101 lines
No EOL
3.4 KiB
Markdown
101 lines
No EOL
3.4 KiB
Markdown
# Writing API docs
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We use [API extractor](https://api-extractor.com/pages/setup/generating_docs/) to generate API docs in markdown. We put the markdown files in the [theatre-docs](https://github.com/ariaminaei/theatre-docs/) repo, which also contains the tutorials and guides.
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To generate the API docs, run the `build:api-docs` from the root of the repo:
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```sh
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$ yarn build:api-docs /path/to/theatre-docs/docs/api/ # this will empty the /api folder and regenerate the markdown files
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```
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## JSDoc/TSDoc gotchas
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We are using TSDoc for documentation generation, IDEs use JSDoc for tooltips. TSDoc and JSDoc have subtle differences. We need to optimize for both.
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Most users will read our documentation inside their IDEs.
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### `@example`
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IDEs automatically wrap example sections in `` ``` `` if they aren't already wrapped by you. This means you can't use non-code explanations in example sections, like TSDoc examples do.
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This will be formatted incorrectly:
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```ts
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/**
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* Adds two numbers together.
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* @example
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* Here's a simple example:
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* ```
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* // Prints "2":
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* console.log(add(1,1));
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* ```
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* @example
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* Here's an example with negative numbers:
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* ```
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* // Prints "0":
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* console.log(add(1,-1));
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* ```
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*/
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export function add(x: number, y: number): number {
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}
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```
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Some IDEs have problems with having multiple example sections in the same JSDoc comment.
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WebStorm doesn’t highlight examples if you wrap them in `` ``` ``.
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api-documenter doesn’t highlight examples if you don't wrap them in `` ``` ``.
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### Guidelines
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- Only use one `@example` section
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- Use a single code block in it, no explanations
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- Wrap the code block in `` ```ts ... ``` `` (the `ts` modifier is important, api-documenter copies the `@example` section verbatim, and our documentation page might not highlight the vanilla `` ``` `` sections)
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- If you need to explain the code, use code comments
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#### `@typeParam`
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api-documenter doesn’t generate documentation for it, but IDEs might display it even if they don't have bespoke support for it.
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#### `@link`
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While in JSDoc you can specify paths relative to the current declaration, TSDoc requires everything to be specified relative to the entry point. That is, if `bar` is a member of `Foo`, and `Foo` is exported in the entry, you need to refer to `bar` as `Foo.bar`, even inside `Foo`.
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JSDoc allows separating the link text from the link either with a space or using `|`. TSDoc only supports `|`, *and* you mustn’t have spaces around it. So for example `{@link MyClass | go here}` would be rendered incorrectly, whereas `{@link MyClass|go here}` would be correct.
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#### `@param`
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api-documenter won’t render the documentation for object properties, but document them anyway, IDEs do.
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Since documentation is only rendered for the object and not for its properties, make sure to include examples for these properties.
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#### `@see`
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While JSDoc attempts to hyperlink to anything after the `@see` tag, TSDoc requires an explicit `{@link}` tag tag to make hyperlinks.
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**Incorrect ❌**
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```ts
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/**
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* Parses a string containing a Uniform Resource Locator (URL).
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* @see ParsedUrl
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* @param url - the string to be parsed
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* @returns the parsed result
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*/
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function parseURL(url: string): ParsedUrl;
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```
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**Correct ✅**
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```ts
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/**
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* Parses a string containing a Uniform Resource Locator (URL).
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* @see {@link ParsedUrl}
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* @param url - The string to be parsed
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* @returns The parsed result
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*/
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function parseURL(url: string): ParsedUrl;
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``` |