Auto Documentation Configuration Settings

Required Fields

The following fields are required in every autodoc block:

title

The title as it will appear on the sidebar.

The default value is: "Public API"

language

The programming language for the auto-documentation.

Available values are: c, cpp, csharp, java, python

baseUrl (optional)

The base Url path of every API page in this section.

Each section should have a different baseUrl to avoid url collision between apis.

By default, it's automatically calculated and equal to the slug of the section title, and if the section title is equal to "Public API", the baseUrl is simply "api" instead of "public-api".

You can supply a baseUrl to override this default. Sometimes you have to supply an override because slug can produce the same output for different titles because it omits certain characters, for example, slug("C API") is equal to slug("C++ API").

The default value is: slugify(section title)
The default value if title == "Public API": "api"

Examples

1. This is the bare minimum for defining a cpp block:

autodocSettings:
  Public API:             # Required "title" for this autodoc block
    language: c           # Required language for this autodoc block

1. This is the bare minimum for defining two blocks - one for c and another for c++

autodocSettings:
  C API:                  # Required "title" for this autodoc block
    baseUrl: c-api        # Speficially added because slugify(C API) == slugify(C++ API)
    language: c           # Required language for this autodoc block

  C++ API:                # Required "title" for this autodoc block
    baseUrl: cpp-api      # Speficially added because slugify(C API) == slugify(C++ API). 
    language: cpp         # Required language for this autodoc block

Exclude Include Directories and Files

INPUT

The INPUT tag is used to specify the files and/or directories that you wish to auto-document.

Directories will be read recursively.

You may enter file names like myfile.cpp or directories like src/myproject. Separate the files or directories with spaces.

Note that relative paths are relative to the root of your repository.

If this tag is empty, all the source files in your repository are scanned.

The default value is: ""

EXCLUDE

The EXCLUDE tag can be used to specify files and/or directories that should be excluded from the INPUT source files. This way you can easily exclude a subdirectory from a directory tree whose root is specified with the INPUT tag.

Directories will be excluded recursively.

Note that relative paths are relative to the root of your repository.

The default value is: ""

EXCLUDE_PATTERNS

If the value of the INPUT tag contains directories, you can use the EXCLUDE_PATTERNS tag to specify one or more wildcard patterns to exclude certain files from those directories.

Note that the wildcards are matched against the file with absolute path, so to exclude all test directories for example use the pattern */test/*

The default value is: ""

EXAMPLE_PATH

The EXAMPLE_PATH tag can be used to specify one or more files or directories that contain example code fragments that are included (see the \include command).

The default value is: ""

Exclude or Include only Specific API Pages

INPUT: 'include/public_file.h src'
includeApi: include/public_file.h

excludeApi

The excludeApi tag is used to exclude a list of APIs from being auto-docmented.

If the list is not empty, the specified apis and their descendents will not be documented.

For example, by writing:

excludeApi:  
-  my_namespace/my_class/my_func  
-  my_namespace/my_other_class

You exclude my_namespace/my_class/my_func, my_namespace/my_other_class and all their descendants from being documented.

This essentially is a way to treat these objects as private objects without changing the source code.

If this key is empty, no API will be excluded.

The default value is: []

includeApi

The includeApi tag is used to limit the auto-documentation to a specified list of API names or files.

This tag is useful if your source code contains hundreds of classes, but only several of them should be displayed in your public api.

If the list is not empty, only the specified APIs will be documented. Any other API will be omitted from being documented.

For example, by writing:

includeApi:  
-  file: my_dir/my_file.h

Only APIs that appear in my_dir/my_file.h will be documented.

For example, by writing:

includeApi:  
-  api: my_namespace/my_class  
-  api: my_namespace/my_other_class

Only my_namespace::my_class, my_namespace::my_other_class and any APIs within their scope will be documented.

You can also mix, for example, by writing:

includeApi:  
-  api: my_namespace  
-  file: my_dir/my_file.h

Only my_namespace (and any APIs within their scope) OR APIs that appear in file my_dir/my_file.h will be documented.

You can also define both conditions, for example, by writing:

includeApi:  
-  api: my_namespace  
   file: my_dir/my_file.h

Only my_namespace (and any APIs within their scope) AND that is declared in file my_dir/my_file.h will be documented.

Caution: Use lighly if the only condition is api such as a specific namespace, as it will filter any defines and scopeless entities such as free functions, typedefs, free enums etc.

If this key is an empty list all apis will be documented.

The default value is: []

Exclude Private Protected Static

documentSingleUnderscore

Handles names that start with a single underscore (_) as private, disabling their documentation and appearance in the public API.

If False, objects like _myfunction, _myclass, etc, will be regarded as private and will not be documented.

This is a common python convention but appears in other languages as well.

The default for python is: true
The default for other languages: false

documentStatic

Document keyword static as part of the Public API.

If False, objects like static myfunction() will be regarded as private, disabling their documentation and appearance in the public API.

The default for C is: false
The default for other languages: true

documentProtected

Document keyword protected as part of the Public API.

If False, objects with permission level "protected" will not be documented not appear as part of the public API.

The default value is: true

Display defines on separate pages

separate_defines

Disaply defines on separate pages.

If False, defines don't have a seperate page, and the defines full info (synopsis and full description) appears on the defines table summary.

If True, each define appears on a separate dedicated api page (as done for functions and classes), and only the define's brief description and synopsis appears on the defines summary table.

The default value is: false

Extract Code Comments

extractNonDocComments

Extracts all non doc code comments.

If False, only doc comments that start with /// or /** will be extracted.

If True, non doc comments that start with // or /* will also be extracted.

Since there's usually a copyright comment on the beginning of the file, the algorithm disregards the first encountered non-doc multiline comment (/*, not /**) or the first encountered multi lines of normal comments (//, not ///).

The default value for C, C++, C#, Java is: false
For Python this value is not relevant and has no effect.

// Note the difference between /* and /**

/*
 * Here is an implementation code comment that is for internal use and should not be extracted.
 */

/**
 * Here is a doc code comment that explains this object and should be extracted. 
 */

extract_namespace_comments

Extracts code comments of namespaces (packages and modules in python).

If False, code comments related to namespace will be disregarded.

Useful if namespace code comments don't describe the namespace but something else.

For example, consider the following common mistake:

/**
 *
 *  myfile.h
 *  myemail@gmail.com
 *
 *  Copyright 2018, myname.  All rights reserved.
 *  Use of this source code is governed by a MIT license
 *  that can be found in the License file.
 *
 */

namespace my_namespace{
    ... Some code

}

The programmer intended for my_namespace to have no code comment, but since the file comment is the preceding comment for my_namespace, it's taken as its comment.

The way to fix it is to add a /file doxygen tag (instead of myfile.h write /file myfile.h). Alternatively, turn the file comment to a non extracted code comment (// or /*) instead of an extracted code comment (/// or /**).

A dirty fix is to use extract_namespace_comments to disregard any comments related to namespace.

The default value is: true

Source File Types

FILE_PATTERNS

FILE_PATTERNS determines which source file extensions are read.

EXTENSION_MAPPING

EXTENSION_MAPPING determines the language the file extension is read as.

The defaults for both fields are different for every language:

FILE_PATTERNS: "*.c *.cc *.cxx *.cpp *.c++ *.ii *.ixx *.ipp *.i++ *.inl *.h *.hh *.hxx *.hpp *.h++ *.mm *.tpp"
EXTENSION_MAPPING: "c=c C=c cc=c CC=c cxx=c cpp=c c++=c ii=c ixx=c ipp=c i++=c inl=c h=c H=c hh=c HH=c hxx=c hpp=c h++=c mm=c tpp=c"

FILE_PATTERNS: "*.cs"
EXTENSION_MAPPING: "cs=csharp"

FILE_PATTERNS: "*.py *.pyw"
EXTENSION_MAPPING: "py=python pyw=python"

FILE_PATTERNS: "*.java"
EXTENSION_MAPPING: "java=java"

PreProcessing

ENABLE_PREPROCESSING

If the ENABLE_PREPROCESSING tag is set to "YES", doxygen will evaluate all C-preprocessor directives found in the sources and include files.

The default for C, C++ and C# is: "YES"
The default for other languages: "NO"

Note: the values true/false can also be used instead of "YES"/"NO".

MACRO_EXPANSION

If the MACRO_EXPANSION tag is set to "YES", doxygen will expand all macro names in the source code. If set to NO only conditional compilation will be performed. Macro expansion can be done in a controlled way by setting EXPAND_ONLY_PREDEF to YES.

The default value is: "NO"

Note: the values true/false can also be used instead of "YES"/"NO".

SKIP_FUNCTION_MACROS

If the SKIP_FUNCTION_MACROS tag is set to "YES", doxygen's preprocessor will remove all function-like macros that are alone on a line, have an all uppercase name, and do not end with a semicolon. Such function macros are typically used for boiler-plate code, and will confuse the parser if not removed.

The default value is: "NO"

Note: the values true/false can also be used instead of "YES"/"NO".

EXPAND_ONLY_PREDEF

If the EXPAND_ONLY_PREDEF and MACRO_EXPANSION tags are both set to "YES" then the macro expansion is limited to the macros specified with the PREDEFINED and EXPAND_AS_DEFINED tags.

The default value is: "NO"

Note: the values true/false can also be used instead of "YES"/"NO".

PREDEFINED

The PREDEFINED tag can be used to specify one or more macro names that are defined before the preprocessor is started (similar to the -D option of gcc). The argument of the tag is a list of macros of the form: name or name=definition (no spaces). If the definition and the "=" are omitted, "=1" is assumed.

The default value is: ""

EXPAND_AS_DEFINED

If the MACRO_EXPANSION and EXPAND_ONLY_PREDEF tags are set to "YES" then this tag can be used to specify a list of macro names that should be expanded. The macro definition that is found in the sources will be used. Use the PREDEFINED tag if you want to use a different macro definition.

The default value is: ""

SEARCH_INCLUDES

If the SEARCH_INCLUDES tag is set to "YES" the includes files in the INCLUDE_PATH (see below) will be searched if a #include is found.

The default value is: "YES"

Note: the values true/false can also be used instead of "YES"/"NO".

INCLUDE_PATH

The INCLUDE_PATH tag can be used to specify one or more directories that contain include files that are not input files but should be processed by the preprocessor.

The default value is: ""

INCLUDE_FILE_PATTERNS

You can use the INCLUDE_FILE_PATTERNS tag to specify one or more wildcard patterns (like *.h and *.hpp ) to filter out the header-files in the directories.

The default value is: ""

Configuration Options

DISTRIBUTE_GROUP_DOC

If member grouping is used in the documentation and the DISTRIBUTE_GROUP_DOC tag is set to "YES", doxygen will reuse the documentation of the first member in the group (if any) for the other members of the group.

By default all members of a group must be documented explicitly.

The default value is: "NO"

TYPEDEF_HIDES_STRUCT

When TYPEDEF_HIDES_STRUCT tag is enabled, a typedef of a struct, union, or enum is documented as struct, union, or enum with the name of the typedef. So typedef struct TypeS {} TypeT, will appear in the documentation as a struct with name TypeT. When disabled the typedef will appear as a member of a file, namespace, or class. And the struct will be named TypeS. This can typically be useful for C code in case the coding convention dictates that all compound types are typedef'ed and only the typedef is referenced, never the tag name.

The default for C and C++ is: "YES"
The default for other languages: "NO"

FORCE_LOCAL_INCLUDES

When FORCE_LOCAL_INCLUDES tag is enabled, include files will appear with "" instead of <> (for example, #include "filename.h" instead of #include <filename.h>).

The default value is: "NO"

MARKDOWN_SUPPORT

If MARKDOWN_SUPPORT tag is enabled, doxygen pre-processes all code comments according to the Markdown format.

Disable only in case of backward compatibilities issues.

The default value is: "YES"

Starring API pages

Adding a star icon on selected API pages is a helpful visual tip for users that these API are more important than others.

star_mentioned

When true, any API page mentioned in the tutorial pages will have a star icon on it.

The default is: true

star_list

When list is not empty, any API page on this list will have a star icon on it.

For example, by writing:

star_list:  
-  my_namespace/my_class  
-  my_namespace/my_other_class

These two api pages will be starred.

The default is: []

Sort nested API children

APIs hierarchy is displayed according to the scope.

For example, if your namespace my_namespace has multiple types (classes/functions/enums/ etc...) inside its scope - they will be all be displayed below it as its children.

You can configure the order of these children.

The sorting order is: sort_by_group > sort_by_type > sort_alphabetically.

sort_by_group

sort_by_group is not a configurable option, but it's worth explaining it here next to sort_by_type and sort_alphabetically which are configurable.

You can add user defined groups directly in the code.

For example, by adding @defgroup before C1,C2,func1 (and closing with /** @} */):

/** @defgroup group1 The First Group
 *  This is a detailed description (optional)
 *  @{
 */

class C1 {};
class C2 {};
void func1() {}

/** @} */

You will group C1,C2,func1 into a group called "The First Group". A group can also have an optional detailed description.

If groups are found, they are always sorted first (sort_by_group > sort_by_type > sort_alphabetically).

The resulting output in a live project can be seen in the following picture:

(*) Notice the output after the user defined the groups 'Events', 'Nodes', etc...

For more in depth examples, you can read the manual about the grouping mechanism in doxygen

sort_by_type

If true, sort nested API children according to types. The sorting order is:

1. Namespaces (C/C++) or Packages (python)

2. Modules (Python)

3. Classes, Structures, Unions, Interfaces

4. Constructors

5. Destructors

6. Other Functions or Properties (python)

7. Enums

8. Defines

9. Typedefs

10. Variables

If true, Enums, Defines, Typedefs and Variables will also be grouped. For example, all enums will be under a group named "Enums". The reasoning is that they are usually of lesser importance relative to classes and functions, and it's important not to cloud the user with too much information.

The default is: true

sort_alphabetically

If true, sort nested children alphabetically.

If false, sort according to order of appearance - first by declaration filename full path, then by line number.

The default is: true

Default configurations per language

To sum up the above information, we summarize the defaults for each language:

Default Configurations for C++

In C++ (["autodocSettings][SectionName]["language"]="cpp"), the following parameters have the following default values:

autodocSettings:
  PublicAPI:                  # Required "title" for this autodoc block
    language: cpp             # Required language for this autodoc block

    INPUT: ""                 # paths to source files and directories to auto document, for example, "src include"
    EXCLUDE: ""               # paths to exclude , for example "test tests examples"
    EXCLUDE_PATTERNS: ''      # for example, */tests/* */test/*
    EXAMPLE_PATH: ""          # for example, "examples"
    includeApi: []
    excludeApi: []
    documentSingleUnderscore: true
    documentStatic: true
    documentProtected: true
    extractNonDocComments: true
    star_mentioned: true
    star_list: []
    sort_by_type: true
    sort_alphabetically: true

    # The following parameters are usually good for 99% of projects. 
    # Don't copy them to your configuration file unless you specifically want to edit them. 
    FILE_PATTERNS: "*.c *.cc *.cxx *.cpp *.c++ *.ii *.ixx *.ipp *.i++ *.inl *.h *.hh *.hxx *.hpp *.h++ *.mm"
    EXTENSION_MAPPING: "c=c C=c cc=c CC=c cxx=c cpp=c c++=c ii=c ixx=c ipp=c i++=c inl=c h=c H=c hh=c HH=c hxx=c hpp=c h++=c mm=c"
    ENABLE_PREPROCESSING: 'YES'
    MACRO_EXPANSION: 'NO'
    EXPAND_ONLY_PREDEF: 'NO'
    SEARCH_INCLUDES: 'YES'
    INCLUDE_PATH: ''
    INCLUDE_FILE_PATTERNS: ''
    PREDEFINED: ''
    EXPAND_AS_DEFINED: ''
    SKIP_FUNCTION_MACROS: 'NO'
    TYPEDEF_HIDES_STRUCT: 'YES'

Default Configurations for C

To sum up, In C ["autodocSettings][SectionName]["language"]="c" , the following parameters have the following default values:

autodocSettings:
  PublicAPI:                  # Required "title" for this autodoc block
    language: c               # Required language for this autodoc block

    INPUT: ""                 # paths to source files and directories to auto document, for example, "src include"
    EXCLUDE: ""               # paths to exclude , for example "test tests examples"
    EXCLUDE_PATTERNS: ""      # for example, */tests/* */test/*
    EXAMPLE_PATH: ""          # for example, "examples"
    includeApi: []
    excludeApi: []
    documentSingleUnderscore: true
    documentStatic: false
    documentProtected: true
    extractNonDocComments: true
    star_mentioned: true
    star_list: []
    sort_by_type: true
    sort_alphabetically: true

    # The following parameters are usually good for 99% of projects. 
    # Don't copy them to your configuration file unless you specifically want to edit them. 
    FILE_PATTERNS: "*.c *.cc *.cxx *.cpp *.c++ *.ii *.ixx *.ipp *.i++ *.inl *.h *.hh *.hxx *.hpp *.h++ *.mm *.tpp"
    EXTENSION_MAPPING: "c=c C=c cc=c CC=c cxx=c cpp=c c++=c ii=c ixx=c ipp=c i++=c inl=c h=c H=c hh=c HH=c hxx=c hpp=c h++=c mm=c tpp=c"
    ENABLE_PREPROCESSING: 'YES'
    MACRO_EXPANSION: 'NO'
    EXPAND_ONLY_PREDEF: 'NO'
    SEARCH_INCLUDES: 'YES'
    INCLUDE_PATH: ''
    INCLUDE_FILE_PATTERNS: ''
    PREDEFINED: ''
    EXPAND_AS_DEFINED: ''
    SKIP_FUNCTION_MACROS: 'NO'
    TYPEDEF_HIDES_STRUCT: 'YES'

Default Configurations for C#

To sum up, In C# (["autodocSettings][SectionName]["language"]="csharp"), the following parameters have the following default values:

autodocSettings:
  PublicAPI:                  # Required "title" for this autodoc block
    language: csharp          # Required language for this autodoc block

    INPUT: ""                 # paths to source files and directories to auto document
    EXCLUDE: ""               # paths to exclude , for example "test tests examples"
    EXCLUDE_PATTERNS: ""      # for example, */tests/* */test/*
    EXAMPLE_PATH: ""          # for example, "examples"
    includeApi: []
    excludeApi: []
    documentSingleUnderscore: true
    documentStatic: true
    documentProtected: true
    extractNonDocComments: true
    star_mentioned: true
    star_list: []
    sort_by_type: true
    sort_alphabetically: true

    # The following parameters are usually good for 99% of projects. 
    # Don't copy them to your configuration file unless you specifically want to edit them. 
    FILE_PATTERNS: "*.cs"
    EXTENSION_MAPPING: "cs=csharp"
    ENABLE_PREPROCESSING: 'YES'
    MACRO_EXPANSION: 'NO'
    EXPAND_ONLY_PREDEF: 'NO'
    SEARCH_INCLUDES: 'YES'
    INCLUDE_PATH: ''
    INCLUDE_FILE_PATTERNS: ''
    PREDEFINED: ''
    EXPAND_AS_DEFINED: ''
    SKIP_FUNCTION_MACROS: 'NO'

Default Configurations for Java

To sum up, In Java (["autodocSettings][SectionName]["language"]="java"), the following parameters have the following default values:

autodocSettings:
  PublicAPI:                  # Required "title" for this autodoc block
    language: java            # Required language for this autodoc block

    INPUT: ""                 # paths to source files and directories to auto document
    EXCLUDE: ""               # paths to exclude , for example "test tests examples"
    EXCLUDE_PATTERNS: ""      # for example, */tests/* */test/*
    EXAMPLE_PATH: ""          # for example, "examples"
    includeApi: []
    excludeApi: []
    documentSingleUnderscore: true
    documentStatic: true
    documentProtected: true
    extractNonDocComments: true
    star_mentioned: true
    star_list: []
    sort_by_type: true
    sort_alphabetically: true

    # The following parameters are usually good for 99% of projects. 
    # Don't copy them to your configuration file unless you specifically want to edit them. 
    FILE_PATTERNS: "*.java"
    EXTENSION_MAPPING: "java=java"

The keys MACRO_EXPANSION, EXPAND_ONLY_PREDEF, SEARCH_INCLUDES, INCLUDE_PATH, INCLUDE_FILE_PATTERNS, PREDEFINED, EXPAND_AS_DEFINED and SKIP_FUNCTION_MACROS are not relevant for this language.

Default Configurations for Python

To sum up, In Python (["autodocSettings][Section]["language"]="python"), the following parameters have the following default values:

autodocSettings:
  PublicAPI:                  # Required "title" for this autodoc block
    language: python          # Required language for this autodoc block

    INPUT: ""                 # paths to source files and directories to auto document
    EXCLUDE: ""               # paths to exclude , for example "test tests examples setup.py"
    EXCLUDE_PATTERNS: ""      # for example, */tests/* */test/*
    EXAMPLE_PATH: ""          # for example, "examples"
    includeApi: []
    excludeApi: []
    documentSingleUnderscore: false
    documentStatic: true
    documentProtected: true
    star_mentioned: true
    star_list: []
    sort_by_type: true
    sort_alphabetically: true

    # The following parameters are usually good for 99% of projects. 
    # Don't copy them to your configuration file unless you specifically want to edit them. 
    FILE_PATTERNS: "*.py *.pyw"
    EXTENSION_MAPPING: "py=python pyw=python"

The keys MACRO_EXPANSION, EXPAND_ONLY_PREDEF, SEARCH_INCLUDES, INCLUDE_PATH, INCLUDE_FILE_PATTERNS, PREDEFINED, EXPAND_AS_DEFINED and SKIP_FUNCTION_MACROS are not relevant for this language.

Overriding the default configuration

If you wish to override any of the default values, simply add the key:diff_value to your yaml configuration file.

For example, if your language is C++ and you wish to stop documenting single underscores, add "documentSingleUnderscore":false to your autodocSettings.

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