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… r=jyn514 Add a chapter on reading Rustdoc output Includes documentation for: - general page structure - navigation - searching - themes - deep-linking Doesn't include docs on the settings page. Per rust-lang#90309
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# How to read rustdoc output | ||
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Rustdoc's HTML output includes a friendly and useful navigation interface which | ||
makes it easier for users to navigate and understand your code. | ||
This chapter covers the major features of that interface, | ||
and is a great starting point for documentation authors and users alike. | ||
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## Structure | ||
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The `rustdoc` output is divided into three sections. | ||
Along the left side of each page is a quick navigation bar, | ||
which shows contextual information about the current entry. | ||
The rest of the page is taken up by the search interface at the top | ||
and the documentation for the current item below that. | ||
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## The Item Documentation | ||
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The majority of the screen is taken up with the documentation text for the item | ||
currently being viewed. | ||
At the top is some at-a-glance info and controls: | ||
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- the type and name of the item, | ||
such as "Struct `std::time::Duration`", | ||
- a button to copy the item's path to the clipboard, | ||
which is a clipboard item | ||
- a button to collapse or expand the top-level documentation for that item | ||
(`[+]` or `[-]`), | ||
- a link to the source code (`[src]`), | ||
if [configured](the-doc-attribute.html#html_no_source), | ||
and present (the source may not be available if | ||
the documentation was created with `cargo doc --no-deps`), | ||
- and the version in which the item became stable, | ||
if it's a stable item in the standard library. | ||
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Below this is the main documentation for the item, | ||
including a definition or function signature if appropriate, | ||
followed by a list of fields or variants for Rust types. | ||
Finally, the page lists associated functions and trait implementations, | ||
including automatic and blanket implementations that `rustdoc` knows about. | ||
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### Navigation | ||
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Subheadings, variants, fields, and many other things in this documentation | ||
are anchors and can be clicked on and deep-linked to, | ||
which is a great way to communicate exactly what you're talking about. | ||
The typograpical character "§" appears next to lines with anchors on them | ||
when hovered or given keyboard focus. | ||
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## The Navigation Bar | ||
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For example, when looking at documentation for the crate root, | ||
it shows all the crates documented in the documentation bundle, | ||
and quick links to the modules, structs, traits, functions, and macros available | ||
from the current crate. | ||
At the top, it displays a [configurable logo](the-doc-attribute.html#html_logo_url) | ||
alongside the current crate's name and version, | ||
or the current item whose documentation is being displayed. | ||
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## The Theme Picker and Search Interface | ||
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When viewing `rustdoc`'s output in a browser with JavaScript enabled, | ||
a dynamic interface appears at the top of the page. | ||
To the left is the theme picker, denoted with a paint-brush icon, | ||
and the search interface, help screen, and options appear to the right of that. | ||
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### The Theme Picker | ||
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Clicking on the theme picker provides a list of themes - | ||
by default `ayu`, `light`, and `dark` - | ||
which are available for viewing. | ||
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### The Search Interface | ||
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Typing in the search bar instantly searches the available documentation for | ||
the string entered with a fuzzy matching algorithm that is tolerant of minor | ||
typos. | ||
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By default, the search results give are "In Names", | ||
meaning that the fuzzy match is made against the names of items. | ||
Matching names are shown on the left, and the first few words of their | ||
descriptions are given on the right. | ||
By clicking an item, you will navigate to its particular documentation. | ||
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There are two other sets of results, shown as tabs in the search results pane. | ||
"In Parameters" shows matches for the string in the types of parameters to | ||
functions, and "In Return Types" shows matches in the return types of functions. | ||
Both are very useful when looking for a function whose name you can't quite | ||
bring to mind when you know the type you have or want. | ||
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When typing in the search bar, you can prefix your search term with a type | ||
followed by a colon (such as `mod:`) to restrict the results to just that | ||
kind of item. (The available items are listed in the help popup.) | ||
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### Shortcuts | ||
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Pressing `S` while focused elsewhere on the page will move focus to the | ||
search bar, and pressing `?` shows the help screen, | ||
which includes all these shortcuts and more. | ||
Pressing `T` focuses the theme picker. | ||
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When the search results are focused, | ||
the left and right arrows move between tabs and the up and down arrows move | ||
among the results. | ||
Pressing the enter or return key opens the highlighted result. | ||
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When looking at the documentation for an item, the plus and minus keys expand | ||
and collapse all sections in the document. |