# Building documentation

## Documentation overview

GDAL's documentation includes C and C++ API documentation built automatically from source comments using Doxygen and reStructuredText (rst) files containing manually-edited content.

Sphinx is used to combine the above components into a complete set of documentation in HTML, PDF, and other formats.

Sphinx and extensions used by GDAL can be installed by running `python3 -m pip install -r requirements.txt` from the `doc` subdirectory.

## Building documentation

Documentation can be generated with the CMake targets listed below. These targets are only available if the CMake `BUILD_DOCS=ON` variable is set, which is the default if Doxygen and Sphinx are detected.

Note

CMake will attempt to detect Sphinx at configuration time (i.e, when `cmake` is first run). If Sphinx is provided via a Conda or a Python virtual environment, that environment should be activated during CMake configuration.

Note

Because some documentation pages execute GDAL command-line utilities or Python code when generating, these GDAL components must also be available to build the documentation without warnings. See build instructions for hints on reducing this build time.

The following targets are available:

- `html`: build HTML documentation into the `doc/build/html` directory, where they can be viewed using a web browser.

- `man`: build MAN pages into the `doc/build/man` directory.

- `latexpdf`: build PDF documentation into the `doc/build/latex` directory

- `doxygen_xml` : regenerate API Doxygen XML outputs, used by the above targets.

- `doxygen_html`: generate Doxygen HTML documentation (this is distinct from the API documentation included in the `html` target above).

If `BUILD_TESTING` is enabled, the documentation can be spell-checked using the `doc-spelling` test (invoked using `ctest -V -R doc-spelling --output-on-failure`.) Documentation generated from C/C++ API (Doxygen) and Python API is included in the check. Words unknown to the spell checker but still considered valid should be added to the list in `doc/source/spelling_wordlist.txt`

To visualize documentation changes while editing, it may be useful to install the sphinx-autobuild Python package. Once installed, running `sphinx-autobuild -b html source_dir build_dir` with appropriate values of `source_dir` and `build_dir` will build documentation and serve it on a local web server at `http://127.0.0.1:8000`. The pages served will be automatically refreshed as changes are made to underlying `rst` documentation files.

### Python API documentation

Sphinx uses the autodoc extension to generate documentation for the Python API from Python function docstrings. To be correctly parsed by `autodoc`, docstrings should follow the numpydoc Style guide. Docstrings may be found in two locations. If the function was defined in Python (i.e., using a `%pythoncode` SWIG directive), then the docstring must be placed within the function definition. If the function is defined in C++ only, then the docstring should be placed in a separate file containing only docstrings (located in docs).

Sphinx loads the Python bindings when generating documentation, so for it to see any changes the updated Python module must be loadable by the Python interpreter Sphinx is using. When building documentation using CMake (e..g, `cmake --build . --target html`) this will be done automatically. If using `sphinx-build` or `sphinx-autobuild` manually, the updated Python bindings must be rebuilt (`cmake --build . --target python_binding`) and made visible to Python, either by installing them or by sourcing `scripts/setdevenv.sh` from the build directory.

Sphinx cannot detect changes to the Python module, so when iteratively rebuilding Python API documentation it is necessary to manually update the timestamp of the `rst` files associated with the page where the modified documentation appears (e.g., `touch doc/source/api/python/osgeo.ogr.rst`)

## Sphinx RST Style guide

This section contains syntax rules, tips, and tricks for using Sphinx and reStructuredText. For more information, please see this comprehensive guide to reStructuredText, as well as the Sphinx reStructuredText Primer.

### Basic markup

A reStructuredText document is written in plain text. Without the need for complex formatting, one can be composed simply, just like one would any plain text document. For basic formatting, see this table:

Format | Syntax | Output
Italics | `*italics*` (single asterisk) | italics
Bold | `**bold**` (double asterisk) | bold
Monospace | `` `monospace` `` (double back quote) | `monospace`

Warning

Use of the basic markup above is not recommended! Where possible use sphinx inline directives (described below) to logically mark commands, parameters, options, input, and files. By using directives consistently these items can be styled appropriately.

### Lists

There are two types of lists, bulleted lists and numbered lists. A bulleted list looks like this:

- An item

- Another item

- Yet another item

This is accomplished with the following code:

    * An item
    * Another item
    * Yet another item

A numbered list looks like this:

1. First item

2. Second item

3. Third item

This is accomplished with the following code:

    #. First item
    #. Second item
    #. Third item

Note that numbers are automatically generated, making it easy to add/remove items.

### List-tables

Bulleted lists can sometimes be cumbersome and hard to follow. When dealing with a long list of items, use list-tables. For example, to talk about a list of options, create a table that looks like this:

Shapes | Description
--- | ---
Square | Four sides of equal length, 90 degree angles
Rectangle | Four sides, 90 degree angles

This is done with the following code:

    .. list-table::
       :widths: 20 80
       :header-rows: 1

       * - Shapes
         - Description
       * - Square
         - Four sides of equal length, 90 degree angles
       * - Rectangle
         - Four sides, 90 degree angles

### Page labels

Ensure every page has a label that matches the name of the file. For example if the page is named `foo_bar.rst` then the page should have the label:

    ..  _foo_bar:

Other pages can then link to that page by using the following code:

    :ref:`foo_bar`

### Linking

Links to other pages should never be titled as "here". Sphinx makes this easy by automatically inserting the title of the linked document.

Bad

  More information about linking can be found here.

Good

  For more information, please see the section on Linking.

To insert a link to an external website:

    `Text of the link <http://example.com>`__

The resulting link would look like this: Text of the link

Warning

It is very easy to have two links with the same text resulting in the following error:

    **(WARNING/2) Duplicate explicit target name:foo**

To avoid these warnings use of a double __ generates an anonymous link.

### Sections

Use sections to break up long pages and to help Sphinx generate tables of contents.

    ================================================================================
    Document title
    ================================================================================

    First level
    -----------

    Second level
    ++++++++++++

    Third level
    ***********

    Fourth level
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~

### Notes and warnings

When it is beneficial to have a section of text stand out from the main text, Sphinx has two such boxes, the note and the warning. They function identically, and only differ in their coloring. You should use notes and warnings sparingly, however, as adding emphasis to everything makes the emphasis less effective.

Here is an example of a note:

Note

This is a note.

This note is generated with the following code:

    .. note:: This is a note.

Similarly, here is an example of a warning:

Warning

Beware of dragons.

This warning is generated by the following code:

    .. warning:: Beware of dragons.

### Images

Add images to your documentation when possible. Images, such as screenshots, are a very helpful way of making documentation understandable. When making screenshots, try to crop out unnecessary content (browser window, desktop, etc). Avoid scaling the images, as the Sphinx theme automatically resizes large images. It is also helpful to include a caption underneath the image.:

    .. figure:: image.png
       :align: center

       *Caption*

In this example, the image file exists in the same directory as the source page. If this is not the case, you can insert path information in the above command. The root `/` is the directory of the `conf.py` file.:

    .. figure:: /../images/gdalicon.png

### External files

Text snippets, large blocks of downloadable code, and even zip files or other binary sources can all be included as part of the documentation.

To include a link to a file, use the `download` directive:

    :download:`An external file <example.txt>`

The result of this code will generate a standard link to an `external file`

To include the contents of a file, use the `literalinclude` directive:

    Example of :command:`gdalinfo` use:

    .. literalinclude:: example.txt

Example of gdalinfo use:

    Driver: GTiff/GeoTIFF
    Size is 512, 512
    Coordinate System is:
    PROJCS["NAD27 / UTM zone 11N",
        GEOGCS["NAD27",
            DATUM["North_American_Datum_1927",
                SPHEROID["Clarke 1866",6378206.4,294.978698213901]],
            PRIMEM["Greenwich",0],
            UNIT["degree",0.0174532925199433]],
        PROJECTION["Transverse_Mercator"],
        PARAMETER["latitude_of_origin",0],
        PARAMETER["central_meridian",-117],
        PARAMETER["scale_factor",0.9996],
        PARAMETER["false_easting",500000],
        PARAMETER["false_northing",0],
        UNIT["metre",1]]
    Origin = (440720.000000,3751320.000000)
    Pixel Size = (60.000000,-60.000000)
    Corner Coordinates:
    Upper Left  (  440720.000, 3751320.000) (117d38'28.21"W, 33d54'8.47"N)
    Lower Left  (  440720.000, 3720600.000) (117d38'20.79"W, 33d37'31.04"N)
    Upper Right (  471440.000, 3751320.000) (117d18'32.07"W, 33d54'13.08"N)
    Lower Right (  471440.000, 3720600.000) (117d18'28.50"W, 33d37'35.61"N)
    Center      (  456080.000, 3735960.000) (117d28'27.39"W, 33d45'52.46"N)
    Band 1 Block=512x16 Type=Byte, ColorInterp=Gray

The `literalinclude` directive has options for syntax highlighting, line numbers and extracting just a snippet:

    Example of :command:`gdalinfo` use:

    .. literalinclude:: example.txt
       :language: txt
       :linenos:
       :emphasize-lines: 2-6
       :start-after: Coordinate System is:
       :end-before: Origin =

### Reference files and paths

Use the following syntax to reference files and paths:

    :file:`myfile.txt`

This will output: `myfile.txt`.

You can reference paths in the same way:

    :file:`path/to/myfile.txt`

This will output: `path/to/myfile.txt`.

For Windows paths, use double backslashes:

    :file:`C:\\myfile.txt`

This will output: `C:\myfile.txt`.

If you want to reference a non-specific path or file name:

    :file:`{your/own/path/to}/myfile.txt`

This will output: `your/own/path/to/myfile.txt`

To reference a file in the GDAL source tree, use:

    :source_file:`gcore/gdaldriver.cpp`

This will output a link to the file on GitHub: gdaldriver.cpp

### Reference code

To reference a class:

    :cpp:class:`MyClass`

To reference a method or function:

    :cpp:func:`MyClass::MyMethod`
    :cpp:func:`MyFunction`

### Command-line program usage

To document a command-line tool, use the `example` directive. An example may have a title as well as an id that can be used to generate a cross-reference from the same document.

    .. example::
       :title: Listing files
       :id: basic-ls

       Files can be listed as follows:

       .. code-block:: bash

          ls

    The ``ls`` command is demonstrated in :example:`basic-ls`.

If the output of a command is to be included in the listing, the code language should be set to `console`:

    .. code-block:: console

    $ gdalinfo --version
    GDAL 3.4.1, released 2021/12/27

To run the command and collect its output when the documentation is built, use the `command-output` directive.

    .. command-output:: ogrinfo poly.shp
       :cwd: ../../../autotest/ogr/data

### Define and reference configuration options

To define a configuration option, use:

    .. config:: OPTION_NAME
       :choices: COMMA, SEPARATED, LIST
       :default: DEFAULT_VALUE
       :since: GDAL.MIN.VERSION

       Narrative about the option.

Similar syntax can be used to define opening options (`.. oo::`), creation options (`.. co::`), dataset creation options (`.. dsco::`), or layer creation options (`.. lco::`).

To reference a configuration option, such as GDAL_CACHEMAX, use the syntax in the table below.

Option type | Syntax
--- | ---
Configuration option |
    :config:`option_name`
Creation option |
    :co:`option_name`
Open option |
    :oo:`option_name`
Dataset creation option |
    :dsco:`option_name`
Layer creation option |
    :lco:`option_name`

### Reference commands

Reference commands (such as gdalinfo) with the following syntax:

    :program:`gdalinfo`

Use `option` directive for command line options:

    .. option:: -json

       Display the output in json format.

Use `describe` to document create parameters:

    .. describe:: WORLDFILE=YES

       Force the generation of an associated ESRI world file (with the extension .wld).

## MyST-NB - Executable notebooks

Quoting MyST-NB documentation, "MyST-NB is a module within the Executable Books Project, an international collaboration to build open source tools that facilitate publishing computational narratives using the Jupyter ecosystem. It is also a core component of Jupyter Book."

The documentation is written in a special markdown dialect, MyST Markdown, that can include code cells:

    ```{code-cell}
    :tags: [hide-output]

    from osgeo import gdal
    import pprint

    gdal.UseExceptions()

    with gdal.Open("data/byte.tif") as ds:
        info = gdal.Info(ds, format='json')
        del info["stac"]  # to avoid cluttering below output
        pprint.pprint(info, indent=2, width=100)
    ```

See `doc/source/api/python/python_examples.myst` for an example.

Consult how to author text-based notebooks for more details.

Building full GDAL documentation, even in incremental mode, is rather slow. It is possible to partly render to HTML a MyST file with:

    $ mystnb-docutils-html5 --nb-read-as-md=true source/api/python/python_examples.myst > out.html

You will get some warnings, but executable run will be executed and rendered.