<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> <html xmlns:fn="http://www.w3.org/2005/02/xpath-functions"> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="../../../../doc/otp_doc.css" type="text/css"> <title>Erlang -- Overview</title> </head> <body bgcolor="white" text="#000000" link="#0000ff" vlink="#ff00ff" alink="#ff0000"><div id="container"> <script id="js" type="text/javascript" language="JavaScript" src="../../../../doc/js/flipmenu/flipmenu.js"></script><script id="js2" type="text/javascript" src="../../../../doc/js/erlresolvelinks.js"></script><script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript"> <!-- function getWinHeight() { var myHeight = 0; if( typeof( window.innerHeight ) == 'number' ) { //Non-IE myHeight = window.innerHeight; } else if( document.documentElement && ( document.documentElement.clientWidth || document.documentElement.clientHeight ) ) { //IE 6+ in 'standards compliant mode' myHeight = 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href="../../../../doc/index.html">Top</a></small><p><strong>DocBuilder</strong><br><strong>User's Guide</strong><br><small>Version 0.9.8.7</small></p> <br><a href="javascript:openAllFlips()">Expand All</a><br><a href="javascript:closeAllFlips()">Contract All</a><p><small><strong>Chapters</strong></small></p> <ul class="flipMenu" imagepath="../../../../doc/js/flipmenu"> <li id="loadscrollpos" title="Overview" expanded="true">Overview<ul> <li><a href="overview.html"> Top of chapter </a></li> <li title="Background"><a href="overview.html#id2255927">Background</a></li> <li title="DTD Suite"><a href="overview.html#id2261226">DTD Suite</a></li> <li title="Structure of Generated HTML"><a href="overview.html#id2252211">Structure of Generated HTML</a></li> <li title="Basic Tags"><a href="overview.html#id2259883">Basic Tags</a></li> <li title="About This Document"><a href="overview.html#id2259327">About This Document</a></li> <li title="Usage"><a href="overview.html#id2259855">Usage</a></li> </ul> </li> <li id="no" title="User's Guide DTDs" expanded="false">User's Guide DTDs<ul> <li><a href="user_guide_dtds.html"> Top of chapter </a></li> <li title="The part DTD"><a href="user_guide_dtds.html#id2255918">The part DTD</a></li> <li title="<part>"><a href="user_guide_dtds.html#id2252604"><part></a></li> <li title="<description>"><a href="user_guide_dtds.html#id2257848"><description></a></li> <li title="<include>"><a href="user_guide_dtds.html#id2259250"><include></a></li> <li title="The chapter DTD"><a href="user_guide_dtds.html#id2260255">The chapter DTD</a></li> <li title="<chapter>"><a href="user_guide_dtds.html#id2259926"><chapter></a></li> <li title="<section>"><a href="user_guide_dtds.html#id2259200"><section></a></li> <li title="<title>"><a href="user_guide_dtds.html#id2252192"><title></a></li> </ul> </li> <li id="no" title="Reference Manual DTDs" expanded="false">Reference Manual DTDs<ul> <li><a href="refman_dtds.html"> Top of chapter </a></li> <li title="The application DTD"><a href="refman_dtds.html#id2259344">The application DTD</a></li> <li title="<application>"><a href="refman_dtds.html#id2258600"><application></a></li> <li title="The appref DTD"><a href="refman_dtds.html#id2261527">The appref DTD</a></li> <li title="The comref DTD"><a href="refman_dtds.html#id2261698">The comref DTD</a></li> <li title="The cref DTD"><a href="refman_dtds.html#id2261823">The cref DTD</a></li> <li title="The erlref DTD"><a href="refman_dtds.html#id2253008">The erlref DTD</a></li> <li title="The fileref DTD"><a href="refman_dtds.html#id2255212">The fileref DTD</a></li> <li title="<description>"><a href="refman_dtds.html#id2252314"><description></a></li> <li title="<section>"><a href="refman_dtds.html#id2261020"><section></a></li> <li title="<funcs>"><a href="refman_dtds.html#id2261064"><funcs></a></li> <li title="<func>"><a href="refman_dtds.html#id2261090"><func></a></li> <li title="<name>"><a href="refman_dtds.html#id2261135"><name></a></li> <li title="<fsummary>"><a href="refman_dtds.html#id2265198"><fsummary></a></li> <li title="<type>"><a href="refman_dtds.html#id2265227"><type></a></li> <li title="<v>"><a href="refman_dtds.html#id2265260"><v></a></li> <li title="<d>"><a href="refman_dtds.html#id2265277"><d></a></li> <li title="<desc>"><a href="refman_dtds.html#id2265306"><desc></a></li> <li title="<authors>"><a href="refman_dtds.html#id2265337"><authors></a></li> <li title="<aname>"><a href="refman_dtds.html#id2265373"><aname></a></li> <li title="<email>"><a href="refman_dtds.html#id2265389"><email></a></li> </ul> </li> <li id="no" title="Fascicules DTDs" expanded="false">Fascicules DTDs<ul> <li><a href="fasc_dtds.html"> Top of chapter </a></li> <li title="The fascicules DTD"><a href="fasc_dtds.html#id2265458">The fascicules DTD</a></li> <li title="<fascicules>"><a href="fasc_dtds.html#id2265565"><fascicules></a></li> <li title="<fascicule>"><a href="fasc_dtds.html#id2265595"><fascicule></a></li> </ul> </li> <li id="no" title="Header Tags" expanded="false">Header Tags<ul> <li><a href="header_tags.html"> Top of chapter </a></li> <li title="<header>"><a href="header_tags.html#id2263347"><header></a></li> <li title="<copyright>"><a href="header_tags.html#id2263363"><copyright></a></li> <li title="<legalnotice>"><a href="header_tags.html#id2263412"><legalnotice></a></li> <li title="<title>"><a href="header_tags.html#id2263441"><title></a></li> <li title="<shorttitle>"><a href="header_tags.html#id2263474"><shorttitle></a></li> <li title="<prepared>"><a href="header_tags.html#id2263492"><prepared></a></li> <li title="<responsible>"><a href="header_tags.html#id2263509"><responsible></a></li> <li title="<docno>"><a href="header_tags.html#id2263526"><docno></a></li> <li title="<approved>"><a href="header_tags.html#id2263559"><approved></a></li> <li title="<checked>"><a href="header_tags.html#id2263576"><checked></a></li> <li title="<date>"><a href="header_tags.html#id2263594"><date></a></li> <li title="<rev>"><a href="header_tags.html#id2263611"><rev></a></li> <li title="<file>"><a href="header_tags.html#id2263644"><file></a></li> </ul> </li> <li id="no" title="Block Tags" expanded="false">Block Tags<ul> <li><a href="block_tags.html"> Top of chapter </a></li> <li title="<br> - Line Break"><a href="block_tags.html#id2263775"><br> - Line Break</a></li> <li title="<code> - Code Example"><a href="block_tags.html#id2263814"><code> - Code Example</a></li> <li title="<codeinclude> - Code Inclusion"><a href="block_tags.html#id2263872"><codeinclude> - Code Inclusion</a></li> <li title="<erleval> - Erlang Evaluation"><a href="block_tags.html#id2263953"><erleval> - Erlang Evaluation</a></li> <li title="<list> - List"><a href="block_tags.html#id2263989"><list> - List</a></li> <li title="<marker> - Marker"><a href="block_tags.html#id2264076"><marker> - Marker</a></li> <li title="<p> - Paragraph"><a href="block_tags.html#id2264104"><p> - Paragraph</a></li> <li title="<note> - Note"><a href="block_tags.html#id2264149"><note> - Note</a></li> <li title="<pre> - Pre-formatted Text"><a href="block_tags.html#id2264198"><pre> - Pre-formatted Text</a></li> <li title="<quote> - Quotation"><a href="block_tags.html#id2264278"><quote> - Quotation</a></li> <li title="<taglist> - Definition List"><a href="block_tags.html#id2264331"><taglist> - Definition List</a></li> <li title="<warning> - Warning"><a href="block_tags.html#id2264437"><warning> - Warning</a></li> <li title="<image> - Image"><a href="block_tags.html#id2264492"><image> - Image</a></li> <li title="<table> - Table"><a href="block_tags.html#id2264557"><table> - Table</a></li> </ul> </li> <li id="no" title="Inline Tags" expanded="false">Inline Tags<ul> <li><a href="inline_tags.html"> Top of chapter </a></li> <li title="<br> - Line Break"><a href="inline_tags.html#id2264769"><br> - Line Break</a></li> <li title="<c> - Code"><a href="inline_tags.html#id2264797"><c> - Code</a></li> <li title="<em> - Emphasis"><a href="inline_tags.html#id2264848"><em> - Emphasis</a></li> <li title="<marker> - Marker"><a href="inline_tags.html#id2264891"><marker> - Marker</a></li> <li title="<path> - Path"><a href="inline_tags.html#id2264939"><path> - Path</a></li> <li title="<seealso> - Local Cross Reference"><a href="inline_tags.html#id2265025"><seealso> - Local Cross Reference</a></li> <li title="<url> - Non-Local Cross Reference"><a href="inline_tags.html#id2265132"><url> - Non-Local Cross Reference</a></li> <li title="<term>, <termdef> - Glossary"><a href="inline_tags.html#id2266646"><term>, <termdef> - Glossary</a></li> <li title="<cite>, <citedef> - Bibliography"><a href="inline_tags.html#id2266761"><cite>, <citedef> - Bibliography</a></li> </ul> </li> <li id="no" title="Character Entities" expanded="false">Character Entities<ul> <li><a href="character_entities.html"> Top of chapter </a></li> <li title="Added Latin 1"><a href="character_entities.html#id2266872">Added Latin 1</a></li> </ul> </li> </ul> </div></div> <div id="content"> <div class="innertube"> <h1>1 Overview</h1> <h3><a name="id2255927">1.1 Background</a></h3> <p>DocBuilder has been used within the OTP project to generate documentation for Erlang/OTP itself for more than ten years. It has now been released as a regular Erlang/OTP application.</p> <p>The intention with DocBuilder is that it should be as easy to use and maintain as possible and generate adequate documentation for OTP's needs. It uses frames, which can probably be regarded as old-fashioned today. Hopefully, this should be improved in the future.</p> <p>Originally, DocBuilder input was SGML files and external tools was used for parsing. The internal version used in the OTP project can generate not only HTML code but also LaTeX (for PDF and PostScript) and nroff (for UNIX man pages). (Again, using external tools). Because of this, the parsed source code is transformed into a tree structure before being transformed again into the desired format.</p> <h3><a name="id2261226">1.2 DTD Suite</a></h3> <p>Input is written as XML according to one of the DTDs and output is corresponding HTML. Documentation for an Erlang/OTP application is usually organized as follows:</p> <dl> <dt><strong><strong>User's Guide</strong></strong></dt> <dd> <p>(DTD: <span class="bold_code"><a href="user_guide_dtds.html#partDTD">part</a></span>) A collection of chapters (<span class="bold_code"><a href="user_guide_dtds.html#chapterDTD">chapter</a></span>). </p> </dd> <dt><strong><strong>Reference Manual</strong></strong></dt> <dd> <p>(DTD: <span class="bold_code"><a href="refman_dtds.html#applicationDTD">application</a></span> A collection of manual pages for modules (<span class="bold_code"><a href="refman_dtds.html#erlrefDTD">erlref</a></span>), applications (<span class="bold_code"><a href="refman_dtds.html#apprefDTD">appref</a></span>), commands (<span class="bold_code"><a href="refman_dtds.html#comrefDTD">comref</a></span>), C libraries (<span class="bold_code"><a href="refman_dtds.html#crefDTD">cref</a></span>) and files (<span class="bold_code"><a href="refman_dtds.html#filerefDTD">fileref</a></span>). </p> </dd> <dt><strong><strong>Release Notes</strong></strong></dt> <dd> <p>Same structure as the User's Guide.</p> </dd> </dl> <p>In some cases, one or more of the User's Guide, Reference Manual and Release Notes are omitted. Also, it is possible to use either the <span class="code">application</span> or <span class="code">part</span> DTD to write other types of documentation for the application.</p> <p>A special kind of DTD, <span class="bold_code"><a href="fasc_dtds.html">fascicules</a></span>, can be used to specify the different parts of the documentation, and which one of those should be shown as default.</p> <h3><a name="id2252211">1.3 Structure of Generated HTML</a></h3> <p>The generated HTML corresponding to a <span class="code">part</span> or <span class="code">application</span> document is split into a left frame and a right frame. The left frame contains information about the document and links to the included files, that is chapters or manual pages. The right frame is used to display either the front page for the document, or the selected chapter/manual page.</p> <p>The left frame also contains links to a bibliography and a glossary, which are automatically generated.</p> <p>In the case of an <span class="code">application</span> document, the left frame also contains a link to an automatically generated index.</p> <h3><a name="id2259883">1.4 Basic Tags</a></h3> <p>All DTDs in the DocBuilder DTD suite share a basic set of tags. An author can easily switch from one DTD to another and still use the same basic tags. It is furthermore easy to copy pieces of information from one document to another, even though they do not use the same DTD.</p> <p>The basic set of tags are divided into two categories: <span class="bold_code"><a href="block_tags.html">block tags</a></span> and <span class="bold_code"><a href="inline_tags.html">inline tags</a></span>. Block tags typically define a separate block of information, like a paragraph or a list. Inline tags are typically used within block tags, for example a highlighted word within a paragraph.</p> <h3><a name="id2259327">1.5 About This Document</a></h3> <p>In this User's Guide, the structure of the different documents and the meaning of the tags are explained. There are numerous examples of documentation source code.</p> <p>For readability and simplicity, the examples have been kept as short as possible. For an example of what the generated HTML will look like, it is recommended to look at the DocBuilder documentation itself:</p> <ul> <li>This User's Guide is written using the <span class="code">part</span> and <span class="code">chapter</span> DTDs.</li> <li>The Reference Manual is written using the <span class="code">application</span>, <span class="code">appref</span> and <span class="code">erlref</span> DTDs. </li> </ul> <h3><a name="id2259855">1.6 Usage</a></h3> <ul> <li> <p>Create the relevant XML files.</p> <p>If there are EDoc comments in a module, the function <span class="bold_code"><a href="docb_gen.html#module-1">docb_gen:module/1,2</a></span> can be used to generate an XML file according to the <span class="code">erlref</span> DTD for this module.</p> </li> <li> <p>The XML files can be validated using <span class="bold_code"><a href="docb_xml_check.html#validate-1">docb_xml_check:validate/1</a></span>. </p> </li> <li> <p>Generate HTML files by using <span class="bold_code"><a href="docb_transform.html#file-1">docb_transform:file/1,2</a></span>. </p> </li> </ul> </div> <div class="footer"> <hr> <p>Copyright © 1997-2010 Ericsson AB. All Rights Reserved.</p> </div> </div> </div></body> </html>