Extending class documentation and live templates

Question

I am playing with code documentation and live templates and I quite don't get it.

I've read Dr.Bob's article about generating documentation and wiki articles about live templates but I have one problem with class description.

By class description I understand the IDE behaviour when I point my mouse cursor over class declaration.

For example, I have such class with it's description:

type
  {$REGION 'TMyClass'}
    /// <summary>
    /// Summary works
    /// </summary>
    /// <remarks>
    /// Remarks works
    /// </remarks>
    /// <exception cref="www.some.link">This works</exception>
    /// <list type="bullet">
    /// <item>
    /// <description>description does not work</description>
    /// </item>
    /// <item>
    /// <description>description does not work</description>
    /// </item>
    /// </list>
    /// <permission cref="www.some.link">This works</permission>
    /// <example>
    /// <code>
    /// Code example does not work
    /// </code>
    /// </example>
  {$ENDREGION}
  TMyClass = class
  private
    a, b, c: Integer;
  public
  end;

And later in the code I have such declaration:

var
  MyObject: TMyClass;

When I put mouse cursor over the class type I have such description:

As you see not every html tag was rendered by the IDE engine. I would really want to know how to render additional tags, especially tag with code example. Is it possible?

I am using Delphi 2009 Proffesional.

Answer 1

Only limited set of tags is supported. The best documentation about this stuff I'm aware of is the DevJET Software's Delphi Documentation Guidelines (at the end of the "Table of Contents" there is link to the PDF).

Answer 2

The tags Help Insight supports are described in the online help and the Delphi docwiki. They are a subset of the tags C#'s help tags support. No other tags than the ones listed on the Embarcadero site seem to be supported (I have tried them). The only other things that work (and are required) are "<", ">" and """.

Update

There seem to be some products that allow you to use the full syntax as e.g. described in the Delphi Documentation Guidelines linked to by @ain. But that requires you to buy a commercial product like DevJet's Documentation Insight, which should not be confused with the Help Insight the IDE supports since Delphi 2006.

As you found out, and I did too, only the subset described in the Delphi docwiki is supported by the bare IDE without commercial products. There is also the documentation that is supported by the Modelling interface, but that is different again. In the normal IDE, you can only use the tags you and I already found.