Godocs

Godocs is a package that helps in the process of building Godot documentation by automating the conversion of Godot's XML docs to any other format implemented.

🤔 How to Use

To use this package, you'll need the XML files generated by Godot's doctool utility, using a command similar to the below:

godot --headless --doctool <output-dir> --no-docbase --gdscript-docs res://<input-dir>

According to some tests, sometimes Godot's doctool doesn't work with projects that haven't been yet opened in the Godot editor, so make sure to try opening yours if the command isn't working.

💡 NOTE: In this documentation, when you find stuff in diamond brackets (like this: <name>), generally speaking, it means that it should be substituted by something else, which is explained by its name.

With the XML files generated by the doctool, godocs can be used to generate output documentation files.

By itself, though, Godocs isn't capable of generating documentation. That's because to realize its full potential, you also need to install a constructor extension. By default, the godocs-jinja plugin was created to allow the construction of documentation through the use of Jinja2.

💡 NOTE: Initially, both godocs and godocs-jinja were only one package, but the decision of separating both was made in order to allow the creation of alternative constructors in the future that would give users the liberty of not using Jinja2 if they didn't want to.
Also, the separation was made to make the development more manageable and the addition of future constructors more modular, not requiring users to install constructors they don't really need.

Having said that, if you have godocs-jinja installed, you can generate your docs in the formats available. In the moment, only RST generation is implemented, which can be used by other generators like Python's Sphinx to build outputs to other media, like HTML pages.

Here's an example of how to generate RST documentation, having both godocs and godocs-jinja installed:

godocs construct jinja <input-dir> <output-dir>

📥 Installation

To start using the Godocs CLI, you can install both the main package and the Jinja constructor through PIP.

Here's the commands:

# To install the main CLI:
pip install godocs

# To install the Jinja2 based constructor:
pip install godocs-jinja

💡 HINT: Depending on your needs, it may be useful to install packages in a virtual environment, as to not pollute your global env. Sometimes you may want to install stuff globally, though, it really depends.
Generally speaking, I'd recommend installing globally if you're in a CI/ CD runner, for example, and installing in an environment if you're in your local computer testing out in a single repository.

If you desire to isolate installation in a venv, you should previously have run these commands:

# To create a venv in a .venv folder:
python -m venv .venv

# To activate the created venv on Windows:
.venv/Scripts/activate
# Or, on Unix systems or Git Bash, for example:
source .venv/Scripts/activate

🎛️ Commands

The Godocs CLI exposes some commands via the godocs entrypoint (if you installed in a virtual environment, make sure to have it activated before effectively using the program).

Without any constructor plugin, the only command available is the construct, which serves as the main documentation generator. That command doesn't do anything by itself, though, needing at least one extension to come into action.

If you installed the godocs-jinja plugin, like recommended, then you get to use the jinja subcommand as your constructor.

Down below are some quick examples of how to use godocs with godocs-jinja to generate documentation.

If you want a more in depth overview of the arguments, commands, and options available, you can always use the -h / --help option with any command.

Also, if you want more details on godocs-jinja concepts, like models, templates, filters and builders, you can read more about them in its repository in this link.

# Generates documentation based on the XML in the input-dir inside the output-dir, in the RST language.
godocs construct jinja <input-dir> <output-dir>

# Generates documentation based on the XML from the input-dir inside the output-dir, in the RST language, translating the syntax of any text within it using the custom translator in the translator-path.
godocs construct jinja --translator <translator-path> <input-dir> <output-dir>

# Generates documentation based on the XML from the input-dir inside the output-dir, using the model specified by md-model, with the md file suffix, translating the syntax of any text within the XML using the custom translator in the md-translator path.
godocs construct jinja --translator <md-translator> --format md --model <md-model> <input-dir> <output-dir>

📝 Custom Options

The documentation process often needs some data that can't be obtained directly from the XML class reference generated by Godot. That's why more properties can be passed via a special godocs-options.json file.

You can write any data your documentation will potentially need inside this file and specify its path through the --options-file option in the constructor command chosen. Godocs construct logic will then parse its data and make it available in the building context inside an options property.

The data needed for docs generation will depend on what templates you'll use, in the case of the Jinja constructor, or in other constructors' logic.

🧑‍💻 Developing

For development isolation, it is recommended to be inside a virtual environment, which can be accomplished by following the steps described at the end of the Installation section, quickly recaping:

python -m venv .venv

# On Windows:
.venv/Scripts/activate
# Or, on Unix:
source .venv/Scripts/activate

Now, the project comes with a pyproject.toml, which specifies its development dependencies (this package has no production deps) listed under the [project.optional-dependencies.dev] table.

If you want to install them, you can use the following command:

pip install .[dev]

If you're going to develop, though, I'd rather recommend you to install the project itself in editable mode, which would allow you to make changes and test them out in real time, without having to rebuild and reinstall. Here's the command to achieve that:

pip install --editable .

🧪 Testing

This project uses pytest as its test framework, which means in order to execute tests, you should use the following command:

pytest

The test files are located under the tests directory, distributed under a structure that mirrors the source code arrangement.

📦 Building

To build this project for production, the build dependency is needed, which is specified in the dev dependencies from pyproject.toml.

With that dependency installed (through the installation of the dev dependencies, or its manual installation), the following command can be used:

python -m build .

This will use the setuptools build backend in an isolated temporary environment to create the distributables.

When executed, there should be a dist folder with a .tar.gz archive and a .whl build.

🚀 Deploying

To deploy this package, use the following command:

python -m twine upload dist/*

🧩 Extending

Godocs strives to be open for configurations and extensions from users, that's why a plugin system is implemented.

Currently, users can add to the application through plugin packages by extending the Plugin class. Users can add custom constructors as well as custom CLI commands to receive the configurations for those constructors, or any other modifications they want.

That's how the godocs-jinja plugin appends a new jinja constructor to this tool.

Keep in mind that scripts that define plugins should expose a Plugin class, that implements the base godocs.plugin.Plugin with its main register method defining what happens when this plugin is used.

A snippet showing an example of a custom constructor plugin that when selected prints a message describing the options chosen can be found here in the examples folder.

In order to be recognized by godocs and be more easily shareable, plugin packages can be registered by using entry points. Here's an example of how the godocs-jinja plugin exposes itself as a plugin so godocs can find and register it:

# pyproject.toml
[project.entry-points."godocs.plugins"]
jinja = "godocs_jinja.main:JinjaPlugin"

And here's an example of how the ExamplePlugin mentioned before would be registered, if it was right inside the src folder in this project:

[project.entry-points."godocs.plugins"]
example-plugin = "example_plugin:ExamplePlugin"