You can generate the xml file at compile time by doing one of the following. They are special because they can be processed by the compiler to generate an xml documentation file at compile time. Using a brand new tag each time you need to document a new member doesnt sit well with the overall philosophy of xml syntax and semantics but it works perfectly well. In source code files, comments having a certain form can be used to direct a tool to produce xml from those comments and the source code elements, which they precede. Documentation comments sometimes referred to as xml. To create the final documentation based on the compilergenerated file, you can create a custom tool, or use a tool such as docfx or sandcastle.
Than you can look for something you can use to build the pdf. Comments occupy a curious place within the resharper ecosystem. The following example generates an xml file in the project directory with the same. On the other hand, a comment preceding a method consist of valid xml that is subsequently represented as a proper data structure. Take advantage of xml comments part 2 on vb columnist joe kunk continues his examination of xml comments by extending the xml comment vocabulary with additional default tags in visual basic and showing how to process the resulting xml file into apistyle reference documentation using the sandcastle help file builder. Net provides via xml comments for imports some formats going the other way dont work. The xml comments are used to build api documentation which is readable by external tools. The syntax for writing comments in xml is similar to the syntax of writing comments in html. Provide a context menu to update the comments for the functionsto be added.
I needed to get that string out of my xml and save it to a pdf file. Compile with doc to process documentation comments to a file. Although xml is supposed to be selfdescribing data, you may still come across some instances where an xml comment might be necessary. Follow these steps to import comments from sources such as a pdf document, a form data format fdf file, or an xmlbased fdf xfdf file. Csharp documenting your code with xml comments awesome. It is important for all types of software developers. From the edit menu, choose intellisense insert comment. Variations on this idea include generating pdf, rtf, or even microsoft word documents.
See how easy the code commenting with xml doc comments can be with powerful. You should apply the obsoleteattribute to the member and provide a description there. You want to create an xml file for reader, but the title of xml editor appears as xml editor foxit phantompdf, you should change the interface to reader and vise versa. Dec, 2019 renderx provides examples of pdf documents with source data xml, xslt, xslfo to help you in evaluation of formatting tools and assist in development. Dont put obsolete info directly in xml comments, use obsoleteattribute. Click on interface at the bottom to choose a product name reader or phantom, click on. The examples will be uploaded to an exist xml database in a collection called htmland pdf singlestylesheet located in the root collection of exist, so you can view each example in your browser. Comments may not appear before the xml declaration. Continuing the theme started in my last post, massachusetts recently ratified a digital document standard that excludes technology backed by.
Typically, the tag provides the description and contains the and. If you just want to see an example, type in exampleocroutput. For information on how to create a cref reference to a generic type, see. It is similar to a database schema that describes the data in a database. The c tag gives you a way to indicate that text within a description should be marked as code. When a member is deprecated, this fact should be mentioned in documentation. It is used to describe and validate the structure and the content of xml data. We know that the comments are used to make codes more understandable other developers. Jan 10, 2012 i needed to get that string out of my xml and save it to a pdf file. I knew the xml was originally in a pdf format because of where the source that was sending me the file. For example, to see example 1, type this url in your browsers address bar assuming that exist is installed locally. Comments using such syntax are called documentation comments.
The compiler checks that the given code element exists and passes member to the element name in the output xml. Dec 20, 2007 ive been struggling in matching xml comments to html help builders commenting features. On the one hand, a comment may be a simple string encapsulated in a node of a physical tree. Although xml is known as selfdescribing data but sometimes xml comments are necessary. This chapter explains how comments work in xml documents.
Learn how to document your code with xml documentation comments. On the other hand, a comment preceding a method consist of valid xml that is subsequently represented as a. Xml documentation comments are a special kind of comment, added above the definition of any userdefined type or member. In visual basic, it is possible to extend the xml comment template with additional. Xml comments for example dont really have a good way to represent comment links that dont point a typesignature. Xml schema defines the elements, attributes and data types. Use to indicate that text within a description should be marked as code. If you are developing an application using visual studio, rightclick on. While html help builder can do just fine with what. Any text between and the end of the line is ignored by the compiler will not be executed. For example, database of numbers, numbers representing molecular structure or a mathematical equation.
Example xml data, xsl stylesheet and the resulting pdf are in data folder xml and xsl are courtesy of the xquery wikibook. The following image depicts the parts of xml document. Traverse direct children via firstchild nextsibling, or lastchild previoussibling. Comments can be used to include related links, information, and terms. Click on interface at the bottom to choose a product name reader or phantom, click on confirm and then yes to switch the interface. This article tries to fill this gap by providing rules and some sample phrases. However, the article does not explain how the contained phrases and sentences should be written. To include code you either need to use the tag for code snippets or for multiline code examples.
After opening the xml file on your computer, click the print button in the whichever program you used to open the file. The documentationsample type demonstrates code comments. From the rightclick or context menu on or just above the code element, choose snippet. The viewer shows up and you can now enter the file name of your file to load it must be relative to the directory in which pdf2xmlviewer resides. Documenting your code with xml comments microsoft docs. Xml comments have the exact same syntax as html comments. Some constrains govern where comments may be placed with an xml file. The example you bring is more of writing comments to say that one writes comments rather than making others and theirs also life easier. However, you dont need to put this info in your xml comments. Each element starts with a start tag for example and ends with. Export all or selected comments to an fdf or xfdf file, a word document, or an autocad file. An xml document is a basic unit of xml information composed of elements and other markup in an orderly package.
Intellisense also reads these, and uses the contents to show the docs for your code in the assistance tooltips as you type and in the documentation window. After printing your file to pdf, it will automatically be opened in pdfelement. It can also be used to prevent execution when testing alternative code. Xml was designed to be both human and machinereadable.
Once submitted, your comments go through an approval process and your comments may ultimately be incorporated into cxml. A pdf is a document to be read by humans, an xml is a structured data representation format. Xml schema is commonly known as xml schema definition xsd. The documentation contains one or more documentation elements. The xml documentation facility is built into all visual studio versions, including express. See the sandcastle wall chart pdf for full details. Now you browse through the pages of your pdf document and youll see the text boxes with red frames. These tags, known as childcompletionlist tags, are. Youll need to select wondershare pdfelement as the printer option. Xml can be used for offloading and reloading of databases. Xml can be used to exchange the information between organizations and systems. Singleline comments start with two forward slashes. How to decode a base64string in xml to be a pdf file. Doxygen or sandcastle help file builder are the primary tools that will extract xml documentation into html and other forms of external.
Kompilieren sie mit doc, um dokumentationskommentare zu einer datei zu verarbeiten. Ive been struggling in matching xml comments to html help builders commenting features. A number of xml comment tags appear in intellisense only as child elements of other tags. So, i created a proof of conceptpoc in order to see if i could convert and create a valid pdf. Compile with doc to process documentation comments. Copy the function comments to the implementation fileto be added. The comments are added as notes or lines for understanding the purpose of an xml code. Xml plays an important role in many different it systems. To include the xml comments for other methods you would write another tag at the appropriate place and change the path to pick out say mydocsmember2 and so on. Guidelines to better xml doc comments and documentation. Take advantage of xml comments part 1 visual studio magazine. C sharp programming this book is generated by wikitype using renderx ditype, xml to pdf xslfo formatter. Personally, i use both, for various situations in the end, its all up to you.
Continuing the theme started in my last post, massachusetts recently ratified a digital document standard that excludes technology backed by the maker of the dominant office. You are welcome to use and adopt this standard, and to submit comments, recommendations, and suggestions to. This xml file can then be used to generate humanreadable documentation in a variety of forms including web pages, msdn style documentation and intellisense within the code window. Xml can be used to store and arrange the data, which can customize your data handling needs. Comment can be used anywhere to add information about xml tags or data, which will be helpful for developers to understand the existing code in the future easily.
If you want angle brackets to appear in the text of a documentation comment, use the html encoding of which is respectively. Xml is often used for distributing data over the internet. Xml comments add notes or lines for understanding the purpose of an xml code. They must immediately precede a userdefined type such as a class, delegate, or interface or a member such as a field, event, property, or method. A reference to a member or field that is available to be called from the current compilation environment. Take advantage of xml comments part 2 visual studio magazine.