Re: [Boost-users] unified documentation

From: Matias Capeletto (matias.capeletto_at_[hidden])
Date: 2007-05-29 21:06:55

On 5/29/07, Rob Agar <robagar_at_[hidden]> wrote:
> hi all
>
> It seems to me (as a newcomer) that the one thing boost needs is
> documentation in a unified structure.  I'm thinking of something along
> the lines of the MS .NET class library or the Java class references.
>
> The existing documentation for the libraries I have used so far are very
> hard to navigate - they seem to be more aimed at standards committees
> than end users.  As an end user, the first thing I need is an easily
> navigated tree just listing all the namepaces, functions, classes,
> typedefs etc.

There exist an ongoing effort to give Boost docs an unified look & feel.
Look at: ( http://www.boost.org/doc/html/index.html ) for a pick of
what may become boost docs in the future.
IMHO Quickbook docs are very easy to navigate.

> As a start does anyone have a doxygen config file for generating a
> simple function list and class hierarchy?

C++ is a different beast from Java, and the way to document the libraries
is different too. I can give you the doxygen docs of my lib,
Boost.Bimap. They are here: ( http://tinyurl.com/2pqytf ).
But in the same way as other C++ libraries, the list of classes and
functions is not the appropriate way to document it. Please look at (
http://tinyurl.com/22sja5 )
You can look for the reference there, that is not generated by
doxygen. This kind of reference is the one used by other boost
libraries like Boost.MultiIndex, and IMHO it is far superior to
doxygen docs.

We also have a "search boost" button in the principal page. I agree
that It will be nice if it could be more integrated with the actual
docs.

Best Regards
Matias