RDoc uses generators to turn parsed source code in the form of an RDoc::CodeObject tree into some form of output. RDoc comes with the HTML generator RDoc::Generator::Darkfish and an ri data generator RDoc::Generator::RI.

Registering a Generator

Generators are registered by calling RDoc::RDoc.add_generator with the class of the generator:

class My::Awesome::Generator
  RDoc::RDoc.add_generator self
end

Adding Options to rdoc

Before option processing in rdoc, RDoc::Options will call ::setup_options on the generator class with an RDoc::Options instance. The generator can use RDoc::Options#option_parser to add command-line options to the rdoc tool. See Custom Options at RDoc::Options for an example and see OptionParser for details on how to add options.

You can extend the RDoc::Options instance with additional accessors for your generator.

Generator Instantiation

After parsing, RDoc::RDoc will instantiate a generator by calling initialize with an RDoc::Store instance and an RDoc::Options instance.

The RDoc::Store instance holds documentation for parsed source code. In RDoc 3 and earlier the RDoc::TopLevel class held this data. When upgrading a generator from RDoc 3 and earlier you should only need to replace RDoc::TopLevel with the store instance.

RDoc will then call generate on the generator instance. You can use the various methods on RDoc::Store and in the RDoc::CodeObject tree to create your desired output format.