Javadoc Technology
Javadoc is a tool that parses the declarations and documentation
comments in a set of source files and produces a set of HTML pages
describing the classes, interfaces, constructors, methods, and
fields.
You can use a Javadoc doclet to customize Javadoc output. A
doclet is a program written with the Doclet API that specifies the
content and format of the output to be generated by the tool. You can write a doclet to generate any kind of text file
output, such as HTML, SGML, XML, RTF, and MIF. Oracle provides
a standard doclet for generating HTML-format API documentation. Doclets can also be used to perform special
tasks not related to producing API documentation.
A taglet is a program that allows you to create and use custom
tags that are more flexible than custom tags created with the -tag
option. A custom tag is used by a doclet to format and display text
from a Javadoc tag. A taglet must implement the taglet
interface.
API Specifications
The following are APIs related to Javadocs:
- Doclet API - The com.sun.javadoc package contains the Doclet API.
-
Taglet API - The com.sun.tools.doclets.Taglet class contains the
Taglet API.
- Doctree API - The package com.sun.source.doctree contains the Doctree API. This API enables you to traverse Javadoc comments as abstract syntax trees.
- Javadoc Access API - The package javax.tools contains the Javadoc Access API. This API enables you to invoke the Javadoc tool directly from a Java application without executing a new process.
Tools
The following pages list all Javadoc tags and command-line options
for running the Javadoc tool, with examples for the Solaris and
Microsoft Windows operating systems:
Tutorials and Programmer's Guides
This section contains tutorials and guides for Javadoc APIs:
- Doclet Overview -
This introduction to standard doclets includes simple examples that illustrate the
Doclet API.
- Running the Standard
Doclet - This doclet produces the default HTML-formatted
API documentation. Javadoc uses the standard doclet if no other
doclet is specified with the Javadoc -doclet option.
- Transitioning
to the 5.0 Doclet API - This document provides tips to extend legacy doclets to
support 5.0 new language features.
- Taglet Overview -
This introduction to taglets includes simple examples that illustrate the
Taglet API.
API Enhancements
The following lists features and enhancements for Javadoc in given releases:
More Information
For more information visit the following:
- Deprecation in an
API - Learn what deprecated APIs are and how to deprecate APIs in the documentation generated by the Javadoc tool.
- Javadoc
FAQ - Review important tips and workarounds for bugs.
- Javadoc
Forum - Enter into discussions with fellow developers. This forum is monitored only
occasionally by the Javadoc team.
