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1Including kernel-doc comments
2=============================
3
4The Linux kernel source files may contain structured documentation comments, or
5kernel-doc comments to describe the functions and types and design of the
6code. The documentation comments may be included to any of the reStructuredText
7documents using a dedicated kernel-doc Sphinx directive extension.
8
9The kernel-doc directive is of the format::
10
11 .. kernel-doc:: source
12 :option:
13
14The *source* is the path to a source file, relative to the kernel source
15tree. The following directive options are supported:
16
17export: *[source-pattern ...]*
18 Include documentation for all functions in *source* that have been exported
19 using ``EXPORT_SYMBOL`` or ``EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL`` either in *source* or in any
20 of the files specified by *source-pattern*.
21
22 The *source-pattern* is useful when the kernel-doc comments have been placed
23 in header files, while ``EXPORT_SYMBOL`` and ``EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL`` are next to
24 the function definitions.
25
26 Examples::
27
28 .. kernel-doc:: lib/bitmap.c
29 :export:
30
31 .. kernel-doc:: include/net/mac80211.h
32 :export: net/mac80211/*.c
33
34internal: *[source-pattern ...]*
35 Include documentation for all functions and types in *source* that have
36 **not** been exported using ``EXPORT_SYMBOL`` or ``EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL`` either
37 in *source* or in any of the files specified by *source-pattern*.
38
39 Example::
40
41 .. kernel-doc:: drivers/gpu/drm/i915/intel_audio.c
42 :internal:
43
44doc: *title*
45 Include documentation for the ``DOC:`` paragraph identified by *title* in
46 *source*. Spaces are allowed in *title*; do not quote the *title*. The *title*
47 is only used as an identifier for the paragraph, and is not included in the
48 output. Please make sure to have an appropriate heading in the enclosing
49 reStructuredText document.
50
51 Example::
52
53 .. kernel-doc:: drivers/gpu/drm/i915/intel_audio.c
54 :doc: High Definition Audio over HDMI and Display Port
55
56functions: *function* *[...]*
57 Include documentation for each *function* in *source*.
58
59 Example::
60
61 .. kernel-doc:: lib/bitmap.c
62 :functions: bitmap_parselist bitmap_parselist_user
63
64Without options, the kernel-doc directive includes all documentation comments
65from the source file.
66
67The kernel-doc extension is included in the kernel source tree, at
f66d9066 68``Documentation/sphinx/kerneldoc.py``. Internally, it uses the
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69``scripts/kernel-doc`` script to extract the documentation comments from the
70source.
71
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72.. _kernel_doc:
73
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74Writing kernel-doc comments
75===========================
76
77In order to provide embedded, "C" friendly, easy to maintain, but consistent and
78extractable overview, function and type documentation, the Linux kernel has
79adopted a consistent style for documentation comments. The format for this
80documentation is called the kernel-doc format, described below. This style
81embeds the documentation within the source files, using a few simple conventions
82for adding documentation paragraphs and documenting functions and their
83parameters, structures and unions and their members, enumerations, and typedefs.
84
85.. note:: The kernel-doc format is deceptively similar to gtk-doc or Doxygen,
86 yet distinctively different, for historical reasons. The kernel source
87 contains tens of thousands of kernel-doc comments. Please stick to the style
88 described here.
89
90The ``scripts/kernel-doc`` script is used by the Sphinx kernel-doc extension in
91the documentation build to extract this embedded documentation into the various
92HTML, PDF, and other format documents.
93
94In order to provide good documentation of kernel functions and data structures,
95please use the following conventions to format your kernel-doc comments in the
96Linux kernel source.
97
98How to format kernel-doc comments
99---------------------------------
100
101The opening comment mark ``/**`` is reserved for kernel-doc comments. Only
102comments so marked will be considered by the ``kernel-doc`` tool. Use it only
103for comment blocks that contain kernel-doc formatted comments. The usual ``*/``
104should be used as the closing comment marker. The lines in between should be
105prefixed by `` * `` (space star space).
106
107The function and type kernel-doc comments should be placed just before the
108function or type being described. The overview kernel-doc comments may be freely
109placed at the top indentation level.
110
111Example kernel-doc function comment::
112
113 /**
114 * foobar() - Brief description of foobar.
115 * @arg: Description of argument of foobar.
116 *
117 * Longer description of foobar.
118 *
119 * Return: Description of return value of foobar.
120 */
121 int foobar(int arg)
122
123The format is similar for documentation for structures, enums, paragraphs,
124etc. See the sections below for details.
125
126The kernel-doc structure is extracted from the comments, and proper `Sphinx C
127Domain`_ function and type descriptions with anchors are generated for them. The
128descriptions are filtered for special kernel-doc highlights and
129cross-references. See below for details.
130
131.. _Sphinx C Domain: http://www.sphinx-doc.org/en/stable/domains.html
132
133Highlights and cross-references
134-------------------------------
135
136The following special patterns are recognized in the kernel-doc comment
137descriptive text and converted to proper reStructuredText markup and `Sphinx C
138Domain`_ references.
139
140.. attention:: The below are **only** recognized within kernel-doc comments,
141 **not** within normal reStructuredText documents.
142
143``funcname()``
144 Function reference.
145
146``@parameter``
147 Name of a function parameter. (No cross-referencing, just formatting.)
148
149``%CONST``
150 Name of a constant. (No cross-referencing, just formatting.)
151
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152````literal````
153 A literal block that should be handled as-is. The output will use a
154 ``monospaced font``.
155
156 Useful if you need to use special characters that would otherwise have some
157 meaning either by kernel-doc script of by reStructuredText.
158
159 This is particularly useful if you need to use things like ``%ph`` inside
160 a function description.
161
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162``$ENVVAR``
163 Name of an environment variable. (No cross-referencing, just formatting.)
164
165``&struct name``
166 Structure reference.
167
168``&enum name``
169 Enum reference.
170
171``&typedef name``
172 Typedef reference.
173
174``&struct_name->member`` or ``&struct_name.member``
175 Structure or union member reference. The cross-reference will be to the struct
176 or union definition, not the member directly.
177
178``&name``
179 A generic type reference. Prefer using the full reference described above
180 instead. This is mostly for legacy comments.
181
182Cross-referencing from reStructuredText
183~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
184
185To cross-reference the functions and types defined in the kernel-doc comments
186from reStructuredText documents, please use the `Sphinx C Domain`_
187references. For example::
188
189 See function :c:func:`foo` and struct/union/enum/typedef :c:type:`bar`.
190
191While the type reference works with just the type name, without the
192struct/union/enum/typedef part in front, you may want to use::
193
194 See :c:type:`struct foo <foo>`.
195 See :c:type:`union bar <bar>`.
196 See :c:type:`enum baz <baz>`.
197 See :c:type:`typedef meh <meh>`.
198
199This will produce prettier links, and is in line with how kernel-doc does the
200cross-references.
201
202For further details, please refer to the `Sphinx C Domain`_ documentation.
203
204Function documentation
205----------------------
206
207The general format of a function and function-like macro kernel-doc comment is::
208
209 /**
210 * function_name() - Brief description of function.
211 * @arg1: Describe the first argument.
212 * @arg2: Describe the second argument.
213 * One can provide multiple line descriptions
214 * for arguments.
215 *
216 * A longer description, with more discussion of the function function_name()
217 * that might be useful to those using or modifying it. Begins with an
218 * empty comment line, and may include additional embedded empty
219 * comment lines.
220 *
221 * The longer description may have multiple paragraphs.
222 *
223 * Return: Describe the return value of foobar.
224 *
225 * The return value description can also have multiple paragraphs, and should
226 * be placed at the end of the comment block.
227 */
228
229The brief description following the function name may span multiple lines, and
230ends with an ``@argument:`` description, a blank comment line, or the end of the
231comment block.
232
233The kernel-doc function comments describe each parameter to the function, in
234order, with the ``@argument:`` descriptions. The ``@argument:`` descriptions
235must begin on the very next line following the opening brief function
236description line, with no intervening blank comment lines. The ``@argument:``
237descriptions may span multiple lines. The continuation lines may contain
238indentation. If a function parameter is ``...`` (varargs), it should be listed
239in kernel-doc notation as: ``@...:``.
240
241The return value, if any, should be described in a dedicated section at the end
242of the comment starting with "Return:".
243
244Structure, union, and enumeration documentation
245-----------------------------------------------
246
247The general format of a struct, union, and enum kernel-doc comment is::
248
249 /**
250 * struct struct_name - Brief description.
251 * @member_name: Description of member member_name.
252 *
253 * Description of the structure.
254 */
255
256Below, "struct" is used to mean structs, unions and enums, and "member" is used
257to mean struct and union members as well as enumerations in an enum.
258
259The brief description following the structure name may span multiple lines, and
260ends with a ``@member:`` description, a blank comment line, or the end of the
261comment block.
262
263The kernel-doc data structure comments describe each member of the structure, in
264order, with the ``@member:`` descriptions. The ``@member:`` descriptions must
265begin on the very next line following the opening brief function description
266line, with no intervening blank comment lines. The ``@member:`` descriptions may
267span multiple lines. The continuation lines may contain indentation.
268
269In-line member documentation comments
270~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
271
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272The structure members may also be documented in-line within the definition.
273There are two styles, single-line comments where both the opening ``/**`` and
274closing ``*/`` are on the same line, and multi-line comments where they are each
275on a line of their own, like all other kernel-doc comments::
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276
277 /**
278 * struct foo - Brief description.
279 * @foo: The Foo member.
280 */
281 struct foo {
282 int foo;
283 /**
284 * @bar: The Bar member.
285 */
286 int bar;
287 /**
288 * @baz: The Baz member.
289 *
290 * Here, the member description may contain several paragraphs.
291 */
292 int baz;
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293 /** @foobar: Single line description. */
294 int foobar;
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295 }
296
297Private members
298~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
299
300Inside a struct description, you can use the "private:" and "public:" comment
301tags. Structure fields that are inside a "private:" area are not listed in the
302generated output documentation. The "private:" and "public:" tags must begin
303immediately following a ``/*`` comment marker. They may optionally include
304comments between the ``:`` and the ending ``*/`` marker.
305
306Example::
307
308 /**
309 * struct my_struct - short description
310 * @a: first member
311 * @b: second member
312 *
313 * Longer description
314 */
315 struct my_struct {
316 int a;
317 int b;
318 /* private: internal use only */
319 int c;
320 };
321
322
323Typedef documentation
324---------------------
325
326The general format of a typedef kernel-doc comment is::
327
328 /**
329 * typedef type_name - Brief description.
330 *
331 * Description of the type.
332 */
333
334Overview documentation comments
335-------------------------------
336
337To facilitate having source code and comments close together, you can include
338kernel-doc documentation blocks that are free-form comments instead of being
339kernel-doc for functions, structures, unions, enums, or typedefs. This could be
340used for something like a theory of operation for a driver or library code, for
341example.
342
343This is done by using a ``DOC:`` section keyword with a section title.
344
345The general format of an overview or high-level documentation comment is::
346
347 /**
348 * DOC: Theory of Operation
349 *
350 * The whizbang foobar is a dilly of a gizmo. It can do whatever you
351 * want it to do, at any time. It reads your mind. Here's how it works.
352 *
353 * foo bar splat
354 *
355 * The only drawback to this gizmo is that is can sometimes damage
356 * hardware, software, or its subject(s).
357 */
358
359The title following ``DOC:`` acts as a heading within the source file, but also
360as an identifier for extracting the documentation comment. Thus, the title must
361be unique within the file.
362
363Recommendations
364---------------
365
366We definitely need kernel-doc formatted documentation for functions that are
367exported to loadable modules using ``EXPORT_SYMBOL`` or ``EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL``.
368
369We also look to provide kernel-doc formatted documentation for functions
370externally visible to other kernel files (not marked "static").
371
372We also recommend providing kernel-doc formatted documentation for private (file
373"static") routines, for consistency of kernel source code layout. But this is
374lower priority and at the discretion of the MAINTAINER of that kernel source
375file.
376
377Data structures visible in kernel include files should also be documented using
378kernel-doc formatted comments.