Outputting an ASP.NET Web Site's XML Comments

Question

I would like to document my VB.NET web site's source code.

How can I convert XML comments in a VB.NET ASP.NET web site to an XML documentation file?

I do not see an option to generate an XML documentation file in the VS web site's property pages.

Answer 1

With clarification that the question relates to a VB.NET ASP.NET web site, consider the following based on a related discussion in MSDN forums:

1. I confirmed that GhostDoc Pro can at least build a help file for a VS VB.NET web site based on its XML comments. Unfortunately the free version of GhostDoc cannot build a help file; but a personal license for of GhostDoc Pro is pretty inexpensive; and I have found GhostDoc Pro useful enough more generally to be worth buying.
2. Also, Sandcastle Help File Builder (SHFB) - which is free and I also use & love - ostensibly can facilitate outputting an XML documentation file and build a help file for a VS VB.NET web site. As with most things S(HFB), I expect this is true...but will also require committment to take to the end zone.

See the "Documenting Website and Web Service Website Projects" section of SHFB documentation's Documenting Web Projects topic for more information about the SHFB option.

I confirmed that the reportedly required EWSoftware.CodeDom.dll is included with SHFB's extras (under Sandcastle\Extras with a default installation) - alongside its related help file.

Also, the aforementioned SHFB documentation explains that you will need to add a section like the following to your VB.NET web site's Web.config in order to leverage EWSoftware.CodeDom.dll:

<configuration>
  <system.codedom>
    <compilers>
      <compiler language="vb;vbs;visualbasic;vbscript" extension=".vb"
        compilerOptions="/docpath:C:\Publish\Docs"
        type="EWSoftware.CodeDom.VBCodeProviderWithDocs,
              EWSoftware.CodeDom, Version=1.1.0.0, Culture=neutral,
              PublicKeyToken=d633d7d5b41cbb65">
        <!-- NOTE: Change value to "v3.5" for .NET 3.5 projects -->
        <providerOption name="CompilerVersion" value="v2.0"/>
      </compiler>
    </compilers>
  </system.codedom>
</configuration>

The following screenshot summarizes these options and provides a little more context to help:

Answer 2

Try compiling with /doc option. From what I remember, it only works with XML comments in the code.