@@ -42,6 +42,13 @@ use sys_common::{AsInner, IntoInner, FromInner};
4242/// in each pair are owned strings; the latter are borrowed
4343/// references.
4444///
45+ /// Note, `OsString` and `OsStr` internally do not necessarily hold strings in
46+ /// the form native to the platform; While on Unix, strings are stored as a
47+ /// sequence of 8-bit values, on Windows, where strings are 16-bit value based
48+ /// as just discussed, strings are also actually stored as a sequence of 8-bit
49+ /// values, encoded in a less-strict variant of UTF-8. This is useful to
50+ /// understand when handling capacity and length values.
51+ ///
4552/// # Creating an `OsString`
4653///
4754/// **From a Rust string**: `OsString` implements
@@ -583,14 +590,19 @@ impl OsStr {
583590
584591 /// Returns the length of this `OsStr`.
585592 ///
586- /// Note that this does **not** return the number of bytes in this string
587- /// as, for example, OS strings on Windows are encoded as a list of [`u16`]
588- /// rather than a list of bytes. This number is simply useful for passing to
589- /// other methods like [`OsString::with_capacity`] to avoid reallocations.
593+ /// Note that this does **not** return the number of bytes in the string in
594+ /// OS string form.
595+ ///
596+ /// The length returned is that of the underlying storage used by `OsStr`;
597+ /// As discussed in the [`OsString`] introduction, [`OsString`] and `OsStr`
598+ /// store strings in a form best suited for cheap inter-conversion between
599+ /// native-platform and Rust string forms, which may differ significantly
600+ /// from both of them, including in storage size and encoding.
590601 ///
591- /// See `OsStr` introduction for more information about encoding.
602+ /// This number is simply useful for passing to other methods, like
603+ /// [`OsString::with_capacity`] to avoid reallocations.
592604 ///
593- /// [`u16 `]: ../primitive.u16 .html
605+ /// [`OsString `]: struct.OsString .html
594606 /// [`OsString::with_capacity`]: struct.OsString.html#method.with_capacity
595607 ///
596608 /// # Examples
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