The purpose of this description is to provide quick summary on documentation style used in `espressif/esp-idf`_ repository and how to add new documentation.
When documenting code for this repository, please follow `Doxygen style <http://www.stack.nl/~dimitri/doxygen/manual/docblocks.html#specialblock>`_. You are doing it by inserting special commands, for instance ``@param``, into standard comments blocks, for example:
Doxygen supports couple of formatting styles. It also gives you great flexibility on level of details to include in documentation. To get familiar with available features, please check data reach and very well organized `Doxygen Manual <http://www.stack.nl/~dimitri/doxygen/manual/index.html>`_.
The ultimate goal is to ensure that all the code is consistently documented, so we can use tools like `Sphinx <http://www.sphinx-doc.org/>`_ and `Breathe <https://breathe.readthedocs.io/>`_ to aid preparation and automatic updates of API documentation when the code changes.
1. Document all building blocks of code: functions, structs, typedefs, enums, macros, etc. Provide enough information on purpose, functionality and limitations of documented items, as you would like to see them documented when reading the code by others.
2. Documentation of function should describe what this function does. If it accepts input parameters and returns some value, all of them should be explained.
3. Do not add a data type before parameter or any other characters besides spaces. All spaces and line breaks are compressed into a single space. If you like to break a line, then break it twice.
7. Overview of functionality of documented header file, or group of files that make a library, should be placed in the same directory in a separate ``README.rst`` file. If directory contains header files for different APIs, then the file name should be ``apiname-readme.rst``.
5. Prepare one or more complete code examples together with description. Place them in a separate file ``example.rst`` in the same directory as the API header files. If directory contains header files for different APIs, then the file name should be ``apiname-example.rst``.
Once all the above steps are complete, follow instruction in :doc:`api/template` and create a single file, that will merge all individual pieces of prepared documentation. Finally add a link to this file to respective ``.. toctree::`` in ``index.rst`` file located in ``/docs`` folder.
OK, but I am new to Sphinx!
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1. No worries. All the software you need is well documented. It is also open source and free. Start by checking `Sphinx <http://www.sphinx-doc.org/>`_ documentation. If you are not clear how to write using rst markup language, see `reStructuredText Primer <http://www.sphinx-doc.org/en/stable/rest.html>`_.
2. Check the source files of this documentation to understand what is behind of what you see now on the screen. Sources are maintained on GitHub in `espressif/esp-idf`_ repository in :idf:`docs` folder. You can go directly to the source file of this page by scrolling up and clicking the link in the top right corner. When on GitHub, see what's really inside, open source files by clicking ``Raw`` button.
3. You will likely want to see how documentation builds and looks like before posting it on the GitHub. There are two options to do so:
* Install `Sphinx <http://www.sphinx-doc.org/>`_, `Breathe <https://breathe.readthedocs.io/>`_ and `Doxygen <http://www.stack.nl/~dimitri/doxygen/>`_ to build it locally. You would need a Linux machine for that.
* Set up an account on `Read the Docs <https://readthedocs.org/>`_ and build documentation in the cloud. Read the Docs provides document building and hosting for free and their service works really quick and great.
