jgrasp handbook

DRAFT, February 18, 2003, Page 5
Program Documentation. For Java programs, users can automatically generate documentation in the
style of an application programmer interface (API). jGRASP calls the javadoc utility, included with the
J2SDK, to create a complete hyperlinked document within a few seconds. This can be done on a file-byfile
basis or for a complete project as shown in Figure 5 below. Note, in this example, even though no
JavaDoc comments were included in the source file, the generated documentation is still quite useful
since it provides hyperlinks to all classes in the project, plus links to the fields, constructors, and methods
of each class. However, for even more useful results, JavaDoc formal comments should be included in
the source code. When the documentation is generated for an individual file, it is stored in a temporary
directory for the duration of the jGRASP session. For projects, the documentation files are stored in a
directory that becomes part of the project, and therefore, persists from one jGRASP session to the next.
If any changes are made to a project source file (and the file is resaved), jGRASP will indicate that the
documentation needs to be regenerated; however, the user may choose to view the documentation files
without updating them.
Figure 5. Project documentation for Java