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Code Documentor and Database Documentor Tools

Writing technical documentation for applications is not usually the most interesting part of application development. With tight coding deadlines and a steady stream of last minute change requests, writing technical documentation and then ensuring it is kept up to date with the ever changing application source code is an impossible task.

Fortunately, it is possible to get code documentor utilities for most programming languages as well as applications such as relational databases.

I've written the following code documentors:

.NET Documentation Tool

This is a code documentor for the Microsoft .NET Framework. It supports application code created in versions 1.0, 1.1 and 2.0 of the .NET Framework.

The two most common .NET programming languages are supported: C# and Visual Basic.NET. All types of .NET project type can be documented, from Windows applications, to Console applications and Class libraries.

The code documentor also has an ASP.NET mode that can be used to create documentation for web applications.

The .NET Documentation Tool supports the XML comments code documentation standards in C# and VB.NET. XML comments allow developers to add documentation to the source code itself, enabling documentation to be kept fully synchronised with the application's source code.

The .NET Documentation Tool creates code documentation in HTML, HTML Help and Text formats. Sample documentation created from a VB.NET Windows application is available from the links below:

• .NET Documentation Tool sample documentation: [HTML] [Text] [HTML Help].

Download .NET Documentation Tool Trial Version (5Mb ZIP file).

.NET Documentation Tool Product Website.

ASP Documentation Tool

This is a code documentor for the Microsoft Active Server Pages (ASP) web development environment. It supports web application code created using the two most popular ASP scripting languages: VBScript and JScript. There is also some support for client-side JavaScript.

The ASP Documentation Tool creates code documentation in HTML, HTML Help and Text formats. Sample documentation created from a typical web application is available from the links below:

• ASP Documentation Tool sample documentation: [HTML] [Text] [HTML Help].

The .NET Documentation Tool supports the XML comments code documentation standards in C# and VB.NET. XML comments allow

Download ASP Documentation Tool Trial Version (5Mb ZIP file).

ASP Documentation Tool Product Website.

VB Documentation Tool

This is a code documentor for the Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 programming language. All types of Visual Basic project may be documented, including Windows form-based applications and class libraries.

The VB Documentation Tool creates code documentation in HTML, HTML Help and Text formats. Sample documentation created from a VB.NET Windows application is available from the links below:

• VB Documentation Tool sample documentation: [HTML] [Text] [HTML Help].

Download .NET Documentation Tool Trial Version (1Mb ZIP file).

VB Documentation Tool Product Website.

SQL Documentation Tool

This is a database documentor for the Microsoft SQL Server relational database. It supports SQL Server 7.0, 2000 and 2005 (including Express Edition). Enhanced documentation is created for SQL Server 2005 databases through support for the MS_Description extended properties.

Download SQL Documentation Tool Trial Version (10Mb ZIP file).

SQL Documentation Tool Product Website.

Code Documentors for other systems

To find code documentors for other programming languages and databases, try the portal I've built - www.softwaredocumentation.info. This portal lists documentors for a few other systems, including:

• DBScribe database documentor for Oracle.
• DBScribe database documentor for MySQL.
• Code documentors for Java.
• PBDoc for PowerBuilder.
• Code documentors for C++.

Useful Development Tools

ASP Documentation Tool™

Automatically creates developer documentation for ASP 2.0 and 3.0 web applications written in VBScript and JScript. Documentation for Microsoft Access, SQL Server 7/2000 databases and Visual Basic 6.0 components associated with the web application can also be incorporated into the reports. Documentation is created in HTML, HTML Help and plain text formats.

View Sample Output (HTML Help format).     View Sample Output (HTML Format).     Download Trial Version (5.2Mb ZIP file).

.NET Documentation Tool

Automatically creates technical documentation for .NET Framework Windows and ASP.NET applications written in C# or VB.NET and SQL Server 7/2000/2005 or Microsoft Access databases associated with the application. Documentation is created in HTML, HTML Help and plain text formats.

View Sample Output (HTML Help format).     View Sample Output (HTML Format).     Download Trial Version (5Mb ZIP file).

SQL Documentation Tool

The SQL Documentation Tool creates technical documentation for Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 and 2000 databases. Technical documentation is created in HTML and HTML Help formats. The HTML Help format documentation is fully searchable and cross referenced. The SQL Documentation Tool documents SQL Server Tables, Views, Stored Procedures, Triggers and Table Relationships.

View Sample Output (HTML Help format).     View Sample Output (HTML Format).     Download Trial Version (10.3Mb ZIP file).

VB Documentation Tool

The VB Documentation Tool creates technical documentation for Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 projects. Technical documentation is created in HTML and HTML Help formats. The HTML Help format documentation is fully searchable and cross referenced.

View Sample Output (HTML Help format).     View Sample Output (HTML Format).     Download Trial Version (1Mb ZIP file).

Indexing Service Companion

The Indexing Service Companion is a Windows application that extends the functionality of the Microsoft Windows Indexing Service so that it is able to index content from remote websites and also from ODBC databases. As such it can be used as a low cost alternative to Sharepoint Portal Search Services.

Try Sample Search Facility.     Download Trial Version (1.7Mb ZIP file).

The Website Utility

The Website Utility examines websites for errors and areas that need to be optimised for search engines by using a built in web crawling engine. Errors checked for include broken or moved hyperlinks, missing page titles and missing meta tags. It also generates HTML for use in creating website site maps (table of contents pages - like this one), and is able to create both client-side JavaScript Search Engines and server-side ASP Search Engines for a website.

View Sample Output (HTML Format).     Download Trial Version (3Mb ZIP file).

PHP Documentation Tool™

Automatically creates developer documentation for PHP web applications. Documentation is created in HTML, HTML Help and plain text formats.

View Sample Output (HTML Help format).     View Sample Output (HTML Format).     Download Trial Version (1.0Mb ZIP file).