Straightforward Source Code Documentation

A large amount of duplication is normally involved when code and its documentation are written and maintained as separate entities. As code grows, so does the complexity of the related documentation and the effort needed to maintain both in sync. TwinText™, a friendly source code documentation tool, solves this problem by generating HTML and HTML Help documentation directly from code comments. Normally tags, markup or specific comment boxes are not needed, so code comments remain clean, readable and familiar. In addition, the appearance of the documentation can be easily customized.

TwinText is a versatile, easy-to-use, source code documentation tool allowing you to generate "always up-to-date" documentation based on your code.

Our customers, a broad cross-section of industries including defense, energy, finance, transportation, telecommunications, education, and healthcare use TwinText to facilitate the development of various systems, products, and devices.

A Generic Source Code Documentation Tool

TwinText features an effective parsing engine behind a direct interface. The tool properly mixes selected comment sections with precise code analysis to generate usable documentation with the right level of detail.

Your team will get started in only a few minutes thanks to guided screens, simple configuration and precise help. You won't need tags, specific comment boxes, complex rules, or lengthy manuals to produce professional documentation based on your code.

With a single tool you can deliver documentation for a wide range of programming languages, including:

If not listed above, TwinText allows you to specify and support the commenting syntax of your particular programming language.

Clear Source Code

By letting your team use TwinText, you promote and reinforce clear comments and focused routines, modules and classes. This is why our customers report increased clarity and quality of their source code after including TwinText in their development process. Creating documentation directly from your code gives you a complementary high-level view that helps you and your peers while coding and at maintenance / refactor time.

Screenshots

The TwinText GUI allows you to create, open, view and maintain new projects.		Searching your documentation is easy with TwinText. Notice the optional copyright, path and date.

Documentation Examples

This is the pure HTML output in Internet Explorer. Notice the three levels of detail for navigation.		The HTML Help output includes all the source code documentation in a single, fully searchable file.

The summary includes a brief description of each section. This useful feature allows you to quickly grasp the contents of a file.		TwinText can also be used to create online help, feedback link included, from plain text files and other sources.

Benefits

• Create external documentation from naturally looking code comments
• Enhance the clarity of your source code
• Make your code easier to use and maintain by providing relevant documentation to your customers
• Ideal for automatic and scriptable detail design and application help generation
• Document routines, APIs, modules, classes, libraries, scripts and stored procedures
• Save time and effort by using a single tool to document from multiple languages
• Enhance the contribution level of your team and business by delivering professional documentation with your code

Key Features

• 20 customizable documentation styles
• Custom commenting syntax definition
• Output renders perfectly in all browsers, including IE, Safari, Firefox, Mozilla, Netscape®, and Opera
• Windows and Unix file handling
• Immediate feedback on embedded web browser
• Handles virtually any comment box
• Works with plain text files—the documentation source does not need to be enclosed within code comments
• Automatic and configurable generation of table of contents, summary, index and links
• Recognition of lists, parameter definitions and other elements
• Images, ASCII diagrams, and hyperlinks can be included in the documentation
• Able to extract comments from thousands of files and millions of lines of code
• Able to work on either a file or project basis
• XML based project file format (fully documented) for easy modification or generation
• Project can combine multiple programming languages, even in the same file
• Copyright notice and project title can be included in all pages
• Relative paths—re-allocate your code and documentation resource folder instantly
• Optional feedback link generation
• Projects can be built using the command line; ideal for automated builds

Easy Code Reviews

Markup and tags are not needed if you choose not to use TwinText’s advanced features, such as image insertion. This means that your comments will be clear and readable to you and your peers and transparent to your customers, current process, and upper management. TwinText does not force you to commit to noticeable formatting conventions, yet you can still deliver documentation based on your code.

How it Works

You simply start each comment section to be included in the documentation declaring the name or title of the entity to be commented on, for example Name: your title, file, module, class, function, method ... Then you create a project that includes all the relevant source files. TwinText will generate documentation by extracting, indexing, linking, and formatting your comments according to the settings and style chosen.

• Always start each file with an introductory section
• All content below the section declaration is optional
• Comment and build the documentation as you write and build your code

This is all you need to start using TwinText.

TwinText implements PTLogica's source code documentation framework: Generic and natural commenting format, customizable easy-to-navigate documentation closely paired with source code files, precise level of detail, and straightforward operation. Download TwinText, our source code documentation tool.