phpDocumentor Tutorial
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phpDocumentor Tutorial
An in-depth look at using phpDocumentor to document PHP Source Code, and phpDocumentor internals
by Gregory Beaver
Tutorial written by cellog@php.net
Table of Contents
Introduction
phpDocumentor is the most advanced automatic documentation system written for PHP, in PHP. This package has many features:
NEW The first auto-documentor with PHP 5 support
Extended documentation in docbook format with linking to any element and to other documentation,
including sub-sections, from the source code (see phpDocumentor Tutorials)
conforms loosely to the JavaDOC protocol,
and will be familiar to Java programmers
documents all includes, constants, functions, static functions, classes,
methods, static variables, class variables, and can document global variables and
external tutorials
phpDocumentor Basics
Starting Out From Scratch
The documentation process begins with the most basic element of phpDocumentor: a
Documentation block or DocBlock. A basic
DocBlock looks like this:
A DocBlock is an extended C++-style PHP comment that begins with "/**" and has
an "*" at the beginning of every line. DocBlocks precede the element they are documenting.
Any line within a DocBlock that doesn't begin with a * will be ignored.
To document function "foo()", place the DocBlock immediately before the function declaration:
This example will apply the DocBlock to "define('me',2);" instead of to "function foo()":
define() statements, functions, classes, class methods, and class vars, include()
statements, and global variables can all be documented, see
DocBlocks
A DocBlock contains three basic segments in this order:
The Short Description starts on the first line, and can be terminated with a blank line
or a period. A period inside a word (like example.com or 0.1 %) is ignored. If the Short
Description would become more than three lines long, only the first line is taken. The Long
Description continues for as many lines as desired and may contain html markup for display
formatting. Here is a sample DocBlock with a Short and a Long Description:
Optionally, you may enclose all paragraphs in a <p></p> tag. Be careful,
if the first paragraph does not begin with <p>, phpDocumentor will assume that the
DocBlock is using the simple double linebreak to define paragraph breaks as in:
Here is an example of using <p>
phpDocumentor also supports JavaDoc's DocBlock format through the command-line
option . Due to
the non-xhtml compliant unmatched p tag, we highly recommend you avoid this syntax
whenever possible
phpDocumentor will convert all whitespace into a single space in the
long description, use paragraph breaks to define newlines, or <pre>,
as discussed in the next section.
DocBlock Description details
As of phpDocumentor 1.2.0, the long and short description of a DocBlock
is parsed for a few select html tags that determine additional formatting. Due
to the nature of phpDocumentor's output as multiple-format, straight html is not
allowed in a DocBlock, and will be converted into plain text by all of the
converters unless it is one of these tags:
Do not think of these tags as text, they are parsed into objects and converted
into the appropriate output format by the converter. So, a b tag may become
<emphasis> in DocBook, and a <p> tag might become
" "
(4 spaces)
in the PDF converter! The text output is determined by the template options file
options.ini found in the base directory of every template. For instance, the
options.ini file for the HTML:frames:default template is in
phpDocumentor/Converters/HTML/frames/templates/default/options.ini
For the rare case when the text "<b>" is needed in a DocBlock,
use a double delimiter as in <<b>>. phpDocumentor will automatically
translate that to the physical text "<b>".
Similarly, if you need an actual "@" in your DocBlock's description parts,
you should be careful to either ensure it is not the first character on a line,
or else escape it ("\@") to avoid it being interpreted as a PhpDocumentor tag marker.
This will parse as if it were:
The <code>, <kbd>, and <pre> tags ignore any html listed above
except for their own closing tags (</code> </kbd> </pre>).
This is obviously necessary for each of those tag's behavior of controlling the appearance of the text
inside their tag blocks, without allowing other nested tags (like <b>) interfering inside them.
In general, other tags will allow other tags to be nested in them
(i.e. <samp><b>bold_my_sample</b></samp>).
New 1.2.0rc1: If you need to use the closing comment "*/"
in a DocBlock, use the special escape sequence "{@*}." Here's an example:
This will parse as if it were:
New 1.2.0rc1: The phpEdit tool supports very clever list
extraction from DocBlocks, and now phpDocumentor supports the same cleverness. This example:
phpDocumentor recognizes any simple list that begins with "-",
"+", "#" and "o", and any ordered list with
sequential numbers or numbers followed by "." as above. The list
delimiter must be followed by a space (not a tab!) and whitespace must line
up exactly, or phpDocumentor will not recognize the list items as being in
the same list.
Again, you must line up the list iterators in the same vertical column
in order for those list items to be considered "on the same list".
Also, you cannot create nested lists using the simple list iterators...
doing so means it's no longer a "simple" list! Varying the spacing
of the list iterators does not create nesting of the lists... it only starts up
new simple lists. If you specifically need a nested list, you must use the list
tags (<ol>, <ul>):
In some cases, the text description in a doc tag can contain a list, be it simple
or complex. Notice that a title line is needed, with the list items themselves
beginning on the next line:
Tagged lists are always a more robust and predictable option for you to
use. Simple lists are convenient, but if you find yourself trying to bend
a simple list into displaying a certain way in your generated docs, you may
be better served by switching to a tagged list instead.
For in-depth information on how phpDocumentor parses the description
field, see ParserDescCleanup.inc
DocBlock Templates
New for version 1.2.0, phpDocumentor supports the use of DocBlock
templates. The purpose of a DocBlock template is to reduce redundant
typing. For instance, if a large number of class variables are private,
one would use a DocBlock template to mark them as private. DocBlock templates
simply augment any normal DocBlocks found in the template block.
A DocBlock template is distinguished from a normal DocBlock by its header.
Here is the most basic DocBlock template:
The text that marks this as a DocBlock template is "/**#@+"
- all 6 characters must be present. DocBlock templates are applied to all
documentable elements until the ending template marker:
/**#@-*/
Note that all 8 characters must appear as "/**#@-*/" in order
for phpDocumentor to recognize them as a template. Here is an example of a
DocBlock template in action:
This example will parse as if it were:
Note that for $_var8 the DocBlock template merged
with the DocBlock. The rules for merging are simple:
The long description of the docblock template is added to
the front of the long description. The short description is ignored.
All tags are merged from the docblock template
Tags
Tags are single words prefixed by a "@" symbol. Tags inform
phpDocumentor how to present information and modify display of documentation.
All tags are optional, but if you use a tag, they do have specific requirements
to parse properly.
A list of all possible tags in phpDocumentor follows:
In addition, tutorials allow two addition inline tags: {@id}, used to
allow direct linking to sections in a tutorial, and {@toc}, used to generate
a table of contents from {@id}s in the file. Think of {@id} like an <a
name="idname"> HTML tag, it serves the same function.
See inline {@id} and inline {@toc} for
detailed information
In the example below, {@id} is used to name the refsect1 "mysection"
and the refsect2 "mysection.mysubsection" - note that the sub-sections inherit
the parent section's id.
<refentry id="{@id}">
<refsect1 id="{@id mysection}">
<refsect2 id="{@id mysubsection}">
</refsect2>
</refsect1>
</refentry>
For an in-depth look at phpDocumentor tags, read phpDocumentor tags,
and for an in-depth look at inline tags, read phpDocumentor Inline tags.
Documenting your PHP project
Where to begin
Before you begin documenting your PHP project, you might want to try
a test run on your undocumented source code to see what kind of information
phpDocumentor will automatically extract from the source code. phpDocumentor
is designed to make the task of documenting minimally redundant. This means
less work, and better, up-to-date documentation with less effort than it used
to take.
phpDocumentor is a great tool, but it will not write good documentation
for you. Please read the phpDocumentor Guide to Creating Fantastic Documentation
Elements of the source code that can be documented
Dividing projects into packages
To understand the role of packages and how to use @package,
it is important to know the logic behind packaging in PHP. The quest for structured
programming led to the invention of functions, then classes, and finally packages.
Traditionally, a re-usable software module was a collection of variables, constants
and functions that could be used by another software package. PHP is an example of
this model, as their are many extensions that consist of constants and functions like
the tokenizer extension. One can think of the tokenizer extension as a package: it
is a complete set of data, variables and functions that can be used in other programs.
A more structured format of this model is of course objects, or classes. A class
contains variables and functions (but no constants in PHP). A single class packages
together related functions and variables to be re-used.
phpDocumentor defines package in two ways:
Functions, Constants and Global Variables are grouped into files
(by the filesystem), which are in turn grouped into packages using the @package
tag in a page-level DocBlock
Methods and Class Variables are grouped into classes (by PH),
which are in turn grouped into packages in a Class DocBlock
These two definitions of package are exclusive. In other words, it is possible
to have classes of a different package of the file that contains it! Here's an example:
It may be possible, but don't put classes into a different package from the
file they reside in, that will be very confusing and unnecessary. This behavior is
deprecated, in version 2.0, phpDocumentor will halt parsing upon this condition.
For more information on page-level versus class-level packaging, see
Perhaps the best way to organize packages is to put all procedural code
into separate files from classes. PEAR recommends
putting every class into a separate file. For small, utility classes, this may
not be the best solution for all cases, but it is still best to separate packages
into different files for consistency.
Advanced phpDocumentor: tutorials and extended Documentation
phpDocumentor developers have received a number of requests to allow linking
to external documentation, and to sections of that documentation. If phpDocumentor
only could create HTML documents, this would be a simple task, but the presence of
PDF and now XML converters as well as future possibilities complicates this question
tremendously. What is the solution?
Give phpDocumentor the ability to parse external documentation in a common format
and then convert it to the appropriate format for each converter. The implementation
of this solution in version 1.2.0 is very versatile. Making use of the standard DocBook
XML format, external documentation can be designed and then reformatted for any output.
No longer is external documentation tied down to one "look." Here's a short
list of the benefits of this approach:
Benefits of using DocBook as the format:
DocBook is very similar to HTML at the basic level and very
easy to learn.
Each template has its own options.ini file which determines
how the DocBook tags will be translated into the output language - no need
to learn xslt.
Adding in xslt support will be very easy to allow for future
customization
Benefits of integrating tutorials/external documentation into phpDocumentor:
Linking to external documentation from within API docs is possible
Linking to API docs from external documentation is also possible
Customizable table of contents, both of all tutorials and within
a tutorial via inline {@toc}
It is possible to create User-level documentation that has direct
access to Programmer-level documentation
User-level documentation generally consists of tutorials and information on how
to use a package, and avoids extreme detail. On the other hand, programmer-level
documentation has all the details a programmer needs to extend and modify a package.
phpDocumentor has been assisting the creation of programmer-level documentation since
its inception. With the addition of tutorials, it can now ease the creation of user-level
documentation.
For an in-depth look at how to use tutorials, read phpDocumentor Tutorials
Running phpDocumentor
There are two bundled ways of invoking phpDocumentor, the command-line phpdoc,
or the web interface phpdoc.php/new_phpdoc.php.
Using the new Web Interface docbuilder
The new web interface requires a working installation of PHP with a web server,
and must be accessible from the document root. Docbuilder is the creation of Andrew
Eddies, and it combines some slick formatting with the functionality of the old web
interface. The docbuilder interface can be accessed via index.html in the install
directory of phpDocumentor, or the docbuilder subdirectory.
Using the old Web Interface phpdoc.php or new_phpdoc.php
In order to use the web interface, there are a number of factors that must
be set up before anything else can occur. First, you need a working web server
with php (it had to be said). This manual will not assist with that setup. Next,
the phpdoc.php or new_phpdoc.php file needs to be accessible by the webserver. In
unix, place a symbolic link using ln -s to the desired interface into the public
html directory.
Security is always an issue with the internet. Do not place phpDocumentor
into the web server publicly available path on a server connected to the internet.
Make sure that phpDocumentor will not have the power to overwrite ANY
system or user files.
Note that since the webserver runs as user nobody in unix, the generated files
will be owned by nobody. The only way to change this is to either run phpDocumentor
from the command-line or to add a chuser wrapper around httpd. We do not
recommend using a chuser wrapper or running phpDocumentor as root. It is
much easier and safer to use a config file (see )
from the command line.
Using the Command-line tool
Running the command-line in MS Windows
Running phpDocumentor from the command-line is fairly straightforward, even in
windows. It is recommended to use the web interface in windows, from a non-publicly
accessible server root, as none of the permissions issues exist that exist in unix.
However, to use phpDocumentor from the command line is possible. First, put the
location of php into the system path, then type:
C:\>php-cli C:\path\to\phpdoc\phpdoc [commandline]
An alternative is to edit the phpdoc.bat file, and place phpdoc in the path,
then you can run phpdoc as a normal command.
Running the command-line in unix
Running the command-line tool phpdoc is very easy in unix:
.\phpdoc [commandline]
--converterparams
dynamic parameters for a converter, separate values with commas
-ct
--customtags
comma-separated list of non-standard @tags to pass to the converter as valid tags
-d
--directory
name of a directory(s) to parse directory1,directory2
-dc
--defaultcategoryname
name to use for the default category. If not specified, uses 'default'
-dh
--hidden
set equal to on (-dh on) to descend into hidden directories (directories
starting with '.'), default is off
-dn
--defaultpackagename
name to use for the default package. If not specified, uses 'default'
-ed
--examplesdir
full path of the directory to look for example files from @example tags
-f
--filename
name of file(s) to parse ',' file1,file2. Can contain complete path and * ? wildcards
-i
--ignore
file(s) that will be ignored, multiple separated by ','. Wildcards * and ? are ok
-is
--ignoresymlinks
Explicitly ignore symlinks, both symlinked directories and symlinked files.
Valid options are "on" and "offn" default value is "off"
-it
--ignore-tags
tags to ignore for this parse. @package, @subpackage, @access and @ignore may not be ignored.
-j
--javadocdesc
use JavaDoc-compliant description (short desc is part of description, and is everything up to first .)
-o
--output
output information, format:converter:template (HTML:frames:phpedit for example)
-p
--pear
Parse a PEAR-style repository (package is directory, _members are @access private) on/off default off
-po
--packageoutput
output documentation only for selected packages. Use a comma-delimited list
-pp
--parseprivate
parse elements marked private with @access. Valid options are "on"
and "off" default value is "off"
-q
--quiet
do not display parsing/conversion messages. Useful for cron jobs. Valid options are "on"
and "off" default value is "off"
-ric
--readmeinstallchangelog
Specify custom filenames to parse like README, INSTALL or CHANGELOG files
-s
--sourcecode
generate highlighted sourcecode for every parsed file (PHP 4.3.0+ only) on/off default off
-t
--target
path where to save the generated files
-ti
--title
title of generated documentation, default is 'Generated Documentation'
-tb
--templatebase
base location of all templates for this parse. Note that if -tb /path/to/here, then
templates for HTML:frames:default must be in /path/to/here/Converters/HTML/frames/templates/default/templates
and the /path/to/here/Converters/HTML/frames/templates/default/templates_c directory must
exist, or Smarty will bail on attempting to compile the templates.
-ue
--undocumentedelements
Enable warnings for undocumented elements. Useful for identifying classes and methods that haven't yet been documented.
Valid options are "on" and "offn" default value is "off"
-c, --config
Use this option to load a config file (see )
"phpdoc -c default" will load the default.ini file
-cp, --converterparams
This option is only used to pass dynamic parameters to extended converters. The options
passed should be separated by commas, and are placed in the global variable
$_phpDocumentor_setting['converterparams'], an array. It is the
responsibility of the Converter to access this variable, the code included with phpDocumentor
does nothing with it.
-ct, --customtags
Use this option to specify tags that should be included in the list of valid tags for
the current run of phpdoc
"phpdoc -ct mytag,anothertag" will tell phpDocumentor to parse this DocBlock:
without raising any errors, and include the tags in the known tags list for the
template to handle. Note that in version 1.2.0+, the unknown_tags array is passed to templates.
-dh, --hidden
Use this option to tell phpDocumentor to parse files and directories that begin with a period (.)
-dc, --defaultcategoryname
This will tell phpDocumentor to group any uncategorized elements into the primary
categoryname. If not specified, the primary category is "default." The
category should be specified using the @category tag.
-dn, --defaultpackagename
Use this option to tell phpDocumentor what the primary package's name is. This will also tell phpDocumentor to group any unpackaged elements into the primary packagename. If not specified, the primary package is "default"
-d, --directory
This or the -f option must be present, either on the command-line or in the config file.
Unlike -f, -d does not accept wildcards. Use -d to specify full paths or relative paths to the current directory that phpDocumentor should recursively search for documentable files. phpDocumentor will search through all subdirectories of any directory in the command-line list for tutorials/ and any files that have valid .php extensions as defined in phpDocumentor.ini. For example:
"phpdoc -d relative/path/to/dir1,/fullpath/to/here,.."
-ed, --examplesdir
The -ed option is used to specify the full path to a directory that example files are located in. This command-line setting affects the output of the @example tag.
"phpdoc -ed /fullpath/to/examples"
-f, --filename
This or the -d option must be present, either on the command-line or in the config file.
This option is used to specify individual files or expressions with wildcards * and ?. Use * to match any string, and ? to match any single character.
-i, --ignore
Use the -i option to exclude files and directories from parsing. The -i option recognizes the * and ? wildcards, like -f does. In addition, it is possible to ignore a subdirectory of any directory using "dirname/".
Since v1.3.2, the value or pattern you provide will be case-sensitive (OS permitting, anyway), and will be applied relative to the top-level directory in the -d argument.
phpdoc -i CVS/ will ignore /path/to/CVS/* but will not ignore /path/to/cvs
phpdoc -d /home/myhome/cvs/myproject -i cvs/ will ignore /home/myhome/cvs/myproject/files/cvs/* but will not ignore /home/myhome/cvs/*
-is, --ignoresymlinks
Use the -is option to explicitly ignore any symlinks, whether they be links to directories or links to files.
This only works on a Unix/Linux environment, since Windows doesn't have symlinks.
-it, --ignore-tags
Use the -it option to exclude specific tags from output. This is used for creating multiple sets of documentation for different audiences. For instance, to generate documentation for end-users, it may not be desired to output all @todo tags, so --ignore-tags @todo would be used. To ignore inline tags, surround them with brackets {} like --ignore-tags {@internal}.
--ignore-tags will not ignore the core tags @global, @access, @package, @ignore, @name, @param, @return, @staticvar or @var.
The --ignore-tags option requires a full tag name like --ignore-tags @todo. --ignore-tags todo will not work.
-j, --javadocdesc
Use this command-line option to enforce strict compliance with JavaDoc. JavaDoc DocBlocks are much less flexible than phpDocumentor's DocBlocks (see for information).
-o, --output
Use this required option to tell phpDocumentor which Converters and templates to use. In this release, there are several choices:
HTML:frames:* - output is HTML with frames.
HTML:Smarty:* - output is HTML with no frames.
CHM:default:* - output is CHM, compiled help file format (Windows help).
CHM:default:default - Windows help file, based on HTML:frames:l0l33t
PDF:default:* - output is PDF, Adobe Acrobat format
PDF:default:default - standard, plain PDF formatting
XML:DocBook:* - output is XML, in DocBook format
XML:DocBook/peardoc2:default - documentation ready for compiling into peardoc for online pear.php.net documentation, 2nd revision
In 1.2.0+, it is possible to generate output for several converters and/or templates at once. Simply specify a comma-delimited list of output:converter:template like:
phpdoc -o HTML:frames:default,HTML:Smarty:PHP,HTML:frames:phpedit,PDF:default:default -t ./docs -d .
-pp, --parseprivate
By default, phpDocumentor does not create documentation for any elements marked @access private. This allows creation of end-user API docs that filter out low-level information that will not be useful to most developers using your code. To create complete documentation of all elements, use this command-line option to turn on parsing of elements marked private with @access private.
-po, --packageoutput
Use this option to remove all elements grouped by @package tags in a comma-delimited list from output. This option is useful for projects that are not organized into separate files for each package. Parsing speed is not affected by this option, use whenever possible instead of --packageoutput.
phpdoc -o HTML:frames:default -t ./docs -d . -po mypackage,thatotherpackage will only display documentation for elements marked with "@package mypackage" or "@package thatotherpackage"
-p, --pear
Use this option to parse a PEAR-style repository. phpDocumentor will do several "smart" things to make life easier:
Warnings will be raised for every case above, as @package should always be explicit, as should @access private. We do not like to assume that phpDocumentor knows better than you what to do with your code, and so will always require explicit usage or raise warnings if phpDocumentor does make any assumptions.
-q, --quiet
This option tells phpDocumentor to suppress output of parsing/conversion information to the console. Use this for cron jobs or other situations where human intervention will not be needed.
-ric, --readmeinstallchangelog
This comma-separated list of files specifies files that should be parsed and included in the
documentation. phpDocumentor will automatically grab files listed here if and only if they are located
in the top-level directory that is parsed. In other words, if you parse these files:
The only README file that will be grabbed is /path/to/files/README, and not /path/to/files/subdir/REAMDE,
because the directory that is closest to the root directory that contains a parsed file is /path/to/files.
The default list of files is located in phpDocumentor.ini, which is found in the root installation directory
of phpDocumentor.
-s, --sourcecode
This option tells phpDocumentor to generate highlighted cross-referenced source code for every file parsed. The highlighting code is somewhat unstable, so use this option at your own risk.
-t, --target
Use this to tell phpDocumentor where to put generated documentation. Legal values are paths that phpDocumentor will have write access and directory creation priveleges.
-tb, --templatebase
-tb accepts a single pathname as its parameter. The default value of -tb if unspecified is <phpDocumentor install directory>/phpDocumentor. This raises a very important point to understand. The -tb command-line is designed to tell phpDocumentor to look for all templates for all converters in subdirectories of the path specified. By default, templates are located in a special subdirectory structure.
For the hypothetical outputformat:convertername:templatename argument, the directory structure is Converters/outputformat/convertname/templates/templatename/. The class file for convertname should be in the convertname/templates directly, right beside your templatename directory/ies. In addition, Smarty expects to find two subdirectories, templates/ (containing the Smarty template files) and templates_c/ (which will contain the compiled template files).
"phpdoc -tb ~/phpdoctemplates -o HTML:frames:default" will only work if the directory ~/phpdoctemplates/Converters/HTML/frames/default/templates contains all the template files, and ~/phpdoctemplates/Converters/HTML/frames/default/templates_c exists.
-ti, --title
Set the global title of the generated documentation
-ue, --undocumentedelements
This option tells phpDocumentor whether or not to suppress warnings about certain objects (classes, methods) that are not documented via a DocBlock comment. Use this to help identify objects that you still need to write documentation for.
phpDocumentor's dynamic User-defined config files
The new command-line options heralds a new era of ease in using phpDocumentor. What used to require:
phpdoc -t /path/to/output -d path/to/directory1,/another/path,/third/path\
-f /path/to/anotherfile.php -i *test.php,tests/ -pp on -ti My Title -o HTML:frames:phpedit
Can now be done in a single stroke!
phpdoc -c myconfig
What makes this all possible is the use of config files that contain all of the command-line information. There are two configuration files included in the distribution of phpDocumentor, and both are in the user/ subdirectory. To use a configuration file "myconfig.ini," simply place it in the user directory, and the command-line "phpdoc -c myconfig" will tell phpDocumentor to read all the command-line settings from that config file. Configuration files may also be placed in another directory, just specify the full path to the configuration file:
phpdoc -c /full/path/to/myconfig.ini
The best way to ensure your config file matches the format expected by phpDocumentor is to copy the default.ini config file, and modify it to match your needs. Lines that begin with a semi-colon (;) are ignored, and can be used for comments.
Be sure to put in your config file all the runtime options you need, because all other command-line arguments are ignored if you use a config file.
phpDocumentor.ini - global configuration options
The phpDocumentor.ini file contains several useful options, most of which will never need to be changed. However, some are useful. The section [_phpDocumentor_options] contains several configuration settings that may be changed to enhance output documentation. For Program Location, the relative path is specified as Program_Root/relativepath/to/file. The prefix "Program_Root" may be changed to any text, including none at all, or "Include ", etc. The [_phpDocumentor_setting] section can be used to specify a config file that should be used by default, so phpDocumentor may be run without any command-line arguments whatsoever! The [_phpDocumentor_phpfile_exts] section tells phpDocumentor which file extensions are php files, add any non-standard extensions, such as "class" to this section.
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phpDocumentor Guide to Creating Fantastic Documentation
Documentable PHP Elements
Documentation generated on Tue, 06 Dec 2011 07:15:41 -0600 by phpDocumentor 1.4.4
