ApexDocEx (DEPRECATED)

ApexDocEx is a java app that you can use to document your Salesforce Apex classes. You tell ApexDoc where your class files are, and it will generate a set of static HTML pages that fully document each class, including its properties and methods. Each static HTML page will include an expandable menu on its left hand side, that shows a 2-level tree structure of all of your classes. Command line parameters allow you to control many aspects of ApexDoc, such as providing your own banner HTML for the pages to use.

Credits

ApexDoc was originally created by Aslam Bari (http://techsahre.blogspot.com/2011/01/apexdoc-salesforce-code-documentation.html). It was then taken and extended by David Habib, at Groundwire, in 2011. It has subsequently been enhanced by David Habib of the Salesforce Foundation in late 2014. In early 2015, it was further forked by Bob Roberts so that development can be taken in a different direction.

Why Fork ApexDoc

ApexDoc is, at this point, pretty stable. I made some contributions but I wanted to take development in a different direction without messing with the existing stability or forcing the team to learn a whole host of new technologies.

Command Line Parameters

parameter	description
-s source_directory	The folder location which contains your apex .cls classes.
-t target_directory	The folder location where documentation will be generated to.
-h home_page	The full path to an html file that contains the contents for the home page's content area. Optional.
-a banner_page	The full path to an html file that contains the content for the banner section of each generated page. Optional.
-p scope	A semicolon separated list of scopes to document. Defaults to 'global;public;webService'. Optional.
-i	If set, will ignore all test classes. Optional.
-c css_file	Specifies the file that contains any custom css. Optional

Usage

Copy apexdoc.jar file to your local machine, somewhere on your path. Each release tag in gitHub has the matching apexdoc.jar attached to it. Make sure that java is on your path. Invoke ApexDoc like this example:

java -jar apexdoc.jar 
    -s '/Users/dhabib/Workspaces/Force.com IDE/Cumulus3/src/classes' 
    -t '/Users/dhabib/Dropbox/Cumulus/ApexDoc' 
    -p 'global;public;private;testmethod;webService' 
    -h '/Users/dhabib/Dropbox/Cumulus/ApexDoc/homepage.htm' 
    -a '/Users/dhabib/Dropbox/Cumulus/ApexDoc/projectheader.htm' 
    -g 'http://github.com/SalesforceFoundation/Cumulus/blob/dev/src/classes/'

Documenting Class Files

ApexDoc scans each class file, and looks for comment blocks with special keywords to identify the documentation to include for a given class, property, or method. The comment blocks must always begin with /** (or additional *'s) and can cover multiple lines. Each line must start with * (or whitespace and then *). The comment block ends with */. Special tokens are called out with @token. The @description token can be omitted if the description is the first text in the comment.

Class Comments

Located in the lines above the class declaration. The special tokens are all optional.

token	description
@author	the author of the class
@date	the date the class was first implemented
@group	a group to display this class under, in the menu hierarchy
@group-content	a relative path to a static html file that provides content about the group
@description	one or more lines that provide an overview of the class

Example

/**
* @author Salesforce.com Foundation
* @date 2014
*
* @group Accounts
* @group-content ../../ApexDocContent/Accounts.htm
*
* @description Trigger Handler on Accounts that handles ensuring the correct system flags are set on
* our special accounts (Household, One-to-One), and also detects changes on Household Account that requires
* name updating.
*/
public with sharing class ACCT_Accounts_TDTM extends TDTM_Runnable {

Property Comments

Located in the lines above a property. The special tokens are all optional.

token	description
@description	one or more lines that describe the property

Example

    /*******************************************************************************************************
    * @description specifies whether state and country picklists are enabled in this org.
    * returns true if enabled.
    */ 
    public static Boolean isStateCountryPicklistsEnabled {
        get {

Method Comments

In order for ApexDoc to identify class methods, the method line must contain an explicit scope (global, public, private, testMethod, webService). The comment block is located in the lines above a method. The special tokens are all optional.

token	description
@description	one or more lines that provide an overview of the method
@param param name	a description of what the parameter does
@return	a description of the return value from the method
@throws exception type	a description of what condition throws the exception
Example

    /*******************************************************************************************************
    * @description Returns field describe data 
    * @param objectName the name of the object to look up
    * @param fieldName the name of the field to look up
    * @return the describe field result for the given field
    * @throws InvalidObjectException thrown if the object is not valid
    * @throws InvalidFieldException thrown if the field is not valid
    */ 
    public static Schema.DescribeFieldResult getFieldDescribe(String objectName, String fieldName) {