| Documentation Guide |
| =================== |
| |
| Writing Documentation |
| --------------------- |
| |
| Docs are generated using :doc:`Sphinx <sphinx:usage/index>`. |
| |
| Documentation is written in :doc:`reStructuredText |
| <sphinx:usage/restructuredtext/basics>` - see this link for the basic format. |
| |
| In reStructuredText documents, to create the section hierarchy (mapped in HTML |
| to ``<h1>`` through ``<h5>``) use these characters to underline headings in the |
| order given: ``=``, ``-`` ``"``, ``'``, ``^``. |
| |
| Referencing other Documentation |
| ------------------------------- |
| |
| Other Sphinx-built documentation, both ONF and non-ONF can be linked to using |
| :doc:`Intersphinx <sphinx:usage/extensions/intersphinx>`. |
| |
| You can see all link targets available on a remote Sphinx's docs by running:: |
| |
| python -msphinx.ext.intersphinx http://otherdocs/objects.inv |
| |
| Building the Docs |
| ------------------ |
| |
| The documentation build process is stored in the ``Makefile``. Building docs |
| requires Python to be installed, and most steps will create a virtualenv |
| (``venv_docs``) which contains the required tools. You may also need to |
| install the ``enchant`` C library using your system's package manager for the |
| spelling checker to function properly. |
| |
| Run ``make html`` to generate html documentation in ``_build/html``. |
| |
| To check the formatting of documentation, run ``make lint``. This will be done |
| in Jenkins to validate the documentation, so please do this before you create a |
| patchset. |
| |
| To check spelling, run ``make spelling``. If there are additional words that |
| are correctly spelled but not in the dictionary (acronyms, trademarks, etc.) |
| please add them to the ``dict.txt`` file. |
| |
| Creating new Versions of Docs |
| ----------------------------- |
| |
| To change the version shown on the built site, change the contents of the |
| ``VERSION`` file. |
| |
| There is a ``make multiversion`` target which will build all versions published |
| on the remote to ``_build``. This will use `sphinx-multiversion |
| <https://github.com/Holzhaus/sphinx-multiversion>`_ to build multiple versions |
| of the site. |
| |
| Adding Images and Diagrams |
| -------------------------- |
| |
| There are multiple ways to add images and diagrams to the documentation. |
| Generally, you should prefer using `SVG |
| <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scalable_Vector_Graphics>`_ images, as these can |
| be scaled to any size without quality loss. |
| |
| If you're creating diagrams, there are multiple tools available. |
| :doc:`Graphviz <sphinx:usage/extensions/graphviz>` can render inline text-based |
| graphs definitions and diagrams within the documentation, and is best for |
| simple diagrams. |
| |
| More complex diagrams can be created in `Diagrams.net/Draw.io |
| <https://www.diagrams.net/>`_ format. When saving these diagrams, use the |
| SVG format, and check the "Include a copy of my diagram". This will let |
| someone open the SVG later directly from the documentation and edit it, without |
| any loss in functionality or quality. |
| |
| The last resort is to use raster images. If they're drawings or screen |
| captures, use the `PNG |
| <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portable_Network_Graphics>`_ format. Consider |
| compressing them with a tool like `OptiPNG <http://optipng.sourceforge.net/>`_, |
| or `pngquant <https://pngquant.org/>`_. If it's a photograph, use `JPEG |
| <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JPEG>`_. |