Introduction

Markdown documentation generator for proto3 protocol. This project consists of a custom program designed to parse Protocol Buffers (protobuf) definition files, specifically focusing on extracting documentation annotations present in the comments. These annotations follow a custom doc protocol, facilitating the generation of MD5 documentation from the protobuf files.

Syntax

Comments in the protobuf files use a special syntax to annotate documentation. Here is an outline of the annotation syntax:

1. Description Comments

   • Placed before message, enum, or service definitions.
   • Describes the purpose and usage of the subsequent element.
   • Example:

     /*
      * Description of the message or enum.
      */
     message ExampleMessage {}

2. Code Block Annotations

   • Utilize @code[json] to denote a JSON representation.
   • Placed within multiline comments.
   • Example:

     /*
      * @code[json]:
      * {
      *   "exampleField": "value"
      * }
      */
     message ExampleMessage {
       string exampleField = 1;
     }

3. Autocode Annotations

   • Use @autocode[json] to automatically generate code examples.
   • Placed within multiline comments.
   • No example content is provided within the comment.
   • Example:

     /*
      * @autocode[json]
      */
     message AutoCodeExample {}

4. Header Annotations

   • Denoted by @header:.
   • Describes a section or group of related elements. Will divide markdown document using a divide line.
   • Example:

     // @header: user attributes related stuff.

5. Ignore Annotations

   • Marked by @ignore.
   • Indicates that the following definition should be ignored by the parser.
   • Example:

     /*
      * @Ignore
      */
     message IgnoredMessage {}

Extended Comment Annotations

In addition to the previously mentioned comment annotations, the program also supports the following annotations for enhancing the detail and constraints in the protobuf file documentation:

1. Max Annotation

   • Syntax: @max=<value>
   • Sets the maximum value for numerical fields.
   • Example:

     message ExampleMessage {
       float exampleField = 1; // @max=1.6
     }

2. Min Annotation

   • Syntax: @min=<value>
   • Defines the minimum value for numerical fields.
   • Example:

     message ExampleMessage {
       float exampleField = 1; // @min=1.9
     }

3. Len Annotation

   • Syntax: @len=<value>
   • Sets the maximum string length. Applicable only to string fields.
   • Example:

     message ExampleMessage {
       string exampleField = 1; // @len=255
     }

4. (AutoCode only!) Val Annotation

   • Syntax: @val=<value>
   • Does not generate value automatically but uses the provided value for this tag.
   • Example:

     message ExampleMessage {
       string exampleField = 1; // @val="myCuStomVal12345"
     }

5. Type Annotation

   • Syntax: @type=<value>
   • Defines a custom type from the following list: int, uint, float, bool, string, enum, jwt, uuid, email, phone, password.
   • Example:

     message ExampleMessage {
       string emailField = 1; // @type=email
     }

You can combine all these annotations with field descriptions:

message ExampleMessage {
  string emailField = 1; // that is my custom email field @type=email
}

These extended annotations provide additional context and constraints for the fields in the protobuf definitions, aiding in the generation of more detailed and accurate documentation.

Program Usage

1. Parsing Protobuf Files

   • Run the program specifying the path to the .proto file as an argument.
   • The program will parse the file, extracting annotations and associated definitions.

2. Generating MD5 Documentation

   • Upon successful parsing, the program generates MD5 documentation.
   • The documentation is based on the annotated comments and the protobuf elements they describe.

3. Output

   • The generated documentation is either displayed to the user, saved to a file, or both, depending on the program configuration and user preferences.

Example usage

go get -u github.com/kordax/pb-md5-generator

pb-md5-generator -d protobufs/my-project/ -o ./README.md -p ./my-prefix-doc.md

There's a test_protofile in internal/test-proto directory for you to check out.

Libraries Used in the Project

This document lists the libraries used in the project that are licensed under the MIT License, in accordance with their respective licenses.

MIT Licensed Libraries

• golang/protobuf v1.5.0

  • License: BSD-3 License

• google/uuid v1.3.0

  • License: BSD-3 License

• goombaio/namegenerator v0.0.0-20181006234301-989e774b106e

  • License: Apache-2.0 License

• pseudomuto/protokit v0.2.1

  • License: MIT License

• rs/zerolog v1.29.1

  • License: MIT License

• stretchr/testify v1.8.4

  • License: MIT License

• mattn/go-colorable v0.1.13

  • License: MIT License

• mattn/go-isatty v0.0.19

  • License: MIT License

• pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0

  • License: MIT License

Note: The above links and license information are for illustrative purposes and may not be accurate. Please verify the license information by visiting the respective library's repository and reviewing their license file.