[Boost-docs] How to ensure that Boost option macros appear in the Doxygen generated index?

Subject: [Boost-docs] How to ensure that Boost option macros appear in the Doxygen generated index?
From: Paul A. Bristow (pbristow_at_[hidden])
Date: 2016-02-01 18:13:18

I am trying to Doxygen document the functions of some option-controlling macros symbols in a header
file, for example, my boost_header.hpp:

    //! \def BOOST_SOME_OPTION
    /*! \brief Option macro that is not normally defined
    but can optionally be defined by consumers to activate the option.
    */

But this will @b NOT be indexed and the comment ignored because the macro isn't defined.

This only produces an Doxygen macro symbol entry in the documentation when there is a #define like

    #define BOOST_SOMEFEATURE

in the header and other files.

Can I force documentation of the macro symbol other than by nasty fudges like

   #define BOOST_SOME_OPTION
   #undef BOOST_SOME_OPTION

(Will this produced spurious but worrying warning about redefinition?)

I can achieve my objective by including a dummy macro_defines.cpp file that contains #defines for
all the macro symbols that control options?

  #define BOOST_SOME_OPTION
  #define BOOST_SOMEOTHERFEATURE
  ...

but I have to remember to do this, and add all the new options as they are conceived, and also to
add this macro_defines.cpp filename to the list of files fed to Boost.Autoindex in the .idx file,

and this file is added to the list of files processed by Doxygen in the jamfile.v2.

Then (with a  I get an entry for [named_index macro_name Macro Index] in the .qbk file) I get an
entry as expected

"
Macro BOOST_SOME_OPTION

BOOST_SOME_OPTION - Macro to control some optional feature (But if this is neither defined nor used,
then this will NOT be indexed and the comment ignored, unless the macro is defined.) 

Synopsis

// In header: <doxygen_generation.cpp>

BOOST_SOME_OPTION

Description

So a separate file .cpp is written that contains a #define 
#  define BOOST_SOME_OPTION 
"

This is tedious and error-prone :-(

Can anyone suggest a better way?

Thanks

Paul

---
Paul A. Bristow
Prizet Farmhouse
Kendal UK LA8 8AB
[phone]