First off, I’m not asking about how to generate documentation FROM PHP source. That’s easy enough with libraries like Doxygen or PHPDocumentor. What I’m looking for is a way to automatically generate inline phpdoc-based comment stubs for classes, methods, properties, etc. Are there any pre-existing libraries out there that can do this? I’ve done a bit of searching and have come up with nothing.
I’m only asking because I have an itch I wanna scratch by writing my own. I tend to spend HOURS at a time churning out code, saving documentation as a last step (I know, I should really do it AS I go). The problem is, even while realizing the importance of inline documentation, after 8 straight hours of coding and writing a dozen classes with dozens of methods and properties, it’s a bit off-putting to have to screech to a halt and start writing the stuff.
Obviously, I can’t create COMPLETE documentation automatically. Things like verbose descriptions of classes, properties and methods have to be hand-typed. But, using reflection, I can easily derive enough information to create comment stubs with fill-in-the-blank placeholders.
If anyone can assist me in the search for a solution like this, AWESOME. If not, I’ll get to creating a new Github repository and contribute something useful to the community. 🙂
DocumentX might (repeat might) be able to do this.