DocBlockr is a Sublime Text 2 package which makes writing documentation a breeze. DocBlockr supports Javascript, PHP, ActionScript, CoffeeScript, Java, Objective C, C and C++.

Installation

With Package Control

Recommended install. If you have the Package Control package installed, you can install DocBlockr from inside Sublime Text itself. Open the Command Palette and select "Package Control: Install Package", then search for DocBlockr and you're done!

Feature requests & bug reports

You can leave either of these things here. Pull requests are welcomed heartily! In this repo, the main development branch is develop and the stable 'production' branch is master. Please remember to base your branch from develop and issue the pull request back to that branch.

Changelog

• v2.10.0, 21 February 2013
  • Adds Sublime Text 3 support (thanks to @lxe and @rmarscher)
  • YUI-style @method tags can be automatically added with the jsdocs_autoadd_method_tag setting (thanks to @maheshjag)
  • Variables starting with $ are not wiped out when reparsing a docblock (thanks @ryrun)
• v2.9.3, 12 December 2012
  • Fixed bug which stopped regular comments from closing automatically
• v2.9.2, 11 December 2012
  • This one goes out to Thanasis Polychronakis.
    • Structure of the modules greatly improved
    • Fixes bug with matching languages with hyphens in the name
  • Adds support for CUDA-C++
• v2.9.1, 31 October 2012
  • Thanks to wronex, Alt+Q will reformat the entire DocBlock, with customisable indentation.
  • Thanks to Pavel Voronin, spaces around arguments are handled properly.
  • C/C++: Array arguments are accepted
  • C/C++: An argument list containing only void doesn't output any @param tags
  • PHP: Arguments with an array as a default value inside multi-line arguments are handled properly
  • Ctrl/Cmd + Enter and Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + Enter work inside DocBlocks.

Older history can be found in the history file.

Usage

Below are some examples of what the package does. The pipe (|) indicates where the cursor will be after the action has run. Note that there are no keyboard shortcuts required to trigger these completions - just type as normal and it happens for you!

Docblock completion

Pressing enter or tab after /** (or ###* for Coffee-Script) will yield a new line and will close the comment.

/**<<enter>>

-- becomes --

/**
 * |
 */

Single-asterisk comment blocks behave similarly:

/*<<enter>

-- becomes --

/*
|
 */

If you press asterisk on the first line, it becomes indented with the line above:

/*
|<<*>>
 */

/*
 *|
 */

Function documentation

However, if the line directly afterwards contains a function definition, then its name and parameters are parsed and some documentation is automatically added.

/**<<enter>>
function foobar (baz, quux) { }

-- becomes --

/**
 * [foobar description]
 * @param  {[type]} baz [description]
 * @param  {[type]} quux [description]
 * @return {[type]}
 */
function foobar (baz, quux) { }

You can then press tab to move between the different fields.

If you have many arguments, or long variable names, it might be useful to spread your arguments across multiple lines. DocBlockr will handle this situation too:

/**<<enter>>
function someLongFunctionName(
        withArguments, across,
        many, lines
    ) {

-- becomes --

/**
 * [someLongFunctionName description]
 * @param  {[type]} withArguments [description]
 * @param  {[type]} across        [description]
 * @param  {[type]} many          [description]
 * @param  {[type]} lines         [description]
 * @return {[type]}               [description]
 */
function someLongFunctionName(
        withArguments, across,
        many, lines
    ) {

In PHP, if type hinting or default values are used, then those types are prefilled as the datatypes.

/**|<<enter>>
function foo(Array $arr, MyClass $cls, $str = "abc", $i = 0, $b = false) {}

/**
 * [foo description]
 * @param  Array $arr [description]
 * @param  MyClass $cls [description]
 * @param  string $str [description]
 * @param  int $i [description]
 * @param  bool $b [description]
 * @return [type]
 */
function foo(Array $arr, MyClass $cls, $str = "abc", $i = 0) {}

DocBlockr will try to make an intelligent guess about the return value of the function.

• If the function name is or begins with "set" or "add", then no @return is inserted.
• If the function name is or begins with "is" or "has", then it is assumed to return a Boolean.
• In Javascript, if the function begins with an uppercase letter then it is assumed that the function is a class definition. No @return tag is added.
• In Javascript, functions beginning with an underscore are assumed to be private: @private is added to these.
• In PHP, some of the magic methods have their values prefilled:
  • __construct, __destruct, __set, __unset, __wakeup have no @return tag.
  • __sleep returns an Array.
  • __toString returns a string.
  • __isset returns a bool.

In Javascript, functions beginning with an underscore are given a @private tag by default.

Variable documentation

If the line following your docblock contains a variable declaration, DocBlockr will try to determine the data type of the variable and insert that into the comment.

/**<<enter>>
foo = 1

-- becomes --

/**
 * [foo description]
 * @type {Number}
 */
foo = 1

If you press shift+enter after the opening /** then the docblock will be inserted inline.

/**<<shift+enter>>
bar = new Module();

-- becomes --
/** @type {Module} [bar description] */
bar = new Module();

DocBlockr will also try to determine the type of the variable from its name. Variables starting with is or has are assumed to be booleans, and callback, cb, done, fn, and next are assumed to be functions. If you use your own variable naming system (eg: hungarian notation: booleans all start with b, arrays start with arr), you can define these rules yourself. Modify the jsdocs_notation_map setting (in Base File.sublime-settings) like so:

{
    "jsdocs_notation_map": [
        {
            "prefix": "b", // a prefix, matches only if followed by an underscore or A-Z
            "type": "bool" // translates to "Boolean" in javascript, "bool" in PHP
        },
        {
            "regex": "tbl_?[Rr]ow", // any arbitrary regex to test against the variable name
            "type": "TableRow"      // you can add your own types
        }
    ]
}

The notation map can also be used to add arbitrary tags, according to your own code conventions. For example, if your conventions state that functions beginning with an underscore are private, you could add this to the jsdocs_notation_map:

{
    "prefix": "_",
    "tags": ["@private"]
}

Comment extension

Pressing enter inside a docblock will automatically insert a leading asterisk and maintain your indentation.

/**
 *  Foo bar<<enter>>
 */

-- becomes --

/**
 *  Foo bar
 *  |
 */

-- and --

/**
 *  @param foo Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur
 *             adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor<<enter>>
 */

-- becomes --

/**
 *  @param foo Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur
 *             adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor
 *             |
 */

This applies to docblock comments /** like this */ as well as inline double-slash comments // like this

//   foo<<enter>>

-- becomes

//   foo
//   |

In either case, you can press shift+enter to stop the automatic extension.

Oftentimes, when documenting a parameter, or adding a description to a tag, your description will cover multiple lines. If the line you are on is directly following a tag line, pressing tab will move the indentation to the correct position.

/**
 * @param {String} foo Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet
 * |<<tab>>
 */

 -- becomes

/**
 * @param {String} foo Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet
 *                     |
 */

Comment decoration

If you write a double-slash comment and then press Ctrl+Enter, DocBlockr will 'decorate' that line for you.

// Foo bar baz<<Ctrl+Enter>>

-- becomes

/////////////////
// Foo bar baz //
/////////////////

Reparsing a DocBlock

Sometimes, you'll perform some action which clears the fields (sections of text which you can navigate through using tab). This leaves you with a number of placeholders in the DocBlock with no easy way to jump to them.

With DocBlockr, you can reparse a comment and reactivate the fields by pressing the hotkey Ctrl+Alt+Tab (Alt+Shift+Tab on Linux).

Reformatting paragraphs

Inside a comment block, hit Alt+Q to wrap the lines to make them fit within your rulers. If you would like subsequent lines in a paragraph to be indented, you can adjust the jsdocs_indentation_spaces_same_para setting. For example, a value of 3 might look like this:

/**
 * Duis sed arcu non tellus eleifend ullamcorper quis non erat. Curabitur
 *   metus elit, ultrices et tristique a, blandit at justo.
 * @param  {String} foo Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet.
 * @param  {Number} bar Nullam fringilla feugiat pretium. Quisque
 *   consectetur, risus eu pellentesque tincidunt, nulla ipsum imperdiet
 *   massa, sit amet adipiscing dolor.
 * @return {[Type]}
 */

Adding extra tags

Finally, typing @ inside a docblock will show a completion list for all tags supported by JSDoc, the Google Closure Compiler, YUIDoc or PHPDoc. Extra help is provided for each of these tags by prefilling the arguments each expects. Pressing tab will move the cursor to the next argument.

Configuration

You can access the configuration settings by selecting Preferences -> Package Settings -> DocBlockr.

The jsdocs_* prefix is a legacy from days gone by...

• jsdocs_indentation_spaces (Number) The number of spaces to indent after the leading asterisk.

    // jsdocs_indentation_spaces = 1
    /**
     * foo
     */
  
    // jsdocs_indentation_spaces = 5
    /**
     *     foo
     */
  

• jsdocs_align_tags (String) Whether the words following the tags should align. Possible values are 'no', 'shallow' and 'deep'

  For backwards compatibility, false is equivalent to 'no', true is equivalent to 'shallow'

  'shallow' will align only the first words after the tag. eg:

    @param    {MyCustomClass} myVariable desc1
    @return   {String} foo desc2
    @property {Number} blahblah desc3
  

  'deep' will align each component of the tags, eg:

    @param    {MyCustomClass} myVariable desc1
    @return   {String}        foo        desc2
    @property {Number}        blahblah   desc3
  

• jsdocs_extra_tags (Array.String) An array of strings, each representing extra boilerplate comments to add to functions. These can also include arbitrary text (not just tags).

    // jsdocs_extra_tags = ['This is a cool function', '@author nickf', '@version ${1:version}']
    /**<<enter>>
    function foo (x) {}
  
    /**
     * [foo description]
     * This is a cool function
     * @author nickf
     * @version [version]
     * @param  {[type]} x [description]
     * @return {[type]}
     */
    function foo (x) {}
  

• jsdocs_extend_double_slash (Boolean) Whether double-slash comments should be extended. An example of this feature is described above.

• jsdocs_deep_indent (Boolean) Whether pressing tab at the start of a line in docblock should indent to match the previous line's description field. An example of this feature is described above.

• jsdocs_notation_map (Array) An array of notation objects. Each notation object must define either a prefix OR a regex property, and a type property.

• jsdocs_return_tag (String) The text which should be used for a @return tag. By default, @return is used, however this can be changed to @returns if you use that style.

• jsdocs_spacer_between_sections (Boolean) If true, then extra blank lines are inserted between the sections of the docblock. Default: false.

• jsdocs_indentation_spaces_same_para (Number) Described above in the Reformatting paragraphs section. Default: 1

• jsdocs_autoadd_method_tag (Boolean) Add a @method tag to docblocks of functions. Default: false

This is my first package for Sublime Text, and the first time I've written any Python, so I heartily welcome feedback and feature requests or bug reports.

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