How do you document your PHP functions and classes inline? [closed]

Question

I know there are many different standards for PHP code inline documentation. Here's what I mean by inline documentation, and please correct me if there is a better term:

/** * This is the description for the class below. * * @package    my-package * @subpackage my-subpackage * @author     my-name * @version    my-version * ... */ class orderActions { ... 

What is the best and most widely-accepted form of inline documentation? In other words, what are those forms of inline documentation that everyone agrees on, and are not significantly based on opinions; the universally accepted forms of PHP in-line documentation that everyone should know about, but as a questioner, I'm not sure of yet, but after this question is answered, I will have a good overview of, not involving any particular opinions.

Are there any tools to auto-generate such documentation, or does it have to be done by hand?

I'm not interested in generating manuals -- I want to know how to generate the type of code commenting above, or "inline documentation."

Answer 1

PHPDoc, like what you've posted, is a widely accepted form of PHP documentation.

You can use Doxygen to auto-generate the docs.

Edit: In terms of generating in-line documentation in your code, I have never come across a tool that will go back and do this externally for a project. It's generally left in the realm of the IDE to generate a template while you code.

Eclipse actually does a decent job of this (it's one of the few things I like about Eclipse) and I believe Netbeans does as well. Any major IDE will likely have functionality to assist with this type of template generation.

Answer 2

Choose from:

• Doxygen
• phpDocumentator
• Sami
• ApiGen
• CakePHP API docs
• phpDox

See also the Wikipedia article, "Comparison of documentation generators", section "by Language".