Module<T: Trait> for enum Call where origin: T::Origin { }
 }
 
-/// A report of skipped authorities in aura.
+/// A report of skipped authorities in Aura.
 #[derive(Clone, Encode, Decode, PartialEq, Eq)]
 #[cfg_attr(feature = "std", derive(Debug))]
 pub struct AuraReport {
@@ -143,14 +190,14 @@ pub struct AuraReport {
 }
 
 impl AuraReport {
-	/// Call the closure with (validator_indices, punishment_count) for each
+	/// Call the closure with (`validator_indices`, `punishment_count`) for each
 	/// validator to punish.
 	pub fn punish<F>(&self, validator_count: usize, mut punish_with: F)
 		where F: FnMut(usize, usize)
 	{
-		// If all validators have been skipped, then it implies some sort of 
+		// If all validators have been skipped, then it implies some sort of
 		// systematic problem common to all rather than a minority of validators
-		// unfulfilling their specific duties. In this case, it doesn't make
+		// not fulfilling their specific duties. In this case, it doesn't make
 		// sense to punish anyone, so we guard against it.
 		if self.skipped < validator_count {
 			for index in 0..self.skipped {
@@ -161,10 +208,10 @@ impl AuraReport {
 }
 
 impl<T: Trait> Module<T> {
-	/// Determine the Aura slot-duration based on the timestamp module configuration.
+	/// Determine the Aura slot-duration based on the Timestamp module configuration.
 	pub fn slot_duration() -> u64 {
 		// we double the minimum block-period so each author can always propose within
-		// the majority of their slot.
+		// the majority of its slot.
 		<timestamp::Module<T>>::minimum_period().as_().saturating_mul(2)
 	}
 
@@ -202,7 +249,7 @@ impl<T: Trait> OnTimestampSet<T::Moment> for Module<T> {
 	}
 }
 
-/// A type for performing slashing based on aura reports.
+/// A type for performing slashing based on Aura reports.
 pub struct StakingSlasher<T>(::rstd::marker::PhantomData<T>);
 
 impl<T: staking::Trait + Trait> HandleReport for StakingSlasher<T> {
@@ -228,6 +275,7 @@ impl<T: Trait> ProvideInherent for Module<T> {
 		None
 	}
 
+	/// Verify the validity of the inherent using the timestamp.
 	fn check_inherent(call: &Self::Call, data: &InherentData) -> result::Result<(), Self::Error> {
 		let timestamp = match call {
 			timestamp::Call::set(ref timestamp) => timestamp.clone(),