diff --git a/src/doc/rustdoc/src/documentation-tests.md b/src/doc/rustdoc/src/documentation-tests.md index cd7d657e1165e..4f7736d8df6bb 100644 --- a/src/doc/rustdoc/src/documentation-tests.md +++ b/src/doc/rustdoc/src/documentation-tests.md @@ -1,3 +1,239 @@ # Documentation tests -Coming soon! \ No newline at end of file +`rustdoc` supports executing your documentation examples as tests. This makes sure +that your tests are up to date and working. + +The basic idea is this: + +```rust,ignore +/// # Examples +/// +/// ``` +/// let x = 5; +/// ``` +``` + +The triple backticks start and end code blocks. If this were in a file named `foo.rs`, +running `rustdoc --test foo.rs` will extract this example, and then run it as a test. + +There's some subtlety though! Read on for more details. + +## Pre-processing examples + +In the example above, you'll note something strange: there's no `main` +function! Forcing you to write `main` for every example, no matter how small, +adds friction. So `rustdoc` processes your examples slightly before +running them. Here's the full algorithm rustdoc uses to preprocess examples: + +1. Any leading `#![foo]` attributes are left intact as crate attributes. +2. Some common `allow` attributes are inserted, including + `unused_variables`, `unused_assignments`, `unused_mut`, + `unused_attributes`, and `dead_code`. Small examples often trigger + these lints. +3. If the example does not contain `extern crate`, then `extern crate + ;` is inserted (note the lack of `#[macro_use]`). +4. Finally, if the example does not contain `fn main`, the remainder of the + text is wrapped in `fn main() { your_code }`. + +For more about that caveat in rule 3, see "Documeting Macros" below. + +## Hiding portions of the example + +Sometimes, you need some setup code, or other things that would distract +from your example, but are important to make the tests work. Consider +an example block that looks like this: + +```text +/// Some documentation. +# fn foo() {} +``` + +It will render like this: + +```rust +/// Some documentation. +# fn foo() {} +``` + +Yes, that's right: you can add lines that start with `# `, and they will +be hidden from the output, but will be used when compiling your code. You +can use this to your advantage. In this case, documentation comments need +to apply to some kind of function, so if I want to show you just a +documentation comment, I need to add a little function definition below +it. At the same time, it's only there to satisfy the compiler, so hiding +it makes the example more clear. You can use this technique to explain +longer examples in detail, while still preserving the testability of your +documentation. + +For example, imagine that we wanted to document this code: + +```rust +let x = 5; +let y = 6; +println!("{}", x + y); +``` + +We might want the documentation to end up looking like this: + +> First, we set `x` to five: +> +> ```rust +> let x = 5; +> # let y = 6; +> # println!("{}", x + y); +> ``` +> +> Next, we set `y` to six: +> +> ```rust +> # let x = 5; +> let y = 6; +> # println!("{}", x + y); +> ``` +> +> Finally, we print the sum of `x` and `y`: +> +> ```rust +> # let x = 5; +> # let y = 6; +> println!("{}", x + y); +> ``` + +To keep each code block testable, we want the whole program in each block, but +we don't want the reader to see every line every time. Here's what we put in +our source code: + +```text + First, we set `x` to five: + + ```rust + let x = 5; + # let y = 6; + # println!("{}", x + y); + ``` + + Next, we set `y` to six: + + ```rust + # let x = 5; + let y = 6; + # println!("{}", x + y); + ``` + + Finally, we print the sum of `x` and `y`: + + ```rust + # let x = 5; + # let y = 6; + println!("{}", x + y); + ``` +``` + +By repeating all parts of the example, you can ensure that your example still +compiles, while only showing the parts that are relevant to that part of your +explanation. + +Another case where the use of `#` is handy is when you want to ignore +error handling. Lets say you want the following, + +```rust,ignore +/// use std::io; +/// let mut input = String::new(); +/// io::stdin().read_line(&mut input)?; +``` + +The problem is that `?` returns a `Result` and test functions +don't return anything so this will give a mismatched types error. + +```rust,ignore +/// A doc test using ? +/// +/// ``` +/// use std::io; +/// # fn foo() -> io::Result<()> { +/// let mut input = String::new(); +/// io::stdin().read_line(&mut input)?; +/// # Ok(()) +/// # } +/// ``` +# fn foo() {} +``` + +You can get around this by wrapping the code in a function. This catches +and swallows the `Result` when running tests on the docs. This +pattern appears regularly in the standard library. + +### Documenting macros + +Here’s an example of documenting a macro: + +```rust +/// Panic with a given message unless an expression evaluates to true. +/// +/// # Examples +/// +/// ``` +/// # #[macro_use] extern crate foo; +/// # fn main() { +/// panic_unless!(1 + 1 == 2, “Math is broken.”); +/// # } +/// ``` +/// +/// ```rust,should_panic +/// # #[macro_use] extern crate foo; +/// # fn main() { +/// panic_unless!(true == false, “I’m broken.”); +/// # } +/// ``` +#[macro_export] +macro_rules! panic_unless { + ($condition:expr, $($rest:expr),+) => ({ if ! $condition { panic!($($rest),+); } }); +} +# fn main() {} +``` + +You’ll note three things: we need to add our own `extern crate` line, so that +we can add the `#[macro_use]` attribute. Second, we’ll need to add our own +`main()` as well (for reasons discussed above). Finally, a judicious use of +`#` to comment out those two things, so they don’t show up in the output. + +## Attributes + +There are a few annotations that are useful to help `rustdoc` do the right +thing when testing your code: + +```rust +/// ```ignore +/// fn foo() { +/// ``` +# fn foo() {} +``` + +The `ignore` directive tells Rust to ignore your code. This is almost never +what you want, as it's the most generic. Instead, consider annotating it +with `text` if it's not code, or using `#`s to get a working example that +only shows the part you care about. + +```rust +/// ```should_panic +/// assert!(false); +/// ``` +# fn foo() {} +``` + +`should_panic` tells `rustdoc` that the code should compile correctly, but +not actually pass as a test. + +```rust +/// ```no_run +/// loop { +/// println!("Hello, world"); +/// } +/// ``` +# fn foo() {} +``` + +The `no_run` attribute will compile your code, but not run it. This is +important for examples such as "Here's how to retrieve a web page," +which you would want to ensure compiles, but might be run in a test +environment that has no network access. \ No newline at end of file