Help File Generation for ASP.NET Website Project

Help File Generation for ASP.NET Website Project(Using Sandcastle)

It is very easy to create a help file. If you have followed the practice of putting standard XML comments into your .NET code, for code commenting, install Ghost Doc which is available at http://submain.com/download/ghostdoc/. After installation right click on the code and click on “Document This” which will automatically insert the commenting structure like:

     /// <summary>

     ///

     /// </summary>

     /// <returns></returns>

 It is very easy to generate help file based on that. Here are the steps to achieve this

1.       Install Sandcastle from here: http://sandcastle.codeplex.com/

2.       Install Sandcastle Help File Builder GUI from here: http://shfb.codeplex.com/

3.       Install HTML Help 1.x Compiler from here: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=14188

4.       Download the EWSoftware.CodeDom.dll from here: http://sandcastlestyles.codeplex.com/releases/view/22689

Add a reference to the above mentioned dll in your project.

5.       Add the following  to the <compilers> section within <system.codedom> section of the web.config:

<compiler language="c#;cs;csharp" extension=".cs"

          compilerOptions="/docpath:C:\Publish\Docs"

          type="EWSoftware.CodeDom.CSharpCodeProviderWithDocs,

              EWSoftware.CodeDom, Version=1.1.0.0, Culture=neutral,

              PublicKeyToken=d633d7d5b41cbb65">           

            <providerOption name="CompilerVersion" value="v3.5"/>

</compiler>

Publish the website. The XML Documentation files would be generated and can be found in the folder specified in /docpath.

              

6.       Start Sandcastle Help File Builder GUI. Go to Project Explorer. Click on Document Sources -> Add Document Source. Browse and add the App_Code.dll file and the .xml file from the /docpath folder to the project.

You may want to alter the following properties in the Project Properties window:-

Property Name	Description
HelpTitle	The title for the help file
OutputPath	The path where the help file will be generated
ShowMissingNamespaces	If set to true a message is added to the namespace help topics if the namespace comments are missing.
ShowMissingValues	If set to true a message is added to the help topic if the <value> tag is missing.
APIFilter	Used to include /exclude elements from the help file. Note: If App_Code classes are not contained within a namespace; manually select them here to make them visible in Help file.

7.       Click on Documentation -> Build Project to generate the help file.

8.       After the build process is complete, click on Documentation -> View Help File -> View Help file.