Introduction
This article is a continuation of the Producing .NET source code documentation Part I: XML Comments article. It provides details on how to create compiled help documentation for your source code using DocProject for Sandcastle (by Codeplex). DocProject for Sandcastle uses an XML file in order to create the compiled help documentation. For details on how to create this XML file please refer to Part I of this article.
Prerequisite Tools
In order to create MSDN style documentation for your source code you need to download a tool. This tool converts the XML file containing your source code documentation (generated by the compiler based on your XML comments) into compiled help files. There are several tools out there including tools like NDoc, and Innovasys HelpStudio Lite; however, this article is going to cover how to use the Codeplex DocProject for Sandcastle project to produce this documentation. In order to use the DocProject for Sandcastle project you need to install the DocProject application and Sandcastle.
If you are planning on continuing to Part III of this article (which explains how to integrate your compiled help file into Visual Studio's IDE) then you should also download and install the Visual Studio SDK. This SDK lets you create applications that interface with Visual Studio and is very handy.
This article is a continuation of the Producing .NET source code documentation Part I: XML Comments article. It provides details on how to create compiled help documentation for your source code using DocProject for Sandcastle (by Codeplex). DocProject for Sandcastle uses an XML file in order to create the compiled help documentation. For details on how to create this XML file please refer to Part I of this article.
Prerequisite Tools
In order to create MSDN style documentation for your source code you need to download a tool. This tool converts the XML file containing your source code documentation (generated by the compiler based on your XML comments) into compiled help files. There are several tools out there including tools like NDoc, and Innovasys HelpStudio Lite; however, this article is going to cover how to use the Codeplex DocProject for Sandcastle project to produce this documentation. In order to use the DocProject for Sandcastle project you need to install the DocProject application and Sandcastle.
If you are planning on continuing to Part III of this article (which explains how to integrate your compiled help file into Visual Studio's IDE) then you should also download and install the Visual Studio SDK. This SDK lets you create applications that interface with Visual Studio and is very handy.