changes.md

JSDoc 3 change history

This file describes notable changes in each version of JSDoc 3. To download a specific version of JSDoc 3, see GitHub's tags page.

3.2.0 (May 2013)

Major changes

• JSDoc can now parse any valid Google Closure Compiler type expression. Note: As a result of this change, JSDoc quits if a file contains an invalid type expression. To prevent JSDoc from quitting, run JSDoc with the --lenient (-l) command-line option. (Multiple issues)
• You can now use the new @listens tag to indicate that a symbol listens for an event. (#273)

Enhancements

• The parser now fires a parseBegin event before it starts parsing files, as well as a parseComplete event after all files have been parsed. Plugins can define event handlers for these events, and parseBegin handlers can modify the list of files to parse. (#299)

• Event handlers for jsdocCommentFound events can now modify the JSDoc comment. (#228)

• You can now exclude tags from Markdown processing using the new option markdown.excludeTags in the configuration file. (#337)

• You can now use the marked Markdown parser by setting the configuration property markdown.parser to marked. In addition, if markdown.parser is set to gfm, JSDoc will now use the "marked" parser instead. (#385)

• The @typedef tag no longer requires a name when used with a Closure Compiler-style type definition. For example, the following type definition will automatically get the name Foo.Bar:

      /** @typedef {string} */
      Foo.Bar;

  (#391)

• You can now use an inline {@type} tag in a parameter's description. If this tag is present, JSDoc will assume that the parameter uses the type specified in the inline {@type} tag. For example, the following @param tag would cause myParam's type to be documented as Foo:

  @param {(boolean|string)} myParam - My special parameter. {@type Foo}
  

  (#152)

• The console.log function now behaves the same way as on Node.js. In addition, the functions console.info, console.error, console.warn, and console.trace have been implemented. (#298)

• You can now use npm to install JSDoc globally by running npm install -g. Note: JSDoc will still run under Mozilla Rhino, not Node.js. (#374)

• The jsVersion configuration property has been removed. (#390)

Bug fixes

• JSDoc now quits if the configuration file cannot be loaded. (#407)
• JSDoc's --explain (-X) option now runs much more quickly, and it outputs valid JSON to the console. (#298)
• JSDoc's --lenient (-l) option now prints warnings on STDERR rather than STDOUT. (#298)
• The parser now assigns the correct scope to object properties whose names include single quotes. (#386)
• The parser now recognizes CommonJS modules that export a single function rather than an object. (#384)
• The inline {@link} tag now works correctly when @link is followed by a tab. (#359)
• On POSIX systems, quoted command-line arguments are no longer split on spaces. (#397)

Plugins

• The new overloadHelper plugin makes it easier to link to overloaded methods. (#179)
• The markdown plugin now converts Markdown links in the @see tag. (#297)

Default template enhancements

• You can now use the configuration property templates.default.staticFiles to copy additional static files to the output directory. (#393)
• All output files now use human-readable filenames. (#339)
• The documentation for events now lists the symbols that listen to that event. (#273)
• Links to source files now allow you to jump to the line where a symbol is defined. (#316)
• The output files now link to individual types within a Closure Compiler type expression. (Multiple issues)
• CommonJS modules that export a single function, rather than an object, are now documented more clearly. (#384)
• Functions that can throw multiple types of errors are now documented more clearly. (#389)
• If a @property tag does not identify the property's name, the template no longer throws an error. (#373)
• The type of each @typedef is now displayed. (#391)
• If a @see tag contains a URL (for example, @see http://example.com or @see <http://example.com>), the tag text is now converted to a link. (#371)
• Repeatable parameters are now identified. (#381)
• The "Classes" header is no longer repeated in the navigation bar. (#361)
• When the only documented symbols in global scope are type definitions, you can now click the "Global" header to view their documentation. (#261)

3.1.1 (February 2013)

• Resolved a crash when no input files contain JSDoc comments. (#329)
• Resolved a crash when JSDoc cannot identify the common prefix of several paths. (#330)
• Resolved a crash when the full path to JSDoc contained at least one space. (#347)
• Files named README.md or package.json will now be processed when they are specified on the command line. (#350)
• You can now use @emits as a synonym for @fires. (#324)
• The module jsdoc/util/templateHelper now allows you to specify the CSS class for links that are generated by the following methods: (#331)
  • getAncestorLinks
  • getSignatureReturns
  • getSignatureTypes
  • linkto

3.1.0 (January 2013)

Major changes

• You can now use the new @callback tag to provide information about a callback function's signature. To document a callback function, create a standalone JSDoc comment, as shown in the following example:

  /**
   * @class
   */
  function MyClass() {}
  
  /**
   * Send a request.
   *
   * @param {MyClass~responseCb} cb - Called after a response is received.
   */
  MyClass.prototype.sendRequest = function(cb) {
      // code
  };
  
  /**
   * Callback for sending a request.
   *
   * @callback MyClass~responseCb
   * @param {?string} error - Information about the error.
   * @param {?string} response - Body of the response.
   */

• The inline link tag, {@link}, has been improved:

  • You can now use a space as the delimiter between the link target and link text.
  • In your conf.json file, you can now enable the option templates.cleverLinks to display code links in a monospace font and URL links in plain text. You can also enable the option templates.monospaceLinks to display all links in a monospace font. Note: JSDoc templates must be updated to respect these options.
  • You can now use the new inline tags {@linkplain}, which forces a plain-text link, and {@linkcode}, which forces a monospace link. These tags always override the settings in your conf.json file. (#250)

• JSDoc now provides a -l/--lenient option that tells JSDoc to continue running if it encounters a non-fatal error. (Multiple issues)

• A template's publish.js file should now assign its publish function to exports.publish, rather than defining a global publish function. The global publish function is deprecated and may not be supported in future versions. JSDoc's built-in templates reflect this change. (#166)

• The template helper (templateHelper.js) exports a variety of new functions for finding information within a parse tree. These functions were previously contained within the default template. (#186)

• Updated the fs and path modules to make their behavior more consistent with Node.js. In addition, created extended versions of these modules with additional functionality. (Multiple commits)

• Updated or replaced numerous third-party modules. (Multiple commits)

• Reorganized the JSDoc codebase in preparation for future enhancements. (Multiple commits)

• JSDoc now embeds a version of Mozilla Rhino that recognizes Node.js packages, including package.json files. (Multiple commits)

• Node.js' npm utility can now install JSDoc from its GitHub repository. Note: JSDoc is not currently compatible with Node.js. However, this change allows JSDoc to be installed as a dependency of a Node.js project. In this version, global installation with npm is not supported. (Multiple commits)

Enhancements

• If a README.md file is passed to JSDoc, its contents will be included on the index.html page of the generated documentation. (#128)
• The @augments tag can now refer to an undocumented member, such as window.XMLHTTPRequest. (#160)
• The @extends tag can now refer to an undocumented member, such as window.XMLHttpRequest. In addition, you can now use @host as a synonym for @extends. (#145)
• The @lends tag is now supported in multiline JSDoc comments. (#163)
• On Windows, jsdoc.cmd now provides the same options as the jsdoc shell script. (#127)
• JSDoc now provides setTimeout(), clearTimeout(), setInterval(), and clearInterval() functions. (Multiple commits)
• JSDoc no longer provides a global exit() function. Use process.exit() instead. (1228a8f7)
• JSDoc now includes additional shims for Node.js' built-in modules. Note: Many of these shims implement only the functions that JSDoc uses, and they may not be consistent with Node.js' behavior in edge cases. (Multiple commits)
• JSDoc now provides a -v/--version option to display information about the current version. (#303)
• When running tests, you can now use the --nocolor option to disable colored output. On Windows, colored output is always disabled. (e17601fe, 8bc33541)

Bug fixes

• When using the @event tag to define an event within a class or namespace, the event's longname is now set correctly regardless of tag order. (#280)
• The @property tag no longer results in malformed parse trees. (20f87094)
• The jsdoc and jsdoc.cmd scripts now work correctly with paths that include spaces. (#127, #130)
• The jsdoc script now works correctly on Cygwin and MinGW, and with the dash shell. (#182, #184, #187)
• The -d/--destination option is no longer treated as a path relative to the JSDoc directory. Instead, it can contain an absolute path, or a path relative to the current working directory. (f5e3f0f3)
• JSDoc now provides default options for the values in conf.json. (#129)
• If the conf.json file does not exist, JSDoc no longer tries to create it, which prevents errors if the current user does not have write access to the JSDoc directory. (d2d05fcb)
• Doclets for getters and setters are now parsed appropriately. (#150)
• Only the first asterisk is removed from each line of a JSDoc comment. (#172)
• If a child member overrides an ancestor member, the ancestor member is no longer documented. (#158)
• If a member of a namespace has the same name as a namespace, the member is now documented correctly. (#214)
• The parse tree now uses a single set of properties to track both JSDoc-style type information and Closure Compiler-style type information. (#118)
• If a type has a leading !, indicating that it is non-nullable, the leading ! is now removed from the type name. (#226)
• When Markdown formatting is enabled, underscores in inline {@link} tags are no longer treated as Markdown formatting characters. (#259)
• Markdown links now work correctly when a JavaScript reserved word, such as constructor, is used as the link text. (#249)
• Markdown files for tutorials are now parsed based on the settings in conf.json, rather than using the "evilstreak" Markdown parser in all cases. (#220)
• If a folder contains both tutorial source files and .js files, JSDoc no longer attempts to parse the .js files as JSON files. (#222)
• The "evilstreak" Markdown parser now works correctly with files that use Windows-style line endings. (#223)
• JSDoc no longer fails unit tests when the conf.json file is not present. (#206)
• On Windows, JSDoc now passes all unit tests. (Multiple commits)

Plugins

• The new partial plugin adds support for a @partial tag, which links to an external file that contains JSDoc comments. (#156)
• The new commentsOnly plugin removes everything in a file except JSDoc-style comments. You can use this plugin to document source files that are not valid JavaScript, including source files for other languages. (#304)
• The new eventDumper plugin logs information about parser events to the console. (#242)
• The new verbose plugin logs the name of each input file to the console. (#157)

Template enhancements

Default template

• The template output now includes pretty-printed versions of source files. This feature is enabled by default. To disable this feature, add the property templates.default.outputSourceFiles: false to your conf.json file. (#208)
• You can now use the template if it is placed outside of the JSDoc directory. (#198)
• The template no longer throws an error when a parameter does not have a name. (#175)
• The navigation bar now includes an "Events" section if any events are documented. (#280)
• Pages no longer include a "Classes" header when no classes are documented. (eb0186b9)
• Member details now include "Inherited From" section when a member is inherited from another member. (#154)
• If an @author tag contains text in the format "Jane Doe [email protected]", the value is now converted to an HTML mailto: link. (#326)
• Headings for functions now include the function's signature. (#253)
• Type information is now displayed for events. (#192)
• Functions now link to their return type when appropriate. (#192)
• Type definitions that contain functions are now displayed correctly. (#292)
• Tutorial output is now generated correctly. (#188)
• Output files now use Google Code Prettify with the Tomorrow theme as a syntax highlighter. (#193)
• The index.html output file is no longer overwritten if a namespace called index has been documented. (#244)
• The current JSDoc version number is now displayed in the footer. (#321)

Haruki template

• Members are now contained in arrays rather than objects, allowing overloaded members to be documented. (#153)
• A clearer error message is now provided when the output destination is not specified correctly. (#174)

3.0.1 (June 2012)

Enhancements

• The conf.json file may now contain source.include and source.exclude properties. (#56)
  • source.include specifies files or directories that JSDoc should always check for documentation.
  • source.exclude specifies files or directories that JSDoc should never check for documentation. These settings take precedence over the source.includePattern and source.excludePattern properties, which contain regular expressions that JSDoc uses to search for source files.
• The -t/--template option may now specify the absolute path to a template. (#122)

Bug fixes

• JSDoc no longer throws exceptions when a symbol has a special name, such as hasOwnProperty. (1ef37251)
• The @alias tag now works correctly when documenting inner classes as globals. (810dd7f7)

Template improvements

• The default template now sorts classes by name correctly when the classes come from several modules. (4ce17195)
• The Haruki template now correctly supports @example, @members, and @returns tags. (6580e176, 59655252, 31c8554d)

3.0.0 (May 2012)

Initial release.