Can I generate .MD files from XML Documentation?

Question

I have used Sandcastle to document my class libraries recently. However, I have recently discovered that Sandcastle is no longer developed by Microsoft: https://archive.codeplex.com/?p=sandcastle.

I have had a look online on GitHub and I see that lots of open source projects use .MD (MarkDown) files these days. I see that .MD files are supported by GitHub and TFS. How can I generate .MD files from XML Documentation files?

I have spent the last few hours Googling this. For example, I have found this with only a few hundred downloads: https://github.com/lijunle/Vsxmd/tree/master/Vsxmd I am not asking for tool recommendations. I am asking if it is possible to convert .XML Documentation to .MD files.

Answer 1

Yes, it is possible.

There are a number of projects to do so out there. The one you found Vsxmd for example but also simpler ones like lontivero/593fc51f1208555112e0.

The process is basically reading and converting each XML element (or some of them) to their equivalent in markdown. The equivalent is something you must choose when writing the converter, it depends on the style you want for your resulting file.

Things get complex when dealing with tags like <inheritdoc/> if you don't want to just print "Inherit from parent." like Vsxmd does or ignoring it like lontivero does.

I'm still searching for a better tool or time for improving one.