monodocer(1) General Commands Manual monodocer(1)
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 (includ-
ing 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 docu-
mentation 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 in-
serted into the Docs element for all added types and type mem-
bers:
<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 Micro-
soft .NET Framework documentation, which is often a page or more
of docs for each member, to JavaDoc documentation, which can of-
ten 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 documenta-
tion team will have minimal experience with the programming lan-
guage 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 documen-
tation. Alternatively, you may not want the documentation team
to have access to the source code for security reasons. mon-
odocer 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 docu-
mentation, you can look at monodoc.xml file which is typically in-
stalled in /usr/lib/monodoc/monodoc.xml.
Once you have all of your files (.zip, .tree and .sources) you can in-
stall 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 reg-
istered (you might need root permissions to do this). The actual di-
rectory is returned by the pkg-config invocation.
STRING ID FORMAT
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.DllImportAt-
tribute.SetLastError
M: Refers to a constructor or method. Constructors append .ctor to
the type name, while methods append the method name (with an op-
tional count of the number of generic parameters).
If the constructor or method take arguments, these are listed
within parenthesis after the constructor/method name:
M:System.Object..ctor , M:System.String..ctor(System.Char[]) ,
M:System.String.Concat(System.Object) , M:System.Ar-
ray.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 parenthesis: 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 rep-
resentations: 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 bind-
ing of generic parameters is listed within '{' and '}'.
Unbound: T:System.Collections.Generic.List`1 , T:System.Collec-
tions.Generic.Dictionary`2 .
Bound: T:System.Collections.Generic.List{System.Int32} T:System.Collec-
tions.Generic.Dictionary{System.String,System.Collec-
tions.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.Predi-
cate{``0}) , as ``0 is the 0th generic parameter index which is bound
to System.Predicate<T> .
DOCUMENTATION FORMAT
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/@Mem-
berName , /Type/Members/Member/MemberSignature , /Type/Members/Mem-
ber/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 iden-
tical 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/> ele-
ment).
<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 Doc-
umentation 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 di-
rectly under the <Docs/> element.
CREF is the exception type that is thrown, while XML_TEXT con-
tains 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/> , <re-
marks/> , <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 cur-
rent member.
<permission/> is a top-level element, and should be nested di-
rectly 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 re-
quired.
<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 di-
rectly 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 con-
tains 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), mon-
odocs2html(1)
MAILING LISTS
Visit http://lists.ximian.com/mailman/listinfo/mono-docs-list for de-
tails.
WEB SITE
Visit http://www.mono-project.com for details
monodocer(1)
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