jsdoc-to-markdown

What is jsdoc-to-markdown?

The jsdoc-to-markdown npm package is a tool that generates markdown documentation from JSDoc comments in your JavaScript code. It is useful for creating comprehensive and readable documentation for your projects.

What are jsdoc-to-markdown's main functionalities?

Generate Markdown Documentation

This feature allows you to generate markdown documentation from JSDoc comments in your JavaScript files. The code sample demonstrates how to use jsdoc-to-markdown to read JSDoc comments from JavaScript files in the 'src' directory and output the generated markdown to 'docs/api.md'.

const jsdoc2md = require('jsdoc-to-markdown');
const fs = require('fs');

const inputFiles = 'src/**/*.js';
const outputFile = 'docs/api.md';

jsdoc2md.render({ files: inputFiles })
  .then(output => fs.writeFileSync(outputFile, output));

Customizing the Output

This feature allows you to customize the output of the generated markdown documentation using a template. The code sample shows how to use a custom template to format the documentation for a specific module.

const jsdoc2md = require('jsdoc-to-markdown');
const fs = require('fs');

const inputFiles = 'src/**/*.js';
const outputFile = 'docs/api.md';

const template = `{{#module name="myModule"}}{{>docs}}{{/module}}`;

jsdoc2md.render({ files: inputFiles, template: template })
  .then(output => fs.writeFileSync(outputFile, output));

Filtering Output

This feature allows you to filter the output of the generated markdown documentation. The code sample demonstrates how to disable GitHub Flavored Markdown (GFM) in the output by setting the 'no-gfm' option to true.

const jsdoc2md = require('jsdoc-to-markdown');
const fs = require('fs');

const inputFiles = 'src/**/*.js';
const outputFile = 'docs/api.md';

jsdoc2md.render({ files: inputFiles, 'no-gfm': true })
  .then(output => fs.writeFileSync(outputFile, output));

Other packages similar to jsdoc-to-markdown

documentation

The 'documentation' package is another tool for generating documentation from JSDoc comments. It offers a command-line interface and supports various output formats, including HTML and JSON. Compared to jsdoc-to-markdown, 'documentation' provides more flexibility in terms of output formats but may require more configuration.

jsdoc

The 'jsdoc' package is a popular tool for generating HTML documentation from JSDoc comments. It is highly configurable and supports a wide range of tags and plugins. While 'jsdoc' focuses on generating HTML documentation, jsdoc-to-markdown is specialized in generating markdown documentation, making it more suitable for projects that prefer markdown.

esdoc

The 'esdoc' package is a documentation generator for JavaScript that supports ES6+ syntax. It generates HTML documentation and includes features like coverage reports and test integration. Compared to jsdoc-to-markdown, 'esdoc' is more focused on modern JavaScript syntax and provides additional features like coverage reports.

README

work in progress, unstable, draft documentation

#jsdoc-to-markdown Documented source code in, markdown out.. In development, any feedback welcome.

##Install Ensure node.js is installed first. Linux/Mac users may need to run the following commands with sudo.

###Globally

$ npm install -g jsdoc-to-markdown

###Bundled with your project

$ npm install jsdoc-to-markdown --save-dev

Then add an docs build task to your package.json scripts, e.g.:

{
  "name": "my-web-app",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "scripts": {
    "docs": "jsdoc2md --index lib/*.js"
  }
}

This approach abstracts implementation details away, saving collaborators the hassle of installing / learning jsdoc-to-markdown. Docs are generated like so:

$ npm run docs

###As a grunt plug-in See grunt-jsdoc-to-markdown.

##Usage Document your source code using correct jsdoc syntax, then run it through jsdoc2md.

$ jsdoc2md <options> <source_files>

-t, --template <string>  A custom handlebars template to insert the rendered documentation into,
                         overriding the default
-p, --preset <string>    Use a preset template ('default', 'global' or 'modules')
-j, --json               Output the template data only
-h, --help               Print usage information
--src <array>            The javascript source files. The default option.
--index                  Include an index for each module and class, linking to members
--skip-heading           Skip the module heading, useful if you already have the heading
                         elsewhere in your template.
--private                Include symbols marked @private in the output

##examples These projects have readme files rendered by jsdoc2md:

• https://github.com/75lb/handbrake-js
• https://github.com/75lb/array-tools
• https://github.com/75lb/file-set
• https://github.com/75lb/command-line-args

#API Reference

Example

var jsdoc2md = require("jsdoc-to-markdown");

###jsdoc2md.render(options) Params

• options object - The render options
  • [template] string - A handlebars template to insert your documentation into.
  • [preset] string - Choose from one of the built-in templates
  • [json] boolean - Return the JSON template data only
  • [src] Array.<string> - The javascript source files
  • [index] boolean - Include an index for each module and class, linking to members
  • [skip-heading] boolean - Skip the module heading, useful if you already have the heading elsewhere in your template.
  • [private] boolean - Include symbols marked @private in the output
• onRender - a callback invoked on completion

###callback: onRender Called by jsdoc2md.render() on completion.

Params

• err object - An error instance if applicable, else null
• result string - the rendered markdown

Scope: inner typedef of jsdoc-to-markdown
Type: function