NAME¶
monodocer - ECMA Documentation Format Support
SYNOPSIS¶
monodocer [OPTIONS]*
OPTIONS¶
- -assembly:ASSEMBLY
- ASSEMBLY is a .NET assembly to generate documentation stubs for.
Specify a file path or the name of a GAC'd assembly.
- -delete
- Allow monodocer to delete members from documentation files. The only
members deleted are for members which are no longer present within the
assembly.
If a type is no longer present, the documentation file is not
deleted, but is instead renamed to have a .remove
extension.
- -?, -help
- Show program argument information.
- -ignoremembers
- Do not update members.
This will add documentation stubs for added types, but will not add
or remove documentation for any members of any type (including any added
types).
- -importslashdoc:FILE
- FILE is an XML file generated with the /doc:FILE C# compiler
flag (e.g. mcs -doc:foo.xml foo.cs ). Import the member
documentation contained within FILE into the documentation format
used by monodoc.
- -name:NAME
- NAME is the name of the project this documentation is for.
This sets the /Overview/Title element within the index.xml
file created at the directory specified by -path . This is used by
some programs for title information (e.g. monodocs2html ).
- -namespace:NAMESPACE
- Only update the types within the namespace NAMESPACE .
- -overrides
- Include overridden methods in documentation.
This normally isn't necessary, as the Mono Documentation Browser will
provide a link to the base type members anyway, as will
monodocs2html if the base type is within the same assembly.
- -path:OUTPUT_DIR
- OUTPUT_DIR is the directory which will contain the new/updated
documentation stubs.
- -pretty
- Indent the XML files nicely.
- -since:SINCE
- Create a <since/> element for added types and members with the value
SINCE .
For example, when given -since:"Gtk# 2.4" an element will
be inserted into the Docs element for all added types and type
members:
<since version="Gtk# 2.4" />
The Mono Documentation Browser and monodocs2html will use this
element to specify in which version a member was added.
- -type:TYPE
- Only create/update documentation for the type TYPE .
- -updateto:PATH
- When updating documentation, write the updated documentation files into
the directory PATH .
- -V, -version
- Display version and licensing information.
DESCRIPTION¶
monodocer has been obsoleted by
mdoc(1). See the
mdoc-update(1) man page.
monodocer is a program that creates XML documentation stubs in the ECMA
Documentation Format. It does not rely on documentation found within the
source code.
The advantages are:
- *
- Code readability. Good documentation is frequently (a) verbose, and
(b) filled with examples. (For comparison, compare Microsoft .NET
Framework documentation, which is often a page or more of docs for each
member, to JavaDoc documentation, which can often be a sentence for each
member.)
Inserting good documentation into the source code can frequently bloat the
source file, as the documentation can be longer than the actual method
that is being documented.
- *
- Localization. In-source documentation formats (such as /doc
) have no support for multiple human languages. If you need to support
more than one human language for documentation purposes, monodocer
is useful as it permits each language to get its own directory, and
monodocer can add types/members for each separate documentation
directory.
- *
- Administration. It's not unusual to have separate documentation and
development teams. It's also possible that the documentation team will
have minimal experience with the programming language being used. In such
circumstances, inline documentation is not desirable as the documentation
team could inadvertantly insert an error into the source code while
updating the documentation. Alternatively, you may not want the
documentation team to have access to the source code for security reasons.
monodocer allows the documentation to be kept completely
separate and distinct from the source code used to create the
assembly.
To turn the
monodocer documentation into something that can be consumed
by the Mono Documentation Browser (the desktop help browser, or the web
interface for it) it is necessary to compile the documentation into a packed
format. This is done with the mdassembler tool, for example, you could use
this toolchain like this:
$ monodocer -assembly:MyWidgets -path:generated_docs
$ mdassembler --ecma generated_docs -out:MyWidgets
The above would generate a MyWidgets.zip and a MyWidgets.tree that can then be
installed in the system. In addition to the two files (.zip and .tree) you
must provide a .sources file which describes where in the help system the
documentation should be hooked up, it is a very simple XML file, like this:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<monodoc>
<source provider="ecma" basefile="MyWidgets" path="classlib-gnome"/>
</monodoc>
The above configuration file describes that the documentation is in ECMA format
(the compiled version) that the base file name is MyWidgets and that it should
be hooked up in the "classlib-gnome" part of the tree. If you want
to look at the various nodes defined in the documentation, you can look at
monodoc.xml file which is typically installed in /usr/lib/monodoc/monodoc.xml.
Once you have all of your files (.zip, .tree and .sources) you can install them
into the system with the following command:
$ cp MyWidgets.tree MyWidgets.zip MyWidgets.source `pkg-config monodoc --variable sourcesdir`
The above will copy the files into the directory that Monodoc has registered
(you might need root permissions to do this). The actual directory is returned
by the
pkg-config invocation.
String IDs are used to refer to a type or member of a type. String IDs are
documented in ECMA-334 3rd Edition, Annex E.3.1. They consist of a
member
type prefix , the full type name (namespace + name, separated by '.'),
possibly followed by the member name and other information.
Member type prefixes:
- E:
- The String ID refers to an event. The event name follows the type name:
E:System.AppDomain.AssemblyLoad
- F:
- The String ID refers to a field. The field name follows the type name:
F:System.Runtime.InteropServices.DllImportAttribute.SetLastError
- M:
- Refers to a constructor or method. Constructors append .ctor to the
type name, while methods append the method name (with an optional count of
the number of generic parameters).
If the constructor or method take arguments, these are listed within
paranthesis after the constructor/method name:
M:System.Object..ctor , M:System.String..ctor(System.Char[]) ,
M:System.String.Concat(System.Object) ,
M:System.Array.Sort``1(``0[]) ,
M:System.Collections.Generic.List`1..ctor ,
M:System.Collections.Generic.List`1.Add(`0) .
- N:
- Refers to a namespace, e.g. N:System
- P:
- Refers to a property. If the property is an indexer or takes parameters,
the parameter types are appended to the property name and enclosed with
paranthesis: P:System.String.Length ,
P:System.String.Chars(System.Int32) .
- T:
- The String ID refers to a type, with the number of generic types appended:
T:System.String , T:System.Collections.Generic.List`1
To make matters more interesting, generic types & members have two
representations: the "unbound" representation (shown in examples
above), in which class names have the count of generic parameters appended to
their name. There is also a "bound" representation, in which the
binding of generic parameters is listed within '{' and '}'.
Unbound: T:System.Collections.Generic.List`1 ,
T:System.Collections.Generic.Dictionary`2 .
Bound: T:System.Collections.Generic.List{System.Int32}
T:System.Collections.Generic.Dictionary{System.String,System.Collections.Generic.List{System.Predicate{System.String}}}
.
As you can see, bound variants can be arbitrarily complex (just like generics).
Furthermore, if a generic parameter is bound to the generic parameter of a type
or method, the "index" of the type/method's generic parameter is
used as the binding, so given
class FooType {
public static void Foo<T> (System.Predicate<T> predicate) {}
}
The String ID for this method is
M:FooType.Foo``1(System.Predicate{``0})
, as
``0 is the 0th generic parameter index which is bound to
System.Predicate<T> .
monodocer generates documentation similar to the Ecma documentation
format, as described in ECMA-335 3rd Edition, Partition IV, Chapter 7.
The principal difference from the ECMA format is that each type gets its own
file, within a directory identical to the namespace of the type.
Most of the information within the documentation should
not be edited.
This includes the type name (
/Type/@FullName ), implemented interfaces
(
/Type/Interfaces ), member information (
/Type/Members/Member/@MemberName ,
/Type/Members/Member/MemberSignature ,
/Type/Members/Member/MemberType ,
/Type/Members/Member/Parameters , etc.).
What
should be modified are all elements with the text
To be
added. , which are present under the
//Docs elements (e.g.
/Type/Docs ,
/Type/Members/Member/Docs ). The contents of the
Docs element is
identical in semantics and structure to the
inline C# documentation format, consisting of these elements (listed in
ECMA-334 3rd Edition, Annex E, Section 2). The following are used within the
element descriptions:
- CREF
- Refers to a class (or member) reference, and is a string in the format
described above in the STRING ID FORMAT section.
- TEXT
- Non-XML text, and XML should not be nested.
- XML
- Only XML elements should be nested (which indirectly may contain text),
but non-whitespace text should not be an immediate child node.
- XML_TEXT
- Free-form text and XML, so that other XML elements may be nested.
The following elements are used in documentation:
- <block subset="SUBSET"
type="TYPE">XML_TEXT</block>
- Create a block of text, similar in concept to a paragraph, but is used to
create divisions within the text. To some extent, a <block/> is
equivalent to the HTML <h2/> tag.
SUBSET should always be the value none .
TYPE specifies the heading and formatting to use. Recognized types
are:
behaviors Creates a section with the heading Operation .
note Creates a section with the heading Note: .
overrides Creates a section with the heading Note to
Inheritors .
usage Creates a section with the heading Usage .
- <c>XML_TEXT</c>
- Set text in a code-like font (similar to the HTML <tt/>
element).
- <code lang="LANGUAGE">TEXT</code>
- Display multiple lines of text in a code-like font (similar to the HTML
<pre/> element). LANGUAGE is the language this code block is
for. For example, if LANGUAGE is C# , then TEXT will
get syntax highlighting for the C# language within the Mono Documentation
Browser.
- <example>XML_TEXT</example>
- Indicates an example that should be displayed specially. For example:
<example>
<para>An introductory paragraph.</para>
<code lang="C#">
class Example {
public static void Main ()
{
System.Console.WriteLine ("Hello, World!");
}
}
</code>
</example>
- <exception
cref="CREF">XML_TEXT</exception>
- Identifies an exception that can be thrown by the documented member.
<exception/> is a top-level element, and should be nested
directly under the <Docs/> element.
CREF is the exception type that is thrown, while XML_TEXT
contains the circumstances that would cause CREF to be thrown.
<exception cref="T:System.ArgumentNullException">
<paramref name="foo" /> was <see langword="null" />.
</exception>
- <list>XML</list>
- Create a list or table of items. <list/> makes use of nested
<item>XML</item> ,
<listheader>XML</listheader> ,
<term>XML_TEXT</term> , and
<description>XML_TEXT</description> elements.
Lists have the syntax:
<list type="bullet"> <!-- or type="number" -->
<item><term>Bullet 1</term></item>
<item><term>Bullet 2</term></item>
<item><term>Bullet 3</term></item>
</list>
Tables have the syntax:
<list type="table">
<listheader> <!-- listheader bolds this row -->
<term>Column 1</term>
<description>Column 2</description>
<description>Column 3</description>
</listheader>
<item>
<term>Item 1-A</term>
<description>Item 1-B</description>
<description>Item 1-C</description>
</item>
<item>
<term>Item 2-A</term>
<description>Item 2-B</description>
<description>Item 2-C</description>
</item>
</list>
- <para>XML_TEXT</para>
- Insert a paragraph of XML_TEXT
. This is for use within other tags, such as <example/> ,
<remarks/> , <returns/> , <term/>
and <description/> (see <list/> , above), and
most other elements.
For example,
<para>This is a paragraph of text.</para>
- <param name="NAME">XML_TEXT</param>
- <param/> is a top-level element, and should be nested
directly under the <Docs/> element.
Describes the parameter NAME of the current constructor, method, or
property:
<param name="count">
A <see cref="T:System.Int32" /> containing the number
of widgets to process.
</param>
- <paramref name="NAME" />
- Indicates that NAME is a parameter.
This usually renders NAME as italic text, so it is frequently
(ab)used as an equivalent to the HTML <i/> element. See the
<exception/> documentation (above) for an example.
- <permission
cref="CREF">XML_TEXT</permission>
- Documentes the security accessibility requirements of the current member.
<permission/> is a top-level element, and should be nested
directly under the <Docs/> element.
CREF is a type reference to the security permission required, while
XML_TEXT is a description of why the permission is required.
<permission cref="T:System.Security.Permissions.FileIOPermission">
Requires permission for reading and writing files. See
<see cref="F:System.Security.Permissions.FileIOPermissionAccess.Read" />,
<see cref="F:System.Security.Permissions.FileIOPermissionAccess.Write" />.
</permission>
- <remarks>XML_TEXT</remarks>
- Contains detailed information about a member.
<remarks/> is a top-level element, and should be nested
directly under the <Docs/> element.
<remarks>Insert detailed information here.</remarks>
- <returns>XML_TEXT</returns>
-
<remarks/> is a top-level element, and should be nested
directly under the <Docs/> element.
Describes the return value of a method:
<returns>
A <see cref="T:System.Boolean" /> specifying whether
or not the process can access
<see cref="P:Mono.Unix.UnixFileSystemInfo.FullName" />.
</returns>
- <see cref="CREF" />
- Creates a link to the specified member within the current text:
<see cref="M:Some.Namespace.With.Type.Method" />
- <seealso cref="CREF" />
-
<seealso/> is a top-level element, and should be nested
directly under the <Docs/> element.
Allows an entry to be generated for the See Also subclause. Use
<see/> to specify a link from within text.
<seealso cref="P:System.Exception.Message" />
- <since version="VERSION" />
-
<since/> is a top-level element, and should be nested directly
under the <Docs/> element.
Permits specification of which version introduced the specified type or
member.
<since version="Gtk# 2.4" />
- <summary>DESCRIPTION</summary>
-
<summary/> is a top-level element, and should be nested
directly under the <Docs/> element.
Provides a (brief!) overview about a type or type member.
This is usually displayed as part of a class declaration, and should be a
reasonably short description of the type/member. Use
<remarks/> for more detailed information.
- <typeparam
name="NAME">DESCRPITION</typeparam>
- <typeparam/> is a top-level element, and should be nested
directly under the <Docs/> element.
This is used to describe type parameter for a generic type or generic
method.
NAME is the name of the type parameter, while DESCRIPTION
contains a description of the parameter (what it's used for, what
restrictions it must meet, etc.).
<typeparam name="T">The type of the underlying collection</typeparam>
- <typeparamref>
- Used to indicate that a word is a type parameter, for use within other
text blocks (e.g. within <para/> ).
<para>If <typeparamref name="T" /> is a struct, then...</para>
- <value>DESCRIPTION</value>
- <value/> is a top-level element, and should be nested
directly under the <Docs/> element.
Allows a property to be described.
<value>
A <see cref="T:System.String" /> containing a widget name.
</value>
SEE ALSO¶
mdassembler(1), mdcs2ecma(1), mdnormalizer(1), mdvalidator(1),
monodocs2html(1)
MAILING LISTS¶
- Visit http://lists.ximian.com/mailman/listinfo/mono-docs-list for
details.
WEB SITE¶
Visit
http://www.mono-project.com for details