diff --git a/src/data.cpp b/src/data.cpp
index 36fdfd4..649eb7a 100644
--- a/src/data.cpp
+++ b/src/data.cpp
@@ -32,13 +32,9 @@
 static_assert(std::is_base_of<tlv::Error, Data::Error>::value,
               "Data::Error must inherit from tlv::Error");
 
-Data::Data()
-  : m_content(tlv::Content) // empty content
-{
-}
-
 Data::Data(const Name& name)
   : m_name(name)
+  , m_content(tlv::Content)
 {
 }
 
@@ -49,28 +45,24 @@
 
 template<encoding::Tag TAG>
 size_t
-Data::wireEncode(EncodingImpl<TAG>& encoder, bool unsignedPortion/* = false*/) const
+Data::wireEncode(EncodingImpl<TAG>& encoder, bool wantUnsignedPortionOnly) const
 {
-  size_t totalLength = 0;
-
   // Data ::= DATA-TLV TLV-LENGTH
   //            Name
   //            MetaInfo
   //            Content
-  //            Signature
+  //            SignatureInfo
+  //            SignatureValue
 
-  // (reverse encoding)
+  size_t totalLength = 0;
 
-  if (!unsignedPortion && !m_signature)
-    {
-      BOOST_THROW_EXCEPTION(Error("Requested wire format, but data packet has not been signed yet"));
+  // SignatureValue
+  if (!wantUnsignedPortionOnly) {
+    if (!m_signature) {
+      BOOST_THROW_EXCEPTION(Error("Requested wire format, but Data has not been signed"));
     }
-
-  if (!unsignedPortion)
-    {
-      // SignatureValue
-      totalLength += encoder.prependBlock(m_signature.getValue());
-    }
+    totalLength += encoder.prependBlock(m_signature.getValue());
+  }
 
   // SignatureInfo
   totalLength += encoder.prependBlock(m_signature.getInfo());
@@ -84,23 +76,20 @@
   // Name
   totalLength += getName().wireEncode(encoder);
 
-  if (!unsignedPortion)
-    {
-      totalLength += encoder.prependVarNumber(totalLength);
-      totalLength += encoder.prependVarNumber(tlv::Data);
-    }
+  if (!wantUnsignedPortionOnly) {
+    totalLength += encoder.prependVarNumber(totalLength);
+    totalLength += encoder.prependVarNumber(tlv::Data);
+  }
   return totalLength;
 }
 
-
 template size_t
 Data::wireEncode<encoding::EncoderTag>(EncodingImpl<encoding::EncoderTag>& encoder,
-                                       bool unsignedPortion) const;
+                                       bool wantUnsignedPortionOnly) const;
 
 template size_t
 Data::wireEncode<encoding::EstimatorTag>(EncodingImpl<encoding::EstimatorTag>& encoder,
-                                         bool unsignedPortion) const;
-
+                                         bool wantUnsignedPortionOnly) const;
 
 const Block&
 Data::wireEncode(EncodingBuffer& encoder, const Block& signatureValue) const
@@ -138,12 +127,6 @@
   m_wire = wire;
   m_wire.parse();
 
-  // Data ::= DATA-TLV TLV-LENGTH
-  //            Name
-  //            MetaInfo
-  //            Content
-  //            Signature
-
   // Name
   m_name.wireDecode(m_wire.get(tlv::Name));
 
@@ -153,26 +136,14 @@
   // Content
   m_content = m_wire.get(tlv::Content);
 
-  ///////////////
-  // Signature //
-  ///////////////
-
   // SignatureInfo
   m_signature.setInfo(m_wire.get(tlv::SignatureInfo));
 
   // SignatureValue
   Block::element_const_iterator val = m_wire.find(tlv::SignatureValue);
-  if (val != m_wire.elements_end())
+  if (val != m_wire.elements_end()) {
     m_signature.setValue(*val);
-}
-
-Data&
-Data::setName(const Name& name)
-{
-  onChanged();
-  m_name = name;
-
-  return *this;
+  }
 }
 
 const Name&
@@ -180,8 +151,7 @@
 {
   if (m_fullName.empty()) {
     if (!m_wire.hasWire()) {
-      BOOST_THROW_EXCEPTION(Error("Full name requested, but Data packet does not have wire format "
-                                  "(e.g., not signed)"));
+      BOOST_THROW_EXCEPTION(Error("Cannot compute full name because Data has no wire encoding (not signed)"));
     }
     m_fullName = m_name;
     m_fullName.appendImplicitSha256Digest(util::Sha256::computeDigest(m_wire.wire(), m_wire.size()));
@@ -190,130 +160,116 @@
   return m_fullName;
 }
 
+void
+Data::resetWire()
+{
+  m_wire.reset();
+  m_fullName.clear();
+}
+
+Data&
+Data::setName(const Name& name)
+{
+  resetWire();
+  m_name = name;
+  return *this;
+}
+
 Data&
 Data::setMetaInfo(const MetaInfo& metaInfo)
 {
-  onChanged();
+  resetWire();
   m_metaInfo = metaInfo;
-
-  return *this;
-}
-
-Data&
-Data::setContentType(uint32_t type)
-{
-  onChanged();
-  m_metaInfo.setType(type);
-
-  return *this;
-}
-
-Data&
-Data::setFreshnessPeriod(const time::milliseconds& freshnessPeriod)
-{
-  onChanged();
-  m_metaInfo.setFreshnessPeriod(freshnessPeriod);
-
-  return *this;
-}
-
-Data&
-Data::setFinalBlockId(const name::Component& finalBlockId)
-{
-  onChanged();
-  m_metaInfo.setFinalBlockId(finalBlockId);
-
   return *this;
 }
 
 const Block&
 Data::getContent() const
 {
-  if (m_content.empty())
-    m_content = makeEmptyBlock(tlv::Content);
-
-  if (!m_content.hasWire())
-    m_content.encode();
+  if (!m_content.hasWire()) {
+    const_cast<Block&>(m_content).encode();
+  }
   return m_content;
 }
 
 Data&
-Data::setContent(const uint8_t* content, size_t contentLength)
+Data::setContent(const Block& block)
 {
-  onChanged();
+  resetWire();
 
-  m_content = makeBinaryBlock(tlv::Content, content, contentLength);
-
-  return *this;
-}
-
-Data&
-Data::setContent(const ConstBufferPtr& contentValue)
-{
-  onChanged();
-
-  m_content = Block(tlv::Content, contentValue); // not a real wire encoding yet
-
-  return *this;
-}
-
-Data&
-Data::setContent(const Block& content)
-{
-  onChanged();
-
-  if (content.type() == tlv::Content)
-    m_content = content;
+  if (block.type() == tlv::Content) {
+    m_content = block;
+  }
   else {
-    m_content = Block(tlv::Content, content);
+    m_content = Block(tlv::Content, block);
   }
 
   return *this;
 }
 
 Data&
+Data::setContent(const uint8_t* value, size_t valueSize)
+{
+  resetWire();
+  m_content = makeBinaryBlock(tlv::Content, value, valueSize);
+  return *this;
+}
+
+Data&
+Data::setContent(const ConstBufferPtr& value)
+{
+  resetWire();
+  m_content = Block(tlv::Content, value);
+  return *this;
+}
+
+Data&
 Data::setSignature(const Signature& signature)
 {
-  onChanged();
+  resetWire();
   m_signature = signature;
-
   return *this;
 }
 
 Data&
 Data::setSignatureValue(const Block& value)
 {
-  onChanged();
+  resetWire();
   m_signature.setValue(value);
-
   return *this;
 }
 
-void
-Data::onChanged()
+Data&
+Data::setContentType(uint32_t type)
 {
-  // The values have changed, so the wire format is invalidated
+  resetWire();
+  m_metaInfo.setType(type);
+  return *this;
+}
 
-  // !!!Note!!! Signature is not invalidated and it is responsibility of
-  // the application to do proper re-signing if necessary
+Data&
+Data::setFreshnessPeriod(const time::milliseconds& freshnessPeriod)
+{
+  resetWire();
+  m_metaInfo.setFreshnessPeriod(freshnessPeriod);
+  return *this;
+}
 
-  m_wire.reset();
-  m_fullName.clear();
+Data&
+Data::setFinalBlockId(const name::Component& finalBlockId)
+{
+  resetWire();
+  m_metaInfo.setFinalBlockId(finalBlockId);
+  return *this;
 }
 
 bool
-Data::operator==(const Data& other) const
+operator==(const Data& lhs, const Data& rhs)
 {
-  return getName() == other.getName() &&
-    getMetaInfo() == other.getMetaInfo() &&
-    getContent() == other.getContent() &&
-    getSignature() == other.getSignature();
-}
-
-bool
-Data::operator!=(const Data& other) const
-{
-  return !(*this == other);
+  return lhs.getName() == rhs.getName() &&
+         lhs.getMetaInfo() == rhs.getMetaInfo() &&
+         lhs.getContent() == rhs.getContent() &&
+         lhs.getSignature() == rhs.getSignature();
 }
 
 std::ostream&
@@ -322,8 +278,8 @@
   os << "Name: " << data.getName() << "\n";
   os << "MetaInfo: " << data.getMetaInfo() << "\n";
   os << "Content: (size: " << data.getContent().value_size() << ")\n";
-  os << "Signature: (type: " << data.getSignature().getType() <<
-    ", value_length: "<< data.getSignature().getValue().value_size() << ")";
+  os << "Signature: (type: " << data.getSignature().getType()
+     << ", value_length: "<< data.getSignature().getValue().value_size() << ")";
   os << std::endl;
 
   return os;
diff --git a/src/data.hpp b/src/data.hpp
index b381c4e..8f55ca2 100644
--- a/src/data.hpp
+++ b/src/data.hpp
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 /* -*- Mode:C++; c-file-style:"gnu"; indent-tabs-mode:nil; -*- */
-/**
- * Copyright (c) 2013-2016 Regents of the University of California.
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2013-2017 Regents of the University of California.
  *
  * This file is part of ndn-cxx library (NDN C++ library with eXperimental eXtensions).
  *
@@ -22,17 +22,15 @@
 #ifndef NDN_DATA_HPP
 #define NDN_DATA_HPP
 
-#include "name.hpp"
-#include "encoding/block.hpp"
-
-#include "signature.hpp"
 #include "meta-info.hpp"
-#include "key-locator.hpp"
+#include "name.hpp"
+#include "signature.hpp"
 #include "tag-host.hpp"
+#include "encoding/block.hpp"
 
 namespace ndn {
 
-/** @brief represents a Data packet
+/** @brief Represents a Data packet
  */
 class Data : public TagHost, public enable_shared_from_this<Data>
 {
@@ -47,75 +45,37 @@
     }
   };
 
-  /**
-   * @brief Create an empty Data object
-   *
-   * Note that in certain contexts that use Data::shared_from_this(), Data must be
-   * created using `make_shared`:
-   *
-   *     shared_ptr<Data> data = make_shared<Data>();
-   *
-   * Otherwise, Data::shared_from_this() will throw an exception.
+  /** @brief Create a new Data with the given name and empty Content
+   *  @warning In certain contexts that use Data::shared_from_this(), Data must be created
+   *           using `make_shared`. Otherwise, .shared_from_this() will trigger undefined behavior.
    */
-  Data();
+  Data(const Name& name = Name());
 
-  /**
-   * @brief Create a new Data object with the given name
-   *
-   * @param name A reference to the name
-   *
-   * Note that in certain contexts that use Data::shared_from_this(), Data must be
-   * created using `make_shared`:
-   *
-   *     shared_ptr<Data> data = make_shared<Data>(name);
-   *
-   * Otherwise, Data::shared_from_this() will throw an exception.
-   */
-  Data(const Name& name);
-
-  /**
-   * @brief Create a new Data object from wire encoding
-   *
-   * Note that in certain contexts that use Data::shared_from_this(), Data must be
-   * created using `make_shared`:
-   *
-   *     shared_ptr<Data> data = make_shared<Data>(wire);
-   *
-   * Otherwise, Data::shared_from_this() will throw an exception.
+  /** @brief Create from wire encoding
+   *  @warning In certain contexts that use Data::shared_from_this(), Data must be created
+   *           using `make_shared`. Otherwise, .shared_from_this() will trigger undefined behavior.
    */
   explicit
   Data(const Block& wire);
 
-  /**
-   * @brief Fast encoding or block size estimation
-   *
-   * @param encoder                 EncodingEstimator or EncodingBuffer instance
-   * @param wantUnsignedPortionOnly Request only unsigned portion to be encoded in block.
-   *                                If true, only Name, MetaInfo, Content, and SignatureInfo
-   *                                blocks will be encoded into the block. Note that there
-   *                                will be no outer TLV header of the Data packet.
+  /** @brief Fast encoding or block size estimation
+   *  @param encoder EncodingEstimator or EncodingBuffer instance
+   *  @param wantUnsignedPortionOnly If true, only prepends Name, MetaInfo, Content, and
+   *         SignatureInfo to @p encoder, but omit SignatureValue and outmost Type-Length of Data
+   *         element. This is intended to be used with wireEncode(encoder, signatureValue).
+   *  @throw Error SignatureBits are not provided and wantUnsignedPortionOnly is false.
    */
   template<encoding::Tag TAG>
   size_t
   wireEncode(EncodingImpl<TAG>& encoder, bool wantUnsignedPortionOnly = false) const;
 
-  /**
-   * @brief Encode to a wire format
-   */
-  const Block&
-  wireEncode() const;
-
-  /**
-   * @brief Finalize Data packet encoding with the specified SignatureValue
+  /** @brief Finalize Data packet encoding with the specified SignatureValue
+   *  @param encoder EncodingBuffer containing Name, MetaInfo, Content, and SignatureInfo, but
+   *                 without SignatureValue or outmost Type-Length of Data element
+   *  @param signatureValue SignatureValue element
    *
-   * @param encoder        EncodingBuffer instance, containing Name, MetaInfo, Content, and
-   *                       SignatureInfo (without outer TLV header of the Data packet).
-   * @param signatureValue SignatureValue block to be added to Data packet to finalize
-   *                       the wire encoding
-   *
-   * This method is intended to be used in concert with Data::wireEncode(EncodingBuffer&, true)
-   * method to optimize Data packet wire format creation:
-   *
+   *  This method is intended to be used in concert with Data::wireEncode(encoder, true)
+   *  @code
    *     Data data;
    *     ...
    *     EncodingBuffer encoder;
@@ -123,233 +83,175 @@
    *     ...
    *     Block signatureValue = <sign_over_unsigned_portion>(encoder.buf(), encoder.size());
    *     data.wireEncode(encoder, signatureValue)
+   *  @endcode
    */
   const Block&
   wireEncode(EncodingBuffer& encoder, const Block& signatureValue) const;
 
-  /**
-   * @brief Decode from the wire format
+  /** @brief Encode to a wire format
+   */
+  const Block&
+  wireEncode() const;
+
+  /** @brief Decode from the wire format
    */
   void
   wireDecode(const Block& wire);
 
-  /**
-   * @brief Check if Data is already has wire encoding
+  /** @brief Check if already has wire
    */
   bool
-  hasWire() const;
+  hasWire() const
+  {
+    return m_wire.hasWire();
+  }
 
-  ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
-
-  /**
-   * @brief Get name of the Data packet
-   */
-  const Name&
-  getName() const;
-
-  /**
-   * @brief Set name to a copy of the given Name
-   *
-   * @return This Data so that you can chain calls to update values
-   */
-  Data&
-  setName(const Name& name);
-
-  //
-
-  /**
-   * @brief Get full name of Data packet, including the implicit digest
-   *
-   * @throws Error if Data packet doesn't have a full name yet (wire encoding has not been
-   *         yet created)
+  /** @brief Get full name including implicit digest
+   *  @pre hasWire() == true; i.e. wireEncode() must have been called
+   *  @throw Error Data has no wire encoding
    */
   const Name&
   getFullName() const;
 
-  /**
-   * @brief Get MetaInfo block from Data packet
+public: // Data fields
+  /** @brief Get name
+   */
+  const Name&
+  getName() const
+  {
+    return m_name;
+  }
+
+  /** @brief Set name
+   *  @return a reference to this Data, to allow chaining
+   */
+  Data&
+  setName(const Name& name);
+
+  /** @brief Get MetaInfo
    */
   const MetaInfo&
-  getMetaInfo() const;
+  getMetaInfo() const
+  {
+    return m_metaInfo;
+  }
 
-  /**
-   * @brief Set metaInfo to a copy of the given MetaInfo
-   *
-   * @return This Data so that you can chain calls to update values.
+  /** @brief Set MetaInfo
+   *  @return a reference to this Data, to allow chaining
    */
   Data&
   setMetaInfo(const MetaInfo& metaInfo);
 
-  //
-
-  ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
-  ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
-  ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
-  // MetaInfo proxy methods
-
-  uint32_t
-  getContentType() const;
-
-  Data&
-  setContentType(uint32_t type);
-
-  //
-
-  const time::milliseconds&
-  getFreshnessPeriod() const;
-
-  Data&
-  setFreshnessPeriod(const time::milliseconds& freshnessPeriod);
-
-  //
-
-  const name::Component&
-  getFinalBlockId() const;
-
-  Data&
-  setFinalBlockId(const name::Component& finalBlockId);
-
-  //
-  ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
-  ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
-  ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
-
-  /**
-   * @brief Get content Block
+  /** @brief Get Content
    *
-   * To access content value, one can use value()/value_size() or
-   * value_begin()/value_end() methods of the Block class
+   *  The Content value is accessible through value()/value_size() or value_begin()/value_end()
+   *  methods of the Block class.
    */
   const Block&
   getContent() const;
 
-  /**
-   * @brief Set the content from the buffer (buffer will be copied)
+  /** @brief Set Content from a block
    *
-   * @param buffer Pointer to first byte of the buffer
-   * @param bufferSize Size of the buffer
+   *  If block's TLV-TYPE is Content, it will be used directly as Data's Content element.
+   *  If block's TLV-TYPE is not Content, it will be nested into a Content element.
    *
-   * @return This Data so that you can chain calls to update values.
-   */
-  Data&
-  setContent(const uint8_t* buffer, size_t bufferSize);
-
-  /**
-   * @brief Set the content from the block
-   *
-   * Depending on type of the supplied block, there are two cases:
-   *
-   * - if block.type() == tlv::Content, then block will be used directly as Data packet's
-   *   content (no extra copying)
-   *
-   * - if block.type() != tlv::Content, then this method will create a new Block with type
-   *   tlv::Content and put block as a nested element in the content Block.
-   *
-   * @param block The Block containing the content to assign
-   *
-   * @return This Data so that you can chain calls to update values.
+   *  @return a reference to this Data, to allow chaining
    */
   Data&
   setContent(const Block& block);
 
-  /**
-   * @brief Set the content from the pointer to immutable buffer
-   *
-   * This method will create a Block with tlv::Content and set contentValue as a payload
-   * for this block.  Note that this method is very different from setContent(const
-   * Block&), since it does not require that payload should be a valid TLV element.
-   *
-   * @param contentValue The pointer to immutable buffer containing the content to assign
-   *
-   * @return This Data so that you can chain calls to update values.
+  /** @brief Copy Content value from raw buffer
+   *  @param value pointer to the first octet of the value
+   *  @param valueSize size of the raw buffer
+   *  @return a reference to this Data, to allow chaining
    */
   Data&
-  setContent(const ConstBufferPtr& contentValue);
+  setContent(const uint8_t* value, size_t valueSize);
 
-  //
+  /** @brief Set Content from wire buffer
+   *  @param value Content value, which does not need to be a TLV element
+   *  @return a reference to this Data, to allow chaining
+   */
+  Data&
+  setContent(const ConstBufferPtr& value);
 
+  /** @brief Get Signature
+   */
   const Signature&
-  getSignature() const;
+  getSignature() const
+  {
+    return m_signature;
+  }
 
-  /**
-   * @brief Set the signature to a copy of the given signature.
-   * @param signature The signature object which is cloned.
+  /** @brief Set Signature
+   *  @return a reference to this Data, to allow chaining
    */
   Data&
   setSignature(const Signature& signature);
 
+  /** @brief Set SignatureValue
+   *  @return a reference to this Data, to allow chaining
+   */
   Data&
   setSignatureValue(const Block& value);
 
-public: // EqualityComparable concept
-  bool
-  operator==(const Data& other) const;
+public: // MetaInfo fields
+  uint32_t
+  getContentType() const
+  {
+    return m_metaInfo.getType();
+  }
 
-  bool
-  operator!=(const Data& other) const;
+  Data&
+  setContentType(uint32_t type);
+
+  const time::milliseconds&
+  getFreshnessPeriod() const
+  {
+    return m_metaInfo.getFreshnessPeriod();
+  }
+
+  Data&
+  setFreshnessPeriod(const time::milliseconds& freshnessPeriod);
+
+  const name::Component&
+  getFinalBlockId() const
+  {
+    return m_metaInfo.getFinalBlockId();
+  }
+
+  Data&
+  setFinalBlockId(const name::Component& finalBlockId);
 
 protected:
-  /**
-   * @brief Clear the wire encoding.
+  /** @brief Clear wire encoding and cached FullName
+   *  @note This does not clear the SignatureValue.
    */
   void
-  onChanged();
+  resetWire();
 
 private:
   Name m_name;
   MetaInfo m_metaInfo;
-  mutable Block m_content;
+  Block m_content;
   Signature m_signature;
 
   mutable Block m_wire;
-  mutable Name m_fullName;
+  mutable Name m_fullName; ///< cached FullName computed from m_wire
 };
 
 std::ostream&
 operator<<(std::ostream& os, const Data& data);
 
+bool
+operator==(const Data& lhs, const Data& rhs);
+
 inline bool
-Data::hasWire() const
+operator!=(const Data& lhs, const Data& rhs)
 {
-  return m_wire.hasWire();
-}
-
-inline const Name&
-Data::getName() const
-{
-  return m_name;
-}
-
-inline const MetaInfo&
-Data::getMetaInfo() const
-{
-  return m_metaInfo;
-}
-
-inline uint32_t
-Data::getContentType() const
-{
-  return m_metaInfo.getType();
-}
-
-inline const time::milliseconds&
-Data::getFreshnessPeriod() const
-{
-  return m_metaInfo.getFreshnessPeriod();
-}
-
-inline const name::Component&
-Data::getFinalBlockId() const
-{
-  return m_metaInfo.getFinalBlockId();
-}
-
-inline const Signature&
-Data::getSignature() const
-{
-  return m_signature;
+  return !(lhs == rhs);
 }
 
 } // namespace ndn
 
-#endif
+#endif // NDN_DATA_HPP