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I'm writing documentation for a software library and I want to express that when a function fails, the bytes in the result buffer (which is always an array of bytes, this is a strongly typed language) are undefined.

I originally wrote, "Upon failure, the contents of this buffer are undefined", but now I'm contemplating, "Upon failure, the content of this buffer is undefined".

If the function succeeded, then the result buffer represents an XML document, so it's a single entity. If the function fails, it's technically just an array of bytes with no defined meaning, so it's multiple countable entities.

Thoughts?

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  • It seems that "a single entity" is also bereft of a definition. Do you mean unknown, or unpredictable, or unknowable, or garbage, or implementation dependent, or unreliable, or variable from one execution to the next, or not of one cloth woven? Are you mainly concerned with the grammatical agreement of content is in the singular versus that of contents are in the plural?
    – tchrist ♦
    Commented Mar 31 at 23:04
  • It doesn't make much difference. "Upon failure, the buffer content is undefined".
    – Weather Vane
    Commented Mar 31 at 23:13
  • I found this answer to be most helpful: english.stackexchange.com/a/13598/501000 , and especially the first comment summarizing: "if it's countable, it's plural". Since the result buffer is a collection of bytes, it's countable, and so I've stayed with the original wording, "Upon failure, the contents of this buffer are undefined".
    – codesniffer
    Commented Apr 1 at 16:52
  • Neither contents nor content here is a count usage: you can't have 2 / 17 / a dozen contents. A dozen malcontents, maybe. 'Content' is here a singular-form non-count usage taking singular agreement; 'contents' a [synonymous, as FF says] plural-form non-count usage taking plural agreement.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Apr 1 at 18:20

1 Answer 1

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Here's the relevant usage chart showing relative prevalence for plural the buffer contents are and singular the buffer content is...

enter image description here

Take your pick. I defy anyone to claim some subtle difference in meaning.

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