Eclipse Code Documentation
Often I'll be looking at a piece of code like the following:
doc.appendChild( doc.importNode( root, true ) );
And I'll think, "What da hell does 'true' mean?" In this particular case, I
wrote it, but still, I expect my IDE to quickly explain all about the
"importNode" method (for instance). Eclipse does this if you click on the
method, and then hit the 'F2' key.
However, it typically only knows about methods that are part of the
standard Java distribution, and wouldn't know anything about special
libraries you might be calling.
So, do the following steps:
Right-click on your project, and select 'Properties'. Click on the 'Java
Build Path' item, and then on the 'Libraries' tab. For each library that
you've added, click on the '+' symbol, and you'll see 'Javadoc location'
… highlight that and click the 'Edit' button to specify where you've
stored the Javadocs for that library.
Rinse and repeat.
If you have downloaded for speed or whatever, a copy of the standard
Javadocs, go into Preferences -> Java -> Installed JREs, and double-click
on your VMs listed there. The field 'Javadoc URL' can be changed to the
location on your file system that contains your downloaded copy of the
standard Java documentation.
Now, 'F2' is a brief summary and may not be too helpful, but if you hit
'Shift-F2', it will pull up the right Javadoc file in your browser full of
hyperlinks and more good stuff.
Another idea is to add the 'Javadoc' editor (via 'Window -> Show View ->
Javadoc') and whatever you click on, will have its Javadoc show up in a
window at the bottom of your screen.
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