| Page Item | Value |
| Title | An ASP.NET Documentation Tool |
| Description | The ASP.NET Documentation Tool is a utility that automates the documentation of ASP.NET web applications written in VB.NET or C#. |
| Keywords | asp.net, c#, vb.net, documentation, document |
| Robots Meta Tag | |
| Page Content | ASP Kitchen Search: Go Home | ASP Articles | ASP.NET Articles | Tools | Table Of Contents | What's New ASP Kitchen : ASP.NET Articles : An ASP.NET Documentation Tool An ASP.NET Documentation Tool This article describes the ASP.NET Documentation Tool , a utility I wrote to automate the documentation of ASP.NET 1.0 web applications written in VB.NET or C#. When developing applications using Java and Perl, I've always been impressed with the JavaDoc and PerlDoc documentation utilities these languages support. When producing work for a client, these utilities take a lot of the hard work out of the mundane (but critically important) work involved with documenting the project. Following the success of the ASP Documentation Tool which I released in May 2002, I decided to release a ASP.NET version. Microsoft have made tentative steps in allowing the automatic documentation of ASP.NET projects, but only if they are written in C#. The ASP.NET Documentation Tool creates documentation for both VB.NET and C#. Features The ASP.NET Documentation Tool scans all the following files of a web project, and outputs a report based on what it finds within the files: ASP.NET file parser extracts content from files written in either VB.NET or C#. Supported file types are: ASP.NET files (.aspx, .asax). User Controls (.ascx). Code Behind Files containing the code associated with ASP.NET files and User Controls. Custom components (.vb and .cs). Web.config files. The report contains a list of the following: For both VB.NET and C#: Namespaces: What namespaces are in the project, and which classes are in each namespace. Classes: What classes are in the project, which namespace they belong to and what functions and subroutines are defined within each class. Functions: Where they are defined, and which arguments they use. Subroutines: Where they are defined, and which arguments they use. Where Application and Session variables are used. Which User Controls are used in the project. Which Web Controls are used in the project. Which Validation Controls are used in the project. What web.config files are used on the project. SQL Server 7 and 2000 databases associated with the ASP.NET project can also be documented, with the following features: Shows a list of tables within the database. Shows a list of views within the database. Shows a list of column names, type and length associated with each table. Shows a list of stored procedures, including the full text of each stored procedure and its input parameters. There are a number of output options: Standard HTML: This can be viewed in any web browser [ view sample ], including Internet Explorer and Netscape. Microsoft's HTML Help format. This format [ view sample ] has the advantages of: The project documentation is contained within a single, compressed .chm file. The project documentation is searchable. There is an index of project items. The project documentation can be further modified using Microsoft's freely available HTML Help Workshop application. Plain Text: This is a text file containing a summary of the project [ view sample ]. As such it can be used as the basis of custom documentation written in a word processor. The HTML format reports contain full copies of all files which have the following features: Optional color coding and syntax highlighting of source code, making it easier to read. Optional line numbering of source code. There is the option to either colour code or hyperlink all of the following in the source code: User Control usage. Web Control usage. Validation Control usage. Application and Session variable usage. C# and VB.NET Functions and Subroutines. System Requirements The ASP.NET Documentation Tool can be used on a machine running Microsoft Windows 95 or any subsequent version of Windows. Windows NT 4.0 or Windows 2000 is recommended. The .NET Framework is not required. The full version of the ASP.NET Documentation Tool is able to save project documentation in Microsoft's HTML Help format. To be able to do this then Microsoft's HTML Help Workshop must be installed. This is a free download from Microsoft.com. Configuring and Running the ASP.NET Documentation Tool The ASP.NET Documentation Tool has a single command line option which specifies the filename of the configuration file. So to create documentation for the Sample ASP.NET project supplied, the following is typed at the command prompt (or run from a .bat file): ASPNETDocumentationTool.pl --c= Config.ini The configuration file [ view sample ] is a plain text file containing the configuration options. The ASP.NET Documentation Tool can of course be scheduled to automatically update project documentation by making use of the Windows AT command or the Task Scheduler. The ASP.NET Documentation Tool creates a log file in plain text format [ view sample ]. Obtaining the ASP.NET Documentation Tool The evaluation version of the ASP Documentation Tool is available here: ASP Documentation 1.0 Evaluation Version (727K ZIP file). The evaluation version is fully functional, but has a few limitations, including: No support for the documentation of code in ASP.NET Components. No facility for documenting SQL Server 7 or 2000 databases. No HTML Help output. Pop-up window on all source code pages. A number of configuration options do not work. This version may only be used for evaluation purposes. The full version of the ASP.NET Documentation Tool is available for online purchase . Purchasing the ASP.NET Documentation Tool allows you to download the current version, and all subsequent versions released up to six months from the date of purchase. Specially discounted offers are also available when purchasing the ASP Documentation Tool or Index Server Companion at the same time. Comments/Suggestions? I've released the ASP.NET Documentation Tool in the hope that other users may find it useful! I'd love to hear what you think of it. Is it useful? What new features do you want? What should I add next? Downloads Download the ASP Documentation 1.0 Evaluation Version (727K ZIP file). Purchase the ASP.NET Documentation Tool (priced from just $39.99). Further reading Read the ASP.NET Documentation Tool documentation (70K HTML Help .chm file). Read about the ASP Documentation Tool , which creates documentation for ASP 2.0 and 3.0 sites written in VBScript or JScript. ASP Documentation Systems . A look at commercial classic ASP Documentation Systems, and how to go about creating your own system. Useful Development Tools ASP Documentation Tool Automatically creates developer documentation for ASP 2.0 and 3.0 web applications written in VBScript and JScript. Documentation for Microsoft Access, SQL Server 7/2000 databases and Visual Basic 6.0 components associated with the web application can also be incorporated into the reports. Documentation is created in HTML, HTML Help and plain text formats. View Sample Output (HTML Help format). View Sample Output (HTML Format). Download Trial Version (5.2Mb ZIP file). Index Server Companion The Index Server Companion is a Windows application that extends the functionality of Microsoft Index Server so that it is able to index content from remote websites and also from ODBC databases. As such it can be used as a low cost alternative to Site Server 3.0 Search. View Product Documentation (119K ZIP file). Try Sample Search Facility . Download Trial Version (1.7Mb ZIP file). ASP.NET Documentation Tool Automatically creates developer documentation for ASP.NET web applications written in C# or VB.NET. Documentation for SQL Server 7/2000 databases and C#/VB.NET components associated with the web application can also be incorporated into the reports. Documentation is created in HTML, HTML Help and plain text formats. View Sample Output (HTML Help format). View Sample Output (HTML Format). Download Trial Version (727K ZIP file). SQL Documentation Tool The SQL Documentation Tool creates technical documentation for Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 and 2000 databases. Technical documentation is created in HTML and HTML Help formats. The HTML Help format documentation is fully searchable and cross referenced. The SQL Documentation Tool documents SQL Server Tables, Views, Stored Procedures, Triggers and Table Relationships. View Sample Output (HTML Help format). View Sample Output (HTML Format). Download Trial Version (10.3Mb ZIP file). The Website Utility The Website Utility examines websites for errors and areas that need to be optimised for search engines by using a built in web crawling engine. Errors checked for include broken or moved hyperlinks, missing page titles and missing meta tags. It also generates HTML for use in creating website site maps (table of contents pages - like this one ), and is able to create both client-side JavaScript Search Engines and server-side ASP Search Engines for a website. View Sample Output (HTML Format). Download Trial Version (3Mb ZIP file). Text Workbench Text Workbench is a file search and replacement utility for text files and Microsoft Office documents. Make rapid file replacements on multiple files and folders full of files. Advanced replacement options include regular expressions support. It even works on remote file systems via FTP. A Regular Expression Laboratory allows advanced pattern matching and replacement expressions to be built and tested. This great utility will make your everyday development tasks much easier! Download Trial Version (3Mb ZIP file; you have the option to either install directly from this link or save the file for later installation). Author details Brett Burridge spent two years working in the University of Essex Computing Service, before moving to The Internet Applications Group in the Autumn of 1999, where he developed e-Business applications for a range of corporate clients and dot-com start ups. Brett is presently employed as an Internet developer and technical writer through his own company, Winnersh Triangle Web Solutions Limited . The company produces a number of innovative products, including the popular ASP Documentation Tool , the Index Server Companion , the ASP.NET Documentation Tool , the SQL Server Documentation Tool and The Website Utility . The company is also available for web application design and development at reasonable rates, primarily using Microsoft technologies (ASP, ASP.NET, Visual Basic, SQL Server) but also using open source technologies such as PHP, MySQL and Perl. Specialist services include development of search solutions using Microsoft's Index Server and Site Server 3.0 Search. As well as the ASPAlliance, Brett has written articles for Ariadne.ac.uk and ASPToday , and has contributed recipes to the ASP.NET Developer's Cookbook . links Outside web development, Brett is interested in digital photography (here's my photo gallery ), tropical fishkeeping and collecting contemporary works of art by artists such as Doug Hyde . Article history An ASP.NET Documentation Tool published on ASPAlliance.com on 01 December 2002, last revised 30 April 2003. ASP Kitchen : ASP.NET Articles : An ASP.NET Documentation Tool
page content copyright Brett Burridge 1998 - 2004. |
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