6 Tools for Documentation++

There's at least 6 tools we use at advantech for automating our documentation. That's a lot of tools. They are:

1. Ghost Doc from Roland Weigelt

   for quickly adding descriptive comments to code.

2. NDoc

   For turning XML comments into HTML. Generics not yet supported. And to get it to work with .Net 2.0 you have to jump through a flaming hoop while juggling knives between your teeth. (There's also a powertoy for VB)

3. Class Diagram feature in Visual Studio 2005

   For reverse-engineering pretty pictures of classes. (Example at right)

4. Visio

   For ER-Diagrams [and tracking schema changes]

5. XDK

   Tool for building help files from inside MS Word.

6. Copy Source As HTML

   For when code needs to be pasted as HTML. Installer for vs2005 version here, with instructions on using it.

Any favourites of yer own?

'jirkaz' on Tue, 06 Jun 2006 07:59:29 GMT, sez:

please enter http protocol specification to your ghost doc link.

'lb' on Tue, 06 Jun 2006 09:43:35 GMT, sez:

cheers jirkaz. fixed nw.

'mike' on Tue, 06 Jun 2006 21:25:59 GMT, sez:

Yeah, we use this thing called ... let's see, what is it? ... oh, yeah: writers. We generally hope that they can do more than just reformat unedited comments and pictures from another source and call it "documentation".

<grump>

'lb' on Tue, 06 Jun 2006 21:36:16 GMT, sez:

sorry Mike i can't find a link for that one.

Is it Microsoft Writers Foundation 1.0 ? Is it a PowerToy or something?

'http://' on Tue, 06 Jun 2006 21:53:12 GMT, sez:

Writers is a method in System.Text

It's a collection of TextWriter objects

Not sure why it is relevant here

'lb' on Tue, 06 Jun 2006 21:58:16 GMT, sez:

No there's no such class. I think Mike must have written his own documentation tool called 'Writers'.

It probably works like fx-cop, but just goes through nitpicking the comments in that super-aggravating way that editors love.

Sounds good. Hopefully it makes real editors redundant.

'Al' on Tue, 06 Jun 2006 23:54:25 GMT, sez:

Documentation?

I use a great little toy called TimeSnapper. It makes walkthrough screenshots a snap!

'lb' on Wed, 07 Jun 2006 00:02:33 GMT, sez:

Good stuff Alistair.

Rather than submitting timesheets, documentation and the like, just zip up your timesnapper screenshots for the last few months, email it over to them with a note that says "Pay me!" and all should be good.

'me2' on Tue, 27 Jun 2006 11:24:58 GMT, sez:

www.doc-o-matic.com

name


website (optional)


enter the word:
 

comment (HTML not allowed)

All viewpoints welcome. But the right to delete any post for any reason is reserved. Don't make me do it. Comments may be republished, emailed to your loved ones or printed and used as toilet paper. Who reads this legal bit anyhow?

TimeSnapper_{Know thyself!}

TimeSnapper is a life analysis system that stores and plays-back your computer use. It makes timesheet recording a breeze, helps you recover lost work and shows you how to sharpen your act.

TimeSnapper won last year's Developer Competition at Larkware.com, and is used by over 10,000 people.