I'd like the "Overview" page of my library's javadoc to essentially be a user/API guide for the entire JAR. I know that adding a package-info.java class to a package allows you to write package-level javadocs, but what about at the jar-level?
I know I could put a README.md in my project's root, but I like to think of README's as a doc for library developers (that is, people who will be maintaining the library). But the JavaDocs are API guides for people who will be using the library.
You can create an overview HTML file and place it anywhere you like in your source tree. The convention is to call it overview.html and place it at the root of your tree, but you are certainly not obligated to do so. In fact, you can create multiple overview files for different purposes. When you generate your javadocs, you use the -overview flag and pass it the path to the target overview file.
You can find more information about overview file requirements here.
When you are using Maven and its plugin for JavaDoc:
Put a file named overview.html into folder src/main/javadoc and run the command mvn javadoc:javadoc; the JavaDoc files are written into folder target/site/apidocs.
This is also possible when you want to generate JavaDoc files for the Unit Tests: Put a file named overview.html into folder src/test/javadoc and run the command mvn javadoc:test-javadoc; the JavaDoc files are written into folder target/site/testapidocs.
Related
I have built a library and linked it to my Eclipse project as an External JAR.
Though the library works well, I couldn't make the Javadoc I wrote appear, as Eclipse keeps showing me:
I've read through some similar posts and they all refer to the javadoc file location, but I have no separate file for Javadoc. Everything is written above fields and methods with basic annotations.
How am I supposed to "link" a javadoc that is already present in the library files ? Thank you.
You could export the jar, and in the export window you can mark the option export java source files and resources
I know this insn't the ideal fix(cause you would be exporting your source code) but it does work
I'm in the process of writing a small Java library that contains a related code that I usually include in most of my android app. I decided to export the library as a jar file then drop the file in the libs folder of my future projects.
Using Android Studio:
I created a Java Library module and put my code in it. And I added some comments to some of the method, following this.
Then, I ran the jar task in gradle, which gave me the .jar file in build/libs directory of my module.
Now, when I used this jar in one of my android apps, Everything works as expected, except the Doc part. When I hover over the classes and methods of my library, I don't see the Doc comments that I wrote.
Q1: Am I missing another step?
Q2: Are jar files supposed to have no comments?
The javadocs are the documents that are generated from the javadoc comments in your source code. They are not part of a normal JAR file because that would unnecessarily bloat the JAR files ... with stuff that someone running to code doesn't need.
The javadocs can be generated by a Gradle task, by the javadoc command (if you have a Java SDK installed) and by various other tools. You can then read them using a web browser.
On the other hand, IDEs can often render the javadoc comments in source code and display them as pop-ups, etcetera. (Some people would call this "javadocs", but I think that is an overstatement, since you typically can't navigate the documentation ... like you can with read javadoc documents.)
In order to render the javadoc comments, the IDE needs the source code. JAR files don't (normally) contain any source code or javadocs. Instead, the normal way to deal with this is to tell the IDE where the source code is, either by pointing it at a source code directory, a ZIP file containing source code, or URL for downloading the source code.
(I don't use Android Studio, so I can tell you exactly how to do this. However, I imagine that the IDE's online help explains how to do it ...)
It seems that your end goal here is to distribute your libraries in a way that allows programmers to see the javadoc comments.
The simple way to do that is to distribute source code. This Q&A describes how to get Gradle to generate a separate archive containing the source code, or add the source code to the JAR containing your compiled code1.
If that isn't acceptable, you may need to generate the javadocs as HTML2 and provide the HTML tree as a separate ZIP file that a programmer can unzip and read with a web browser. Alternatively, put the javadocs up on a website.
1 - I would not recommend this. People who just want to use the JAR as a binary are liable to complain about "bloat".
2 - If neither providing source code or javadoc HTML documentation is acceptable, I don't think there is a pragmatic solution.
There is a separate Gradle task to generate javadoc. Try adding the following:
task javadocJar(type: Jar, dependsOn:javadoc) {
classifier = 'javadoc'
from javadoc.destinationDir }
And then run:
gradle javadocJar
See if that helps.
In addition to the above, you can try and add the following to make to generate a single jar with both compiled classes and javadoc:
jar {
from javadoc.destinationDir
}
jar.dependsOn javadoc
I don't know if that's the right decision to bundle everything in the same jar. I prefer keeping the jars separate and maybe find another way to make the IDE use the javadoc jar file. Maybe try adding the javadoc jar as another dependency of the module.
Yes This is possible
Hi, This is possible but with a small change like in the jar file.
First of all, from a code point of view jar file contains only compiled ".class" files and not source files ".java"
So if you need a doc to be applied with a jar by this I mean not the index.html which gets created but the comment that appears whenever a person uses the jar API and calls a method with a suggestion.
Example :
For that, we need to also add a source file while generating .jar file.
Steps for the same:
Type comments/java docs in code
Generate Docs
This will create a doc folder in project folder
Now create jar file
Make sure you choose this option as shown below
Almost done just test it by importing jar to another project and it should the suggestions as per docs
Very Important this can be harmful as you are including source files.java in your jar so before making make sure if you need this or not.!!!!
Hope this gave your answer
Any questions you can contact me over: VaibhavMojidra.com
I have added the Javax.mail library to my project, and added the jar files as Libraries and included the dependencies as well but still it displays "Sources not found" in the Javax.mail classes and wants me to attach sources. Help Plz
I'm not using Maven
When you add a library to IntelliJ IDEA, at a minimum you need to attach the JAR (or directory) containing the compiled classes (i.e. the binaries). You then can optionally add either the source code, the javadoc, or both. Javadoc can be added as a JAR file, a ZIP file, a directory, or as a URL. Source code can be added via a JAR file, a ZIP file, or a directory.
Adding either the Javadoc or the source file will allow you to see the libraries Javadoc documentation via the "View Quick Documentation" action (Ctrl+Q / ⌃J or View > Quick Documentation from the menu). Since the source code has the Javadoc source, IDEA can pull the Javadoc from it.
An additional added advantage of having the source code attached is that you can actually view the source code (via various actions like quick definition lookup Ctrl+Shift+I / ⌥Space or via the view menu, or the go to implementation or declaration actions).
With third party libraries, not all of them will have Javadoc and/or source code available. Some will have one or the other, some both, and some neither. Sometimes,you have to go hunting for the source code or Javadoc. The two best places to look are the project's home page and the Maven Central Repository (http://search.maven.org/). Even if you are not using maven to build your project, you can find and download binary, source, and javadoc for a lot of projects/libraries there making it a good resource.
If you go the the Maven Central, and do a search for javax mail, in the search results listing will be the javax.mail library. If you click the all link for it, you will get a listing of all the versions of the javax mail API available in maven central. Some have Javadoc and sources available (especially the most recent ones), some only sources, and some neither (mostly older releases).
So in this case, we can find the source, download it, and attach it. However, in some cases you will not be able to. Especially for propitiatory (i.e. non-open-source) software that does not release the source. That's OK. You simple loose the functionality to be able to view the source of a class. You know that and can ignore the warning.
Besides src/main/java folder, we have one folder that contains some generated java sources that are required for the main sources. Code generation is invoked manually, when needed. Generated source is checked into the source repo. Everything will be built and packed together.
What would be the best location for generated java sources that are going to be compiled together with main sources? Should it be:
/src/generated/java (following the same naming logic for src/testInt/java for integration tests)
/generated-src/main/java (in collision with "The src directory contains all of the source material for building the project")
/src/main/generated-java (well... generated-java is not a type)
...?
The first option seems like the most appropriate one for this case. What do you think? Is there anything in Maven docs that describes this situation (that I have overlooked)? Do you know any repo with similar structure?
Thank you.
Answer
As suggested by #Absurd-Mind, direction we are thinking about is to split the source into the submodules (which works nice in gradle). So, the generated source and some other related source will go into its own submodule (they will produce the separate artifact) and the rest will go in other submodule, that uses this one. Thank you.
I think the location depends on how the source is generated and handled.
The source code is generated automatically during the build process: Then i would use target/main/java/, target/test/java/ and so on. This code is not checked in into CVS since you can rebuild it fairly easy. In case you clean your project the target directory will be removed and the source will be rebuild.
The source code is generated manually by an external tool or similar: I would use generated/src/main/java/, generated/src/test/java/, generated/src/main/resources/ and so on. This code should be checked in. A benefit is, as soon you see that the top-level directory name is generated you know that all files/directories below are also generated. Also you have the standard maven directory structure under the top-level directory. Another point is that clean-up is easy, just delete generated and recreate it, without looking through many other directories (like in your example: src/main/generated-java and src/test/generated-java).
EDIT: Another nice solution would be to create a maven project which only contains the generated source like myproject-generated-1.0.3.jar. This project would be a dependency in your real application. Then you would just put your generated source int src/main/java.
As much as i know there is no standard folder structure for generated sources. In my projects, i prefer src/gen/java kind of notation.
I totally agree with the accepted answer. I just want to offer a slightly different suggestion for naming the directory that contains code generated by third-party tools:
src-gen/main/java
Background: In the Eclipse/Maven Tycho world (where code/resource generation often plays a large role) there is the src-gen directory for generated code, which has been established as some kind of standard convention. (the default project layout is a bit different compared to Maven, as all source files are directly in src and src-gen).
In a Maven project that could be translated for example to src-gen/main/java, src-gen/main/resources, src-gen/test/java, src-gen/test/resources. I like that more than moving everything into a "generated" directory, because
Sources in src/main/javaand src-gen/main/java are on the same depth in the directory tree
It's more clear that src-gen contains generated sources/resources that contribute to the build. On the other hand a folder just named "generated" dosn't tell you much about its content. It could contain anything, like generated documentation or generated test data or it could be just a temporary folder.
All the mentioned advantages of generated/src/main/java still apply (e.g. easy cleanup)
After a quick google search it looks like there are already projects on Github that use this pattern
Some thoughts/opinions about the other suggestions from the question:
Instead of /src/main/generated-java I would probably rather go with something like /src/main/java-gen which, when sorting directories alphabetically, keeps generated and regular code next to each other (<lang>-gen is also another pattern already used in Eclipse projects)
In my opinion gen fits in with the brief official names like src, it etc. more than generated. I've already seen src/gen/java a few times in the wild and have the feeling it is a more common than /src/generated/java. On the other hand some Maven plugins use the quite verbose target/generated-sources/<lang> directory, so generated-sources/main/java could also be an option if your not into short names...
Ultimately I think the naming doesn't matter that much and it is up to your preference since none of this is "official" convention.
NetBeans adopted <project>/target/generated-sources/<tool> as the location for generated code. As a result you would see an extra leaf appear in your project tree named as Generated Sources (<tool>), and source code will be navigable and not show up with compiler errors in the markup.
So if you commit your code, it will not be under the /target directory, and you will have to setup your maven project for the additional Source Code locations. Otherwise, I will suggest to keep with that adopted standard and put things under <project>/target/generated-sources/<tool>.
In Maven project source file store inside src/main/java , src/main/resources and test class store inside src/test/java.
In Maven generated code (Compile code) stored into target/ folder.
When you build your Maven project, all generated code to be updated in target folder.
I am a Java beginner, using Eclipse. I am trying to understand the NASA World Wind package. Specifically code that looks like this:
protected WorldWindow wwd;
protected StatusBar statusBar;
protected ToolTipController toolTipController;
protected HighlightController highlightController;
When I mouse over "WorldWindow" it says
Note: This element neither has attached source nor attached Javadoc
and hence no Javadoc could be found.
The code compiles and runs, though.
However, it points to a package in a JAR file. I can find the class it is referring to. But I cannot read the class file. When I double click on it, I get "Source not found" in the Class File Editor.
I want to understand how this code works. How can I read the class files within the JAR?
Reading the actual class files in the jar would require decompiling with a tool such as JD-GUI.
However a quick Google search returned the Javadocs for the entire library.
http://builds.worldwind.arc.nasa.gov/worldwind-releases/daily/docs/api/index.html
Enjoy!
Use a decompiler - try JD-Eclipse, an Eclipse plugin. After installing it, you should be able to click on the classes you want to view and be directed to decompiled code from within the JAR file.
The project you are using is open source, so you have a few options at this point.
Ideally you can associate the source code and javadoc with the .jar file in Eclipse. This will allow you to directly view (read only) the source and documentation for the library from within Eclipse. To do this, you will need to:
download the source code and/or the javadoc. These items may very well be included in the archive you used to originally download the project (either as a jar, zip, or expanded subdirectory).
inform Eclipse about the relationship between your compiled jar file and the source/javadoc. See this guide
☆ instant gratification ☆ View the source code directly from the project repository. The World Wind project appears to be accessible at http://worldwind31.arc.nasa.gov/svn/trunk/WorldWind/src/
You can decompile the compiled code. This solution is more useful if you're trying to investigate a closed source project or if you're debugging something unusual.
You have to "decompile" the class file into readable java code. There are several good decompilers out there, here is a very popular one JD-GUI.
Also if you are using an IDE you often can download the src files and attach them just to use as javadocs while writing your program.