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| 24 | </div> |
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| 25 | <div class="chapter" lang="en"> |
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| 26 | <div class="titlepage"><div> |
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| 27 | <div><h2 class="title"> |
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| 28 | <a name="boostbook"></a>Chapter 22. The BoostBook Documentation Format</h2></div> |
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| 29 | <div><div class="author"><h3 class="author"> |
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| 30 | <span class="firstname">Douglas</span> <span class="surname">Gregor</span> |
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| 31 | </h3></div></div> |
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| 32 | <div><p class="copyright">Copyright © 2003-2005 Douglas Gregor</p></div> |
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| 33 | <div><div class="legalnotice"> |
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| 34 | <a name="id2054833"></a><p>Permission to copy, use, sell and distribute this software |
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| 35 | is granted provided this copyright notice appears in all copies. |
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| 36 | Permission to modify the code and to distribute modified code is |
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| 37 | granted provided this copyright notice appears in all copies, |
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| 38 | and a notice that the code was modified is included with the |
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| 39 | copyright notice. </p> |
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| 40 | <p> This software is provided "as is" without express or |
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| 41 | implied warranty, and with no claim as to its suitability for |
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| 42 | any purpose. </p> |
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| 43 | </div></div> |
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| 44 | </div></div> |
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| 45 | <div class="toc"> |
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| 46 | <p><b>Table of Contents</b></p> |
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| 47 | <dl> |
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| 48 | <dt><span class="section"><a href="boostbook.html#boostbook.introduction">Introduction</a></span></dt> |
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| 49 | <dt><span class="section"><a href="boostbook/getting/started.html">Getting Started</a></span></dt> |
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| 50 | <dd><dl> |
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| 51 | <dt><span class="section"><a href="boostbook/getting/started.html#boostbook.setup.autounix">Automatic setup for Unix-like systems</a></span></dt> |
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| 52 | <dt><span class="section"><a href="boostbook/getting/started.html#boostbook.setup.manual">Manual setup for all systems</a></span></dt> |
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| 53 | <dt><span class="section"><a href="boostbook/getting/started.html#boostbook.setup.running">Running BoostBook</a></span></dt> |
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| 54 | <dt><span class="section"><a href="boostbook/getting/started.html#boostbook.setup.troubleshooting">Troubleshooting</a></span></dt> |
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| 55 | </dl></dd> |
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| 56 | <dt><span class="section"><a href="boostbook/documenting.html">Documenting libraries</a></span></dt> |
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| 57 | <dd><dl> |
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| 58 | <dt><span class="section"><a href="boostbook/documenting.html#boostbook.defining">Defining a BoostBook library</a></span></dt> |
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| 59 | <dt><span class="section"><a href="boostbook/documenting.html#id2056151">From HTML to BoostBook</a></span></dt> |
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| 60 | <dt><span class="section"><a href="boostbook/documenting.html#boostbook.sectioning">Sectioning in BoostBook</a></span></dt> |
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| 61 | </dl></dd> |
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| 62 | <dt><span class="section"><a href="boostbook/together.html">Bringing Together a BoostBook Document</a></span></dt> |
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| 63 | <dd><dl><dt><span class="section"><a href="boostbook/together.html#boostbook.linking">Linking in BoostBook</a></span></dt></dl></dd> |
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| 64 | <dt><span class="section"><a href="reference.html">Reference</a></span></dt> |
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| 65 | </dl> |
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| 66 | </div> |
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| 67 | <div class="section" lang="en"> |
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| 68 | <div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"> |
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| 69 | <a name="boostbook.introduction"></a>Introduction</h2></div></div></div> |
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| 70 | <p>The BoostBook documentation format is an extension of <a href="http://www.docbook.org" target="_top">DocBook</a>, an SGML- or |
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| 71 | XML-based format for describing documentation. BoostBook augments |
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| 72 | DocBook with semantic markup that aids in the documentation of C++ |
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| 73 | libraries, specifically the <a href="http://www.boost.org" target="_top">Boost C++ libraries</a>, by |
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| 74 | providing the ability to express and refer to C++ constructs such |
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| 75 | as namespaces, classes, overloaded functions, templates, and |
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| 76 | specializations.</p> |
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| 77 | <p> |
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| 78 | BoostBook offers additional features more specific to its use for |
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| 79 | documenting the <a href="http://www.boost.org" target="_top">Boost C++ |
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| 80 | libraries</a>. These features are intended to eliminate or |
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| 81 | reduce the need for duplication of information and to aid in |
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| 82 | documenting portions of Boost that might otherwise not be |
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| 83 | documented. Examples of Boost-centric features include: |
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| 84 | </p> |
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| 85 | <div class="itemizedlist"><ul type="disc"> |
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| 86 | <li><p><span class="bold"><strong>Testsuites</strong></span>: |
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| 87 | Testsuites in Boost are created by writing an appropriate |
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| 88 | Jamfile and including that Jamfile in |
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| 89 | <code class="filename">status/Jamfile</code>. If the testsuites are |
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| 90 | documented (<a href="http://www.boost.org/libs/multi_array/doc/test_cases.html" target="_top">as |
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| 91 | in the MultiArray library</a>), the documentation is |
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| 92 | maintained separately from the testcase Jamfile, leading to |
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| 93 | duplication of information and the possibility of having the |
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| 94 | documentation out of sync with the Jamfile. BoostBook |
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| 95 | contains elements that describe a testsuite for both |
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| 96 | purposes: the BoostBook stylesheets can generate |
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| 97 | documentation for the testcases and also generate an |
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| 98 | appropriate Jamfile to integrate the testcases with the |
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| 99 | regression testing system.</p></li> |
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| 100 | <li> |
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| 101 | <p><span class="bold"><strong>Example programs</strong></span>: |
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| 102 | Example programs in documentation need to be duplicated in |
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| 103 | testcases to ensure that the examples compile and execute |
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| 104 | correctly. Keeping the two copies in sync is a tedious and |
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| 105 | error-prone task. For instance, the following code snippet |
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| 106 | persisted for six months:</p> |
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| 107 | <pre class="programlisting"> |
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| 108 | std::cout << f(5, 3) >> std::endl; |
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| 109 | </pre> |
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| 110 | <p>The BoostBook format allows testcases to be generated |
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| 111 | by weaving together program fragments from example programs |
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| 112 | in the documentation. This capability is integrated with |
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| 113 | testsuite generation so that example programs are normal |
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| 114 | tests in BoostBook.</p> |
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| 115 | </li> |
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| 116 | </ul></div> |
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| 117 | <p> |
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| 118 | </p> |
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