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diff --git a/doc/searching.doc b/doc/searching.doc new file mode 100644 index 0000000..62f8971 --- /dev/null +++ b/doc/searching.doc @@ -0,0 +1,131 @@ +/****************************************************************************** + * + * + * + * Copyright (C) 1997-2009 by Dimitri van Heesch. + * + * Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software and its + * documentation under the terms of the GNU General Public License is hereby + * granted. No representations are made about the suitability of this software + * for any purpose. It is provided "as is" without express or implied warranty. + * See the GNU General Public License for more details. + * + * Documents produced by Doxygen are derivative works derived from the + * input used in their production; they are not affected by this license. + * + */ +/*! \page searching Searching + +Doxygen indexes your source code in various ways to make it easier +to navigate and find what you are looking for. +There are also situations however where you want to +search for something by keyword rather than browse for it. + +HTML browsers by default have no search capabilities that work across multiple +pages, so either doxygen or external tools need to help to facilitate +this feature. + +Doxygen has 5 different ways to add searching to the HTML output, each of which +has its own advantages and disadvantages: + +<h2>1. Client side searching</h2> + The easiest way to enable searching is to enable the built-in client + side search engine. This engine is implemented using Javascript and DHTML + only and runs entirely on the clients browser. So no additional tooling is + required to make it work. + + To enable it set + \ref cfg_searchengine "SEARCHENGINE" to \c YES in the config file + and make sure \ref cfg_server_based_search "SERVER_BASED_SEARCH" is set + to \c NO. + + An additional advantage of this method is that it provides live + searching, i.e. the search results are presented and adapted as you type. + + This method also has its drawbacks: it is limited to searching for symbols + only. It does not provide full text search capabilities, and it does not + scale well to very large projects (then searching becomes very slow). + +<h2>2. Server side searching</h2> + If you plan to put the HTML documentation on a web server, and that + web server has the capability to process PHP code, then you can also use + doxygen's built-in server side search engine. + + To enable this set both + \ref cfg_searchengine "SEARCHENGINE" and + \ref cfg_server_based_search "SERVER_BASED_SEARCH" to \c YES in the config + file. + + Advantages over the client side search engine are that it provides full + text search and it scales well to large projects. + + Disadvantages are that it does not work locally (i.e. using a file:// URL) + and that it does not provide live search capabilities. + +<h2>3. Windows Compiled HTML Help</h2> + If you are running doxygen on Windows, then you can make a + compiled HTML Help file (.chm) out of the HTML files produced by doxygen. + This is a single file containing all HTML files and it also includes a + search index. There are viewers for this format on many platforms, + and Windows even supports it natively. + + To enable this set \ref cfg_generate_htmlhelp "GENERATE_HTMLHELP" to \c YES + in the config file. To let doxygen compile the HTML Help file for you, + you also need to specify the path to the HTML compiler (hhc.exe) using the + \ref cfg_hhc_location "HHC_LOCATION" config option and the name of the + resulting CHM file using \ref cfg_chm_file "CHM_FILE". + + An advantage of this method is that the result is a single file that can + easily be distributed. It also provides full text search. + + Disadvantages are that compiling the CHM file only works on Windows + and requires Microsoft's HTML compiler, which is not very actively supported + by Microsoft. Although the tool works fine for most people, it can + sometimes crash for no apparent reason (how typical). + +<h2>4. Mac OS X Doc Sets</h2> + If you are running doxygen on Mac OS X 10.5 or higher, + then you can make a "doc set" out of the HTML files produced by doxygen. + A doc set consists of a single directory with a special structure + containing the HTML files along with a precompiled search index. + A doc set can be embedded in Xcode (the integrated development environment + provided by Apple). + + To enable the creation of doc sets set \ref cfg_generate_docset "GENERATE_DOCSET" + to \c YES in the config file. There are a couple of other doc set related + options you may want to set. After doxygen has finished you will find + a Makefile in the HTML output directory. Running "make install" on this + Makefile will compile and install the doc set. + See <a href="http://developer.apple.com/tools/creatingdocsetswithdoxygen.html">this + article</a> for more info. + + Advantage of this method is that it nicely integrates with the Xcode + development environment, allowing for instance to click on an identifier + in the editor and jump to the corresponding section in the doxygen + documentation. + + Disadvantage is that it only works in combination with Xcode on MacOSX. + +<h2>5. Qt Compressed Help</h2> + If you develop for or want to install the Qt application framework, + you will get an application + called <a href="http://doc.trolltech.com/4.6/assistant-manual.html">Qt assistant</a>. + This is a help viewer for Qt Compressed Help files (.qch). + + To enable this feature set \ref cfg_generate_qhp "GENERATE_QHP" to \c YES. + You also need to fill in the other Qt help related options, such as + \ref cfg_qhp_namespace "QHP_NAMESPACE", + \ref cfg_qhg_location "QHG_LOCATION", + \ref cfg_qhp_virtual_folder "QHP_VIRTUAL_FOLDER". + See <a href="http://doc.trolltech.com/qq/qq28-qthelp.html#htmlfilesandhelpprojects">this article</a> + for more info. + + Feature wise the Qt compressed help feature is comparable with the CHM + output, with the additional advantage that compiling the QCH file is + not limited to Windows. + + Disadvantage is that it requires setting up a Qt 4.5 (or better) for + each user, or distributing the Qt help assistant along with + the documentation, which is complicated by the fact that it is not + available as a separate package at this moment. +*/ |