JavaDoc Comments

Chapter 14 Working with Java

JavaDoc Comments

Javadoc is a tool delivered in the JDK that parses the declarations and documentation comments in a set of Java source files and produces a corresponding set of HTML pages describing model objects.

Javadoc comments are included in the source code of an object, immediately before the declaration of any object, between the characters /** and */.

A Javadoc comment can contain:

A description after the starting delimiter /**. This description corresponds to a Comment in OOM objects
Tags prefixed by the @ character

For example, in the following code preview page, you can read the tag @author, and the comment inserted from the Comment box in the General page of the class property sheet.

The following table summarizes the support of Javadoc comments in PowerDesigner:

Javadoc	Description	Applies to	Corresponding extended attribute
%comment%	Comment box. If Javadoc comments are not found, standard comments are reversed instead	Class, interface, operation, attribute	—
@since	Adds a "Since" heading with the specified since-text to the generated documentation	Class, interface, operation, attribute	Javadoc since
@deprecated	Adds a comment indicating that this API should no longer be used	Class, interface, operation, attribute	Javadoc deprecated
@author	Adds an Author entry	Class, interface	Javadoc author. If the tag is not defined, the user name from the Version Info page is used, otherwise the defined tag value appears
@version	Adds a Version entry, usually referring to the version of the software	Class, interface	Javadoc version
@see	Adds a "See Also" heading with a link or text entry that points to reference	Class, interface, operation, attribute	Javadoc see
@return	Adds a "Returns" section with the description text	Operation	Javadoc misc
@throws	Adds a "Throws" subheading to the generated documentation	Operation	Javadoc misc. You can declare operation exceptions
@exception	Adds an "Exception" subheading to the generated documentation	Operation	Javadoc misc. You can declare operation exceptions
@serialData	Documents the types and order of data in the serialized form	Operation	Javadoc misc
@serialField	Documents an ObjectStreamField component of a Serializable class' serialPersistentFields member	Attribute	Javadoc misc
@serial	Used in the doc comment for a default serializable field	Attribute	Javadoc misc
@param	Adds a parameter to the Parameters section	Attribute	Javadoc misc