PL/SQL Developer
plsqldoc Plug-In 1.2
User’s Guide
PL/SQL Developer – plsqldoc Plug-In User’s Guide 2
1. Introduction
This document describes the plsqldoc Plug-In for PL/SQL Developer. This Plug-In allows you to
generate HTML documentation for functions, procedures, packages, types, triggers, tables, views and
materialized views. The documentation is derived from the definition and the comments of these
objects, in a similar way as Javadoc for the Java programming language.
The Plug-In also allows you to quickly view object documentation from within the PL/SQL Developer
IDE, by simply clicking on an object name in a SQL or PL/SQL source file, or from within the Object
Browser. A global documentation index and the hyperlinks within each HTML document provide easy
navigation.
The following example shows the documentation of a LockRecord and EmpCount function in a
package:
1.1 Benefits
The benefits of the plsqldoc Plug-In come from its generation capabilities, as well as the integration
within the PL/SQL Developer IDE:
Increased documentation quality – You no longer need to create and maintain separate
documentation for your database objects, but merely need to write the appropriate comments
within each object. The documentation generation is effortless, and this ensures that the
documentation is always in sync with the latest developments. It also ensures a consistent layout
of all documentation.
Increased productivity – The user of the documentation can easily find a document and related
documents, thanks to the tight integration with the PL/SQL Developer IDE and the hyperlinks.
The author of the documentation benefits from the generation process.
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1.2 Integration
When the plsqldoc Plug-In is installed, you will have a new plsqldoc item in the Tools menu. This menu
item contains all relevant functions:
The Generate Documentation and View Documentation items work on the object in the PL/SQL Editor
of the current Program Window. You can right-click on the toolbar, select the Customize menu item,
and add toolbar buttons for all frequently used plsqldoc functions:
This will make these functions easier accessible.
Right-clicking on an object name in a SQL or PL/SQL source or in the Object Browser will reveal 3
new functions to view and generate the documentation for the object under the mouse cursor, and to
copy the parameters if a program unit in plsqldoc format:
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In the Command Window you will have the following new commands available when the plsqldoc
Plug-In is installed:
Command Description
plugin plsqldoc generate [body] <object1> <object2>
...
Generate the documentation for the
specified object(s).
plugin plsqldoc view [body] <object> <object2> ... View the documentation for the specified
object(s).
plugin plsqldoc about Show version information of the plsqldoc
plug-in.
plugin plsqldoc configure Show the plsqldoc configuration screen.
plugin plsqldoc index Show the plsqldoc HTML index file.
plugin plsqldoc delete Delete all HTML documentation files.
plugin plsqldoc rebuild Rebuild the plsqldoc HTML index file.
These commands allow you to create a batch script that generates or refreshes your documentation. In
case of a package or type, the default action is to generate the documentation from the specification.
You can add the body keyword to indicate that the documentation should be generated from the package
or type body. This keyword is ignored for all other object types.
The following example first shows the plsqldoc version information, and subsequently generates the
documentation for the Department package:
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2. Installation
To install the plsqldoc Plug-In, simply run the supplied setup.exe. This will copy the Plug-In DLL
(plsqldoc.dll) into PL/SQL Developer’s Plugins directory. Make sure that you have write access to this
directory when you run the setup program. After installation, you have the new functionality available
as described in chapter 1.2.
System requirements
PL/SQL Developer 5.1.2 or later.
