commandline.md

Command line

To use F# Formatting tools via the command line, you can use the fsdocs dotnet tool.

[lang=text]
dotnet tool install fsdocs-tool
dotnet fsdocs [command] [options]

The build command

This command processes a docs directory and generates API docs for projects in the solution according to the rules of API doc generation. The input accepted is described in content.

[lang=text]
fsdocs build

The command line options accepted are:

Command Line Option	Description
--input	Input directory of content (default: docs)
--projects	Project files to build API docs for outputs, defaults to all packable projects
--output	Output Directory (default 'output' for 'build' and 'tmp/watch' for 'watch')
--noapidocs	Disable generation of API docs
--ignoreprojects	Disable project cracking
--eval	Evaluate F# fragments in scripts
--saveimages	Save images referenced in docs
--nolinenumbers	Don't add line numbers, default is to add line number.
--parameters	Additional substitution parameters for templates
--nonpublic	The tool will also generate documentation for non-public members
--nodefaultcontent	Do not copy default content styles, javascript or use default templates
--clean	Clean the output directory
--help	Display this help screen
--version	Display version information
--properties	Provide properties to dotnet msbuild, e.g. --properties Configuration=Release Version=3.4
--fscoptions	Additional arguments passed down as otherflags to the F# compiler when the API is being generated. Note that these arguments are trimmed, this is to overcome a limitation in the command line argument processing. A typical use-case would be to pass an addition assembly reference. Example --fscoptions " -r:MyAssembly.dll"
--strict	Fail if docs are missing or can't be generated

The following command line options are also accepted but it is instead recommended you use settings in your .fsproj project files:

Command Line Option	Description
--sourcefolder	Source folder at time of component build (<FsDocsSourceFolder>)
--sourcerepo	Source repository for github links (<FsDocsSourceRepository>)
--mdcomments	Assume comments in F# code are markdown (<UsesMarkdownComments>)

The command will report on any .fsproj files that it finds, telling you if it decides to skip a particular file and why.

For example, a project will be skipped if:

• The project name contains ".Tests" or "test" (because it looks like a test project)

• The project does not contain

  <GenerateDocumentationFile>true</GenerateDocumentationFile>
  

The watch command

This command does the same as fsdocs build but in "watch" mode, waiting for changes. Only the files in the input directory (e.g. docs) are watched. A browser will be launched automatically (unless --nolaunch is specified).

You will need to ensure that the input directory exists, and contains at least index.md, otherwise the browser will report an error (e.g. "Problem loading...", "Connection was reset").

[lang=text]
fsdocs watch

Restarting may be necesssary on changes to project files. The same parameters are accepted, plus these:

Command Line Option	Description
--noserver	Do not serve content when watching.
--nolaunch	Do not launch a browser window.
--open	URL extension to launch http://localhost:/%s.
--port	Port to serve content for http://localhost serving.

Searchable docs

When using the command-line tool a Fuse search index is automatically generated in index.json. A search box is included in the default template via an HTML Dialog element. To add search to your own _template.html:

• include an HTML element with id search-btn

• include a dialog element

• include fsdocs-search.js script

<button id="search-btn">Open search dialog</button>
<dialog>
    <input type="search" placeholder="Search docs" />
    <div class="results">
        <ul></ul>
        <p class="empty">Type something to start searching.</p>
    </div>
</dialog>
<script type="module" src="{`{root}}content/fsdocs-search.js"></script>