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adding kdoc preprocessing guide
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Jolanrensen committed Aug 2, 2024
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# KDoc Preprocessing

You might have spotted some notations like `{@include [Something]}` in the KDocs of DataFrame's source code.
These are special notations for the [KDoc preprocessor](https://github.com/Jolanrensen/docProcessorGradlePlugin)
that we use to generate parts of the KDoc documentation.

Kotlin libraries like DataFrame use KDoc to document their code and especially their public API. This allows users
to understand how to use the library and what to expect from it. However, writing KDoc can be a tedious task, especially
when you have to repeat the same information in multiple places. The KDoc preprocessor allows us to write the information
only once and then include it in multiple places.

This document explains how to use the KDoc preprocessor in the DataFrame project.

## How the Processing Works

Unlike Java, Kotlin library authors
[don't have the ability to share a jar file with documentation](https://github.com/Kotlin/dokka/issues/2787). They have
to share their documentation along with their `sources.jar` file which users can attach in their IDE to see the docs.
DataFrame thus uses the preprocessor in Gradle to copy and modify the source code, processing the KDoc notations,
and publishing the modified files as the `sources.jar` file.

This can be seen in action in the `core:processKDocsMain` and `core:changeJarTask` Gradle tasks in the
[core/build.gradle.kts file](core/build.gradle.kts). When you run any `publish` task in the `core` module, the
`processKDocsMain` task is executed first, which processes the KDocs in the source files and writes them to the
`generated-sources` folder. The `changeJarTask` task then makes sure that any `Jar` task in the `core` module uses the
`generated-sources` folder as the source directory instead of the normal `src` folder.

`core:processKDocsMain` can also be run separately if you just want to see the result of the KDoc processing.

To make sure the generated sources can be seen and reviewed on GitHub, since [PR #731](https://github.com/Kotlin/dataframe/pull/731),
there's a [GitHub action](.github/workflows/generated-sources.yml) that runs the `core:processKDocsMain` task and
comments the results on the PR. After a PR is merged, [another action](.github/workflows/generated-sources-master.yml)
runs on the master branch and commits the generated sources automatically.
This way, the generated sources are always up-to-date with the latest changes in the code.
This means you don't have to run and commit the generated sources yourself, though it's
still okay if you do.

## Previewing the Processed KDocs in IntelliJ IDEA

## The Notation

## KDoc Preprocessor Conventions in DataFrame

## KDoc -> WriterSide

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