Atc.CodeDocumentation

Atc.CodeDocumentation

Target Framework: net9.0, net10.0

Markdown documentation generator for .NET assemblies. Automatically generates comprehensive API documentation in Markdown format from assembly reflection and XML documentation comments.

Why Use This Library?

Maintaining up-to-date API documentation is challenging and time-consuming. Atc.CodeDocumentation automates this process by:

• Generating Markdown Documentation: Creates Markdown files from assemblies
• XML Documentation Integration: Combines reflection with XML documentation comments
• Automated Updates: Generate docs as part of your build/test process
• GitHub-Ready: Output is optimized for GitHub documentation
• Type Discovery: Documents all public types, methods, properties, and more
• Organized Output: Creates structured index and reference files

Perfect for:

• Open source projects requiring API documentation
• Libraries shared across teams
• Maintaining docs in sync with code
• Generating documentation for NuGet packages
• Creating developer-friendly API references

Installation

dotnet add package Atc.CodeDocumentation

Target Framework

• .NET 9.0

Key Features

• MarkdownCodeDocGenerator for generating documentation
• Support for classes, interfaces, enums, structs, and delegates
• Documentation of methods, properties, fields, and events
• XML comment extraction and formatting
• Index file generation with type listings
• Extended reference documentation
• Customizable output directory structure

Requirements

• .NET 9
• XML documentation file generated during build

Key Dependencies

• Atc (foundation library)

Main Components

MarkdownCodeDocGenerator

The primary class for generating documentation:

• Run(Assembly, DirectoryInfo): Generates documentation for an assembly

Code documentation

References

References extended

Using Run(..) to generate code documentation in markdown files

The following example will show how to run from a unit-test, to ensure updated CodeDoc folder with Markdown files generated with MarkdownCodeDocGenerator.Run.

public class CodeDocumentationTests
{
    [Fact]
    [SuppressMessage("Blocker Code Smell", "S2699:Tests should include assertions", Justification = "OK. This \"Test\" generates our Markdown files.")]
    public void RunMarkdownCodeDocGenerator()
    {
        // Arrange
        var sourceAssembly = typeof(AtcAssemblyTypeInitializer).Assembly;
        var codeDocDirectory = new DirectoryInfo(@"c:\code\myproject\CodeDoc");

        // Act
        MarkdownCodeDocGenerator.Run(sourceAssembly, codeDocDirectory);
    }
}

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please see the main repository README for contribution guidelines.