Document! X and HelpStudio 2019
Getting Started / Getting Started with Xsd Schema Documentation
In This Topic
    Getting Started with Xsd Schema Documentation
    In This Topic

     

    Document! X supports documentation of Xsd Schemas. Xsd Schema documentation produces a comprehensive documentation set for your Xsd Schemas covering Elements, Simple Types, Complex Types, Groups, Attributes, Attribute Groups, Constraints and Facets.

    Leverage your existing content

    Document! X can extract any documentation annotations created in the Xsd source against any schema items.

    Example Xsd Schema annotation

    <annotation>
        <documentation xml:lang="en">
            The documentation annotation type allows you to include basic 
            documentation within the XSD schema source. 
        </documentation> 
    </annotation>

    Xsd Schema Documentation Fundamentals

    Create a new Xsd Schema Reference Documentation Project

    1. Click the Application Menu button at the top left of the Ribbon;
    2. Select the New page;
    3. Choose Empty Project from the available Project Types;
    4. On the New Project dialog, type a descriptive Project Name for the new project; 
    5. You can optionally choose a specific directory in which to save your project by editing the Project Directory field; the project will by default be saved to a subdirectory of the default New / Save directory which is configurable in the Options editor (Paths page).
    6. Click Ok;

    The new empty documentation project will be created and opened for edit. You can now add the Xsd Schemas that you wish to document:

    1. Click the Add Xsd Schema Ribbon button on the Project Ribbon tab.
    2. Use the displayed dialog to define the location of the Xsd Schema that you would like to document.
    3. Click Ok;

    The selected Xsd Schema be added to the Project Explorer under the Xsd Schemas node. You can expand down through the Xsd Schema node to tick / untick individual Xsd Schema elements in order to include / exclude them from the generated output. Repeat the process above to add additional Xsd Schemas to this project.

    A Content File will be created and added to the project under the Content Files node for each added Xsd Schema. You can use this Content File to author additional content in the pages that Document! X will automatically generate.

    Existing content from Xsd Schema annotations will be automatically used in the generated output where available. Content from the Xsd Schema is displayed in the Content File Editor so you can see at a glance what content is already available from source comments and what requires further authoring.

     

    Author content in the Xsd Schema

    You can use the Xsd Schema annotation feature to author documentation content directly within your Xsd Schema. Annotation content will be used by default in the Summary section of the related generated page. 

    Example

    <xs:element name="purchaseOrder" type="PurchaseOrderType">
        <xs:annotation>
            <xs:documentation xml:lang="en">The purchase order.</xs:documentation>
        </xs:annotation>
    </xs:element>

    Each time you open your documentation project, Document! X will read the current annotation, so your documentation will always be up to date with content you have authored in the Xsd Schema.

     

    Author content outside of the schema

    If you would like to supplement the content of the pages automatically generated by Document! X and HelpStudio outside of the Xsd Schema source, you can do so using the Document! X and HelpStudio Content File Editor.

    The Content File Editor allows you to review and author content for any item for which a reference documentation page is generated.

    To open the Content File Editor:

    1. Expand the Content Files node on the Project Explorer.
    2. Locate the Content File for the item you wish to author content for.
    3. Right click on the Content File and select Edit.
    4. The Content File will be opened for edit. The tree on the left hand side of the editor shows you a hierarchical view of the item you are documenting.
    5. Drill down and select an item from the tree and the related documentation pages will be shown in the right hand side of the editor.
    6. Type directly in the editable portions of the page on the right hand side of the editor.
    7. Select a specific content type from the toolbar / vertical menu to edit a specific type of content (e.g. Summary, See Also, Keywords).

    Content File Editor Movies

     

    Add Conceptual Topics

    Conceptual information is a key part of reference documentation, providing a high level introduction, tutorials or other conceptual information. You can easily create conceptual topics in Document! X and HelpStudio.

    1. Click the New Topic button on the Project Ribbon tab, or use the Ctrl+T shortcut key.
    2. The new Topic will be created in the currently selected Topic Category on the Project Explorer (or under the (Un-categorized) node if no category is selected) and will be opened for edit.
    3. Type your conceptual content directly in the editable area of the Topic Editor.

    You can find more information on Topic Editing in the Topic Editor topic.

    Conceptual Authoring Movies

     

    Change Xsd Schema documentation settings

    The settings that govern Xsd Schema Documentation generation are defined in the Build Profile editor. In a new project there is a single Build Profile but you can define many build profiles if you want to create multiple outputs with different settings.

    To edit Xsd Schema documentation settings:

    1. Expand the Build Profiles node in the Project Explorer.
    2. Select the Build Profile that you wish to edit.
    3. Right click on the Build Profile and select Edit.
    4. The Build Profile will be opened for edit.

    In the Build Profile editor, you can find the XSD Schema Settings page under the Reference Documentation section.

    You can change the Template used for Xsd Schema documentation (which defines the look and feel of generated pages) on the Templates page.

     

    Identify undocumented items 

    An essential part of delivering a complete documentation set is ensuring that all the items have been documented. Document! X includes the Undocumented Items tool to quickly and easily identify undocumented items.

    To identify undocumented items:

    1. On the Tools Ribbon Tab, click the Undocumented Items button;
    2. If your project contains more than one Build Profile, select the Profile for which you wish to find undocumented items;
    3. Tick the Item Types (e.g. Class, Method, Schema, Column) that you wish to check for undocumented items;
    4. Tick the Content Types that items must have to be considered documented (just Summary by default);
    5. Tick the Content Sources that should be used when checking for content;
    6. Click the Execute button. Any undocumented items will be listed in the results grid.

    See the Undocumented Items topic for more information.

    Find Undocumented Items Movies

     

    Build and deploy Database reference documentation

    Click the  Build Ribbon button on the Project ribbon tab to build your XSD Schema reference documentation.

    In a new project, the default Build Profile will be configured to generate output in compiled CHM Html Help 1.x format.

    Refer to the Deployment topic for more information on how to deploy your documentation to other machines.

     

    Movies