ApexDocs

ApexDocs is a Node.js library with CLI capabilities to docGenerator documentation for Salesforce Apex classes.

Description

ApexDocs was originally built as an alternative to the Java based ApexDoc tool originally created by Aslam Bari and later maintained by Salesforce.org, as that tool is no longer being maintained.

ApexDocs is a Node.js library built on Typescript and hosted on npm. It offers CLI capabilities to automatically docGenerator a set of files that fully document each one of you classes. Additionally, it can be imported and consumed directly by your JavaScript code.

There are some key differences between ApexDocs and the Java based ApexDoc tool:

• Recursive file search through your module directory structure. In an sfdx based project, all of your classes will be documented by specifying the top-most directory where file search should begin.
• Unopinionated documentation site generation. Instead of creating HTML files, ApexDocs generates a Markdown (.md) file per Apex class being documented. This means you can host your files in static web hosting services that parse Markdown like Github Pages or Netlify, and use site generators like Jekyll or Gatsby. This gives you the freedom to decide how to style your site to match your needs.

Version 2.X

Version shares almost* all the same functionality (and more) of 1.X , but is a rewrite from the ground up of the tool, so please be aware if migrating from a 1.X version.

The Apex code parsing logic for the 1.X codebase was almost a one-to-one translation of the Java based ApexDoc tool to Javascript. With 2.X the parsing logic has been improved and extracted out of this codebase, and into its own standalone NPM module which is solely focused on Apex code reflection: https://www.npmjs.com/package/@cparra/apex-reflection

This allows for an improved code quality of both code bases and an increased ease of introducing future improvements and fixing issues.

Differences between the versions

When migrating from 1.X please be aware of these changes between the major versions:

Deprecated features

• The --group CLI parameter has been deprecated. All files are grouped by default.

Features from 1.X not supported in 2.X

• The --configPath CLI parameter has been temporarily deprecated. We are planning on reintroducing it but the config file will use a different format.

New features

• All Apex annotations are now supported through the --scope CLI parameter, not just namespaceaccessible. This means that scopes like auraenabled, invocablemethod, invocablevariable, remoteaction, and all other valid Apex annotations are supported.
• Just like Javadoc, both @throws and @exception are supported when referencing an exception thrown by a method or constructor.
• Any custom annotation defined in the Apexdoc is at the class level are supported, for example the following will be output to the resulting markdown file:

/**
 * @MyCustomAnnotation This is a custom annotation
 */
public class MyClass {
}

Demo

ApexDocs currently supports generating markdown files for Jekyll and Docsify sites.

In the wild

• Nimble AMS Docs
• Yet Another Salesforce Logger

Docsify

Demo

• Docsify

Jekyll

Demo

• Jekyll

Installation

npm i -g @cparra/apexdocs

Usage

CLI

apexdocs-generate
    -s src
    -t docs
    -p global
    -g docsify

The CLI supports the following parameters:

Parameter	Alias	Description	Default	Required
--sourceDir	-s	The directory location which contains your apex .cls classes.	N/A	Yes
--targetDir	-t	The directory location where documentation will be generated to.	docs	No
--recursive	-r	Whether .cls classes will be searched for recursively in the directory provided.	true	No
--scope	-p	A list of scopes to document. Values should be separated by a space, e.g --scope public private	global namespaceaccessible public	No
--targetGenerator	-g	Define the static file generator for which the documents will be created. Currently supports jekyll and docsify.	jekyll	No
--indexOnly	N/A	Defines whether only the index file should be generated.	false	No
--configPath	-c	(Only versions 1.X) The path to the JSON configuration file that defines the structure of the documents to docGenerator.	N/A	No
--group	-o	(Only versions 1.X) Define whether the generated files should be grouped by the @group tag on the top level classes.	true	No

Configuration File

You can optionally specify the path to a configuration JSON file through the --configPath parameter. This let's you have some additional control over the content outputs.

The configuration file allows you to specify the following:

Note: Everything in the configuration file is optional. When something is not specified, the default will be used.

root (String)

Default: None

Allows you to specify the root directory for where the files are being generated. This can be helpful when embedding the generated docs into an existing site so that the links are generated correctly.

defaultGroupName

Default: Miscellaneous

Defines the @group name to be used when a file does not specify it.

sourceLanguage

Default: None

Defines the name of the language that will be used when generating @example blocks. Use this when you are interested in using syntax highlighting for your project.

Even though the source code material for which documentation is generated is always Apex, generally you will be able to use a syntax highlighter that recognizes java source code, so set this value to java in those cases.

home (Object)

Gives you control over the home page.

home.header (String)

Default: None

Allows you to embed custom content into your home page by using the header property to point to the file which contents will be added to the top of the generated home page.

Specify the path with the content that you want to embed.

content (Object)

Gives you control over the content pages.

content.includeAuthor (Boolean)

Default: false

Whether the @author tag should be used to add the file's author to the page.

content.includeDate (Boolean)

Default: false

Whether the @date tag should be used to add the file's date to the page.

content.startingHeadingLevel (Number)

Default: 1

The starting H tag level for the document. Each title will use this as the starting point to docGenerator the appropriate <h#> tag. For example, if set to 1, the class' file name at the top of the file will use an <h1> tag, the Properties title will be <h2>, each property name will be an <h3>, etc.

{
  "root": "root-directory",
  "defaultGrouName": "api",
  "sourceLanguage": "java",
  "home": {
    "header": "./examples/includes/header.md"
  },
  "content": {
    "startingHeadingLevel": 1,
    "includeAuthor": true,
    "includeDate": true
  }
}

Importing to your project

If you are just interested in the documentation parsing capabilities, you can import ApexDocs into your own project.

Use the docGenerator function to create a list of ClassModel that includes all the parsed information from your .cls files.

docGenerator(sourceDirectory[,recursive][,scope][,outputDir])

• sourceDirectory <string>
• recursive <boolean>
• scope <string[]>
• outpurDir <string>

var { docGenerator } = require('@cparra/apexdocs');

let documentedClasses = docGenerator('src', true, ['global'], 'docs');

Documentation Format

ApexDocs picks up blocks of comments throughout your .cls files. The block must begin with /** and span through multiple lines, ending with */.

Documenting Classes

The following tags are supported on the class level:

Tag	Description
@description	One or more lines describing the class.
@see	The name of a related class.
@group	The group to which the class belongs to.
@author	The author of the class. Note that this only gets added if it is explicitly defined through the configuration class that it should.
@date	The date the class was created. Note that this only gets added if it is explicitly defined through the configuration class that it should.

Example

/**
 * @description This is my class description.
 */
public with sharing class TestClass {
}

Documenting Enums

The following tags are supported on the enum level:

Tag	Description
@description	One or more lines describing the enum.

Example

/**
 * @description This is my enum description.
 */
public Enum ExampleEnum {
    VALUE_1, VALUE_2
}

Documenting Properties

The following tags are supported on the property level:

Tag	Description
@description	One or more lines describing the property.

Example

/**
 * @description This is my property description.
 */
public String ExampleProperty { get; set; }

Documenting Methods and Constructors

Methods and constructors support the same tags.

The following tags are supported on the method level:

Tag	Description
@description	One or more lines describing the method.
@param paramName	Description of a single parameter.
@return	Description of the return value of the method.
@example	Example of how the code can be used or called.
@throws ExceptionName	Description of an exception thrown by the method.

Example

/**
 * @description This is my method description.
 * @param action The action to execute.
 * @return The result of the operation.
 * @example
 * Object result = SampleClass.call('exampleAction');
 */
public static Object call(String action) {

Grouping Declarations Within A Class

A class might have members that should be grouped together. For example, you can have a class for constants with groups of constants that should be grouped together because they share a common behavior (e.g. different groups of constants representing the possible values for different picklists.)

You can group things together within a class by using the following syntax:

// @start-group Group Name or Description
public static final String CONSTANT_FOO = 'Foo';
public static final String CONSTANT_BAR = 'Bar';
// @end-group

Groups of members are displayed together under their own subsection after its name or description.

Some notes about grouping:

• This is only supported on classes, NOT enums and interfaces
• Supports
  • Properties
  • Fields (variables and constants)
  • Constructors
  • Methods
• BUT only members of the same type are grouped together. For example, if you have a group that contains properties and methods the properties will be grouped together under Properties -> Group Name, and the methods will be grouped together under Methods -> Group Name
• Does not support inner types (inner classes, interfaces, and enums)
• It is necessary to use // @end-group whenever a group has been started, otherwise a parsing error will be raised for that file.

Inline linking

Apexdocs allows you to reference other classes from anywhere in your docs, and automatically creates a link to that class file for easy navigation.

Apexdocs recognizes 2 different syntax when linking files:

• Javadoc's {@link FileName} syntax
• A class name wrapped in between << >>.

Example

/**
 * @description This is my method description. This method receives an <<ExampleClass>>.
 * @param param1 An <<ExampleClass>> instance. Can also do {@link ExampleClass}
 * @return The result of the operation.
 */
public static Object class(ExampleClass param1) {

Typescript

ApexDocs provides all necessary type definitions.