Source Code Markup

rascal-0.40.13-BOOT2

rascal-tutor-0.19.9

Synopsis

Documentation tags attach an inline concept description to any Rascal declaration. Inside the tag you can use an entire structure of a tutor concept.

info

Previously there was a single @doc tag with all the sections of a concept internally. Now we use different tags for each concept. The old notation is deprecated but still supported for backward compatibility.

These tags will be used by the tutor compiler to document any Rascal declaration:

• @synopsis
• @description
• @examples
• @benefits
• @pitfalls

The @synopsis tag is not optional. The others are optional.

Description

All Rascal declarations can be preceeded by annotation of the form @synopsis{ ... } where ... may be arbitrary text, provided that { and } characters are balanced and that unbalanced braces are escaped like \{ or \}. This text is expanded to a full concept definition when the concept is processed.

The Tutor supports and expands inline concept descriptions for the following declarations types.

Module Declaration

The name of this module is extracted. The header of the concept definition is automatically generated and consists of:

---
title: _Module name_
---
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#### Usage

_Import declaration needed to use this module_

Function Declaration

The signatures of this function and of all directly following functions with the same name are collected. The signatures are placed in an itemized list (unless there is only one). The header of the concept definition is automatically generated and consists of:

---
title: _Function name_
---
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#### Function

```rascal
_Function signature_
```

####
Usage
_Import declaration needed to use this module_

Data Declaration

The signatures of this data declaration and of all directly following data declarations without their own @doc annotation are collected. The header of the concept definition is automatically generated and consists of:

#### Type

```rascal
_Data declarations_
```

#### Usage
_Import declaration needed to use this module_

Annotation Declaration

The signature of this annotation declaration is collected. The header of the concept definition is automatically generated and consists of:

#### Type

```rascal
_Annotation declarations_
```

#### Usage
_Import declaration needed to use this module_

Examples

We only give an example of documenting a simple function. Read the source code of Rascal library files for other ones.

Consider the source code of the now function in the DateTime library.

@synopsis{Get the current datetime.}
@examples{
```rascal-shell
  import DateTime;
  now();
```
}
@javaClass{org.rascalmpl.library.DateTime}
public java datetime now();

This will be expanded to

  #### Function
  
  ```rascal
  datetime now();
  ```
  
  #### Usage
  
  ```rascal
  import DateTime;
  ```

  #### Synopsis
  
  Get the current datetime.

  #### Examples


```rascal-shell 
rascal>  import DateTime;
ok
rascal>  now();
datetime: $2024-11-06T13:09:14.904+00:00$
```

Benefits

• A (small) part of documentation writing is automated.
• The information about the name of a function, data or annotation declaration, or its signature is always consistent.
• Examples of how to use functions are maintained close to the definitions of those functions
• API documentation for Rascal modules is easily presented online or in an IDE.

Pitfalls

• This approach requires that functions with the same name are grouped together in the source file.
• Editor support for markdown inside @doc tags is usually limited.