DZone
Thanks for visiting DZone today,
Edit Profile
  • Manage Email Subscriptions
  • How to Post to DZone
  • Article Submission Guidelines
Sign Out View Profile
  • Post an Article
  • Manage My Drafts
Over 2 million developers have joined DZone.
Log In / Join
Refcards Trend Reports Events Over 2 million developers have joined DZone. Join Today! Thanks for visiting DZone today,
Edit Profile Manage Email Subscriptions Moderation Admin Console How to Post to DZone Article Submission Guidelines
View Profile
Sign Out
Refcards
Trend Reports
Events
Zones
Culture and Methodologies Agile Career Development Methodologies Team Management
Data Engineering AI/ML Big Data Data Databases IoT
Software Design and Architecture Cloud Architecture Containers Integration Microservices Performance Security
Coding Frameworks Java JavaScript Languages Tools
Testing, Deployment, and Maintenance Deployment DevOps and CI/CD Maintenance Monitoring and Observability Testing, Tools, and Frameworks
Partner Zones AWS Cloud
by AWS Developer Relations
Culture and Methodologies
Agile Career Development Methodologies Team Management
Data Engineering
AI/ML Big Data Data Databases IoT
Software Design and Architecture
Cloud Architecture Containers Integration Microservices Performance Security
Coding
Frameworks Java JavaScript Languages Tools
Testing, Deployment, and Maintenance
Deployment DevOps and CI/CD Maintenance Monitoring and Observability Testing, Tools, and Frameworks
Partner Zones
AWS Cloud
by AWS Developer Relations

Trending

  • Avoiding Pitfalls With Java Optional: Common Mistakes and How To Fix Them [Video]
  • An Overview of Kubernetes Security Projects at KubeCon Europe 2023
  • What Is Istio Service Mesh?
  • Logging Best Practices Revisited [Video]

Code Documentation in .Net Projects

Yunus Emre Keskin user avatar by
Yunus Emre Keskin
·
Mar. 16, 14 · Interview
Like (0)
Save
Tweet
Share
6.62K Views

Join the DZone community and get the full member experience.

Join For Free

whether you are developing personal or enterprise applications, you must document from the smallest unit (methods) to the largest unit (libraries, modules, layers, etc.) of existing code. preparing this document is an important factor in the adaptation of software engineers’ and projects’ future.

in general, we refrain from writing code descriptions in method level and prefer writing descriptions in class level. sometimes we are even postponing it. in my post, we’ll try to obtain a code documentation file(.chm) or site(.html) gathered in one place for xml-based written descriptions inside visual studio. i will show you how it’s done with sandcastle help file builder . this is a quite popular tool used in .net projects.

installation : firstly we’re downloading setup file via link on codeplex page of sandcastle help file builder tool. this setup file consist of more setup file and you will do a guided installation with it. you should pay attention each installation step and do installations one by one.


now we finished the installation. we can create a operable code help file(.chm) on windows or web-based documentation. we can do this with sandcastle help file builder gui or visual studio project template. if you ask me, being via visual studio is much easier and it provide opportunity for some additional customizations. also, all project components is so good being in a single vs solution .

sandcastle help file builder gui


let’s create a sample project to create documentation file. i will create . html and .chm code doc. file for bugtracker that i coded project. open you project and add documentation project on solution in the way that you see below.


we must be insert doc. source in added doc. project. namely we’ll add libraries(.dll) that we want to create document file on project. you can use in project’s properties for documentation project’s setting and changing output directories of it. in following the photo showing this case


then build the project and here’s doc. files created. you can see files in \help directory and my created files in the links below:


web-based documentation sample: http://doc.app.yemrekeskin.com

.chm code documentation: http://doc.app.yemrekeskin.com/bugtracker.doc.chm

alternative tools:

  • http://ndoc.sourceforge.net
  • http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/five-apps/five-documentation-apps-for-net-developers
  • http://theboxsoftware.com/products/live-documenter
  • http://revaxarts-themes.com/documenter you can produce one page html for our projects with this tool. also, you can publish produced html page on subdomain of our project (doc.project.com) -good idea- or load github project page

that’s all from my article, so i hope this has been helpful.

Documentation

Opinions expressed by DZone contributors are their own.

Trending

  • Avoiding Pitfalls With Java Optional: Common Mistakes and How To Fix Them [Video]
  • An Overview of Kubernetes Security Projects at KubeCon Europe 2023
  • What Is Istio Service Mesh?
  • Logging Best Practices Revisited [Video]

Comments

Partner Resources

X

ABOUT US

  • About DZone
  • Send feedback
  • Careers
  • Sitemap

ADVERTISE

  • Advertise with DZone

CONTRIBUTE ON DZONE

  • Article Submission Guidelines
  • Become a Contributor
  • Visit the Writers' Zone

LEGAL

  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy

CONTACT US

  • 600 Park Offices Drive
  • Suite 300
  • Durham, NC 27709
  • support@dzone.com

Let's be friends: