Embedded Documentation
So you've written a masterpiece, a class in a class of its own, and
you'd like to share it with the world. But, being a responsible
developer, you feel the need to document your creation. What do you
do? The simplest solution is to use Ruby's built-in documentation
format, RD, and
rdtool, a Ruby utility suite that converts this
documentation into a variety of output formats.
rdtool scans a file for
=begin and
=end{=begin...=end@
{=begin
pairs, and
extracts the text between them all. This text is assumed to be
documentation in RD format. The text is then processed according to a
simple set of rules:
- Lines of text flush to the left margin are converted to
paragraphs.
- Lines starting with one to four equals signs are headings. ``=''
is a first-level heading, ``=='' a second-level heading, and so
on. ``+'' and ``++'' can be used to signal fifth- and sixth-level
headings if you really want to go that deep.
= Top Level Heading
== Second Level Heading
...
|
- Lines in which the first nonspace is an asterisk indicate the
beginnings of bullet lists. Continuation lines for each bullet item
should line up with the text on the first line. Lists may be nested.
This is normal text
* start of a
multiline bullet item
* and another
* nested item
* second nested
* third item at top level
|
- Lines where the first nonspace characters are digits between
parentheses indicate numbered lists. The actual digits used are
ignored. Again, lists may be nested.
(1) A numbered item
* subitem in a bulleted list
* subitem
(2) Second numbered item
(9) This will actually be labeled '3.'
|
- Lines starting with a colon indicate labeled lists. The text on
the colon line is the label. The immediately following text (which
may not be indented less than the label) is the descriptive
text. Again, each type of list may be nested.
: red
when the light is red, you
must stop
: amber
the amber light means that things are about to change. Either:
* step on the gas, or
* slam on the brakes
: green
green means GO
|
- Lines starting with three minus signs are a special kind of
labeled list, when the labels are method names and signatures. The
source in Figure A.1 on page 512 shows a handful of these in
action.
Indented text that isn't part of a list is set verbatim (such as the
stuff under ``Synopsis'' in Figures A.1 and A.2).
