Xcode 8 auto-generated quick help documentation

H4Hugo picture H4Hugo · Jun 28, 2016 · Viewed 38.9k times · Source

Among the new features announced in Xcode 8, we can see

"Auto-generate Quick Help documentation" :

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Is this the end of manual code documentation like we can learn on this article from NSHipster ?

Can someone outline the pros and cons of this new feature ? Does it replace tools like Jazzy ?

I couldn't find more information about the new feature.

Answer

Rob picture Rob · Jun 28, 2016

This refers to Xcode 8 (and later) feature, where you can select a method like this:

func foo(bar: Int) -> String { ... }

... and then press +option+/ (or choose “Structure” » “Add documentation” from Xcode's “Editor” menu) and it will generate the following comments template for you:

/// <#Description#>
///
/// - parameter bar: <#bar description#>
///
/// - returns: <#return value description#>

It just facilitates the writing of documentation for Quick Help.


Note, while this behavior has changed a bit over time, Xcode can be particular about where the cursor must be when you attempt to do this. For example, the cursor has to be somewhere in the function name, foo in my above example, for this to work. Or just double click on the function name and then press +option+/