Auto Comment Tool

In the Auto Comment Tool, you can see whether an entity in your source code has a valid Javadoc comment and create (or edit) the comment when necessary. Open the Auto Comment Tool from the Explorer by right-clicking the source file that you want to document. Then choose Tools and choose Auto Comment.

Javadoc Comment Status

The entities in your source code that have Javadoc comments are listed on the left of the Auto Comment Tool. You can filter the display using the toolbar controls in the Auto Comment Tool. The following table describes the toolbar controls.

Toolbar
Control
Description
OK icon Displays classes and members with full Javadoc comments
Error icon Displays classes and members with partial or erroneous Javadoc comments
Missing icon Displays classes and members with no Javadoc comments
Public icon Displays public methods
Package icon Displays methods with default access
Protected icon Displays methods with protected access
Private icon Displays private methods
Selecting an entity displays additional information on that entity. If an entity has a missing or incorrect Javadoc comment, you can click a command button to edit it. The following table lists the command buttons.

Button Name Description
Auto Correct Automatically corrects any tagging errors or generates missing tags on method constructors. For example, if your code includes the method
public String myMethod(Object param1, Object param2){}
and you click Auto Correct, the following tags are generated in the Tag pane of the Javadoc window and in the Source Editor:
@param param1
@param param2
@return
View Source Opens the file in the Source Editor with the insertion point at the selected entity
Refresh Updates the Auto Comment Tool with changes made in the source file (for example, in the Source Editor)

Javadoc Comment Text

You can create or edit the text of a Javadoc comment in the Javadoc Comment Text panel of the Auto Comment Tool. The first sentence of the comment should be a summary description of the declared entity. The text may include HTML elements (such as <B> and <I>) for formatting the description. Heading elements (such as <H1> and <H2>) are reserved for use by the Javadoc tool. You can use the command buttons at the bottom of the dialog box to include the HTML elements <B>, <I>, <U>, <CODE>, and <PRE> and the Javadoc {@link} in the description. For example:

/**
* Returns the Class of this <I>Object</I>. 
* Java has a runtime representation for 
* classes--a descriptor of type Class-- 
* which the method getClass() returns for 
* any Object.
*/
You do not need to type the characters /** and */ or the leading asterisks in the the Javadoc Comment dialog box. These characters are automatically included when the IDE adds the comment to the source code.

Tags

You can create or edit the tags of a Javadoc comment in the Tags panel of the Auto Comment Tool. A Javadoc tag starts with the character @ followed by a special keyword. Tags are case sensitive. A Javadoc tag enables you to automatically generate information for the API documentation. For example, @author name adds an author entry with the specified name to the generated documentation. A tag must appear at the beginning of a line (otherwise it is treated as normal text). By convention, tags with the same name are grouped together. The following comment includes four Javadoc tags:

/**
* A class representing a screen window.
* For example:
*    Window win = new Window(parent);
*    win.show();
*
* @author  Haley J. Ryan
* @version 1.3 00/08/08
* @see     java.awt.BaseWindow
* @see     java.awt.Button */

To add a Javadoc tag to your comment, click New, select a Javadoc tag or type a new tag, and click OK. The tag is added to the Tags pane of the Javadoc Comment dialog box. In the Description field, type the text of the tag. The text may include HTML elements (such as <B> and <I>) and the inline Javadoc tag {@link}.

See also
Adding a Javadoc Comment to Source Code

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