Groovydoc - Short Review

Product Overview: Groovydoc

Introduction

Groovydoc is a documentation generation tool specifically designed for the Groovy programming language, which is an agile and dynamic language that runs on the Java Virtual Machine. It serves a similar purpose to Javadoc in the Java ecosystem but is tailored to handle the unique features and syntax of Groovy.

What Groovydoc Does

Groovydoc generates HTML API documentation for Groovy source code, and it also has the capability to include Java source code in the documentation process. This tool leverages Groovy’s own groovydoc command-line utility to produce comprehensive and structured documentation.

Key Features and Functionality

Documentation Customization

• Title and Headers/Footers: Users can set custom titles for the package index page (docTitle), as well as include custom HTML headers and footers for each page.
• Access Levels: The tool allows specifying the most restrictive access level to include in the documentation, such as public, protected, or package access levels.

Classpath and Source Management

• Classpath Configuration: Users can specify the classpath to locate classes referenced by the documented sources and the classpath containing the Groovy library.
• Source Inclusion/Exclusion: The tool supports including or excluding specific source files or packages using include and exclude patterns.

Script Handling

• Script Processing: Groovydoc can be configured to process or ignore Groovy scripts, and it can also include or exclude the main method for scripts.

Additional Options

• Links and Overview: Users can add links to other groovydoc or javadoc output at specified URLs and include overview documentation from an HTML file.
• Timestamp and Version Stamps: The tool allows controlling whether to include timestamps and version stamps within hidden comments in the generated HTML.

Output Control

• Destination Directory: Users can specify the directory where the generated documentation will be saved.
• Charset and Encoding: Options are available to set the charset for cross-platform viewing and the file encoding for the generated documentation files.

User Interface

• Browser Window Title: The browser window title for the documentation can be customized using the windowtitle option.

Command-Line Usage

Groovydoc can be invoked from the command line using various options to customize the documentation generation process. For example:

groovydoc

Key command-line options include setting the destination directory (-d or --destdir), specifying the classpath (-classpath or -cp), and including or excluding packages and files.

Integration with Build Tools

Groovydoc is seamlessly integrated with build tools like Gradle, allowing for easy inclusion in build scripts to automate the documentation generation process.

In summary, Groovydoc is a powerful tool for generating API documentation for Groovy and Java source code, offering a range of customization options and integrations that make it a valuable asset for developers working with the Groovy language.