net.sourceforge.groboutils.autodoc.v1

Overview

This package contains a bootstrap class (AutoDoc), and the interfaces that it delivers.

Other classes use this package by creating an instance of the AutoDoc class on a per-class basis. This AutoDoc instance then returns to the using class-specific instances for the owning class' Self-Documentation needs.

Generating Implementations of the AutoDoc Framework

This framework makes it easy to create your own implementation for each part. Here's how the framework loads in the classes.

The AutoDoc class

The AutoDoc class loads an instance of the AutoDocFactory interface. It first checks the system property "net.sourceforge.groboutils.autodoc.AutoDocFactory.implementation". The value which this is set to will be the fully-qualified class name to create as the factory (an instance of AutoDocFactory). If that is not set, then it defaults to net.sourceforge.groboutils.autodoc.defimpl.DefaultAutoDocFactory.

Then, AutoDoc requests for a new instance of each entry-point interface from the loaded factory.

As an implementation creator, you could create your own AutoDocFactory instance, and set the system property to point to your own. Or, you could leave the DefaultAutoDocFactory, and depend upon it to load your specific entry-point factory.

The DefaultAutoDocFactory loads entry-point factories in a similar fashion to how AutoDoc loads its factory: through the system properties. It uses for the implementation class name the fully-qualified class name specified in the system property of the form "factory interface fully-qualified class name.implementation

ToDo

• Right now, there can be only one factory for each section system-wide. This should be modified to allow for a hierarchy much like log4j allows, where the owning class can have its own factory set, or its package, or each package component, or finally it defaults to the system-wide setting (and if that isn't defined, then the default framework setting). Alternatively, it could load a property file from each of these namespaces. I'll leave that as a AutoDoc factory specific type to be created in the future.