ExcelDnaDoc - Excel-DNA Help file Generator

ExcelDnaDoc is a command-line utility to create a compiled HTML Help Workshop file (.chm) for ExcelDna.

single help file created even if multiple library are specified in the "dna" file.
can use customized templates and content

Use the issues log to report any issues or give feedback for future enhancements.

The ExcelDnaDoc library can be installed from NuGet:

PM> Install-Package ExcelDnaDoc

Alternatively, you can download the source as a ZIP file or download the compiled binaries as a ZIP.

To build a compiled help file (.chm) the HTML Help Workshop (HHW) must be installed. ExcelDnaDoc expects HHW to be installed at C:\Program Files (x86)\HTML Help Workshop\. If it is installed at another location change packages/ExcelDnaDoc/tools/ExcelDnaDoc.exe.config to reference the proper directory before compiling your project.

When installed from NuGet it will edit the default .dna file installed by Excel-DNA and adds post build steps to build the .chm documentation file whenever the project is build.

Notes

Uses the ExcelFunction, ExcelArgument, and ExcelCommand attributes in Excel-DNA to build documentation for your Excel-DNA add-in.

The following fields are can be used to create documentation :

ExcelFunction Attribute


`Name`	if not given the actual method name is used
`Description`	if not used no description will be included in documentation
`Category`	if not given functions will be grouped under " Functions"
`HelpTopic`	can be used to link function to generated help in Excel's function wizard

ExcelArgument Attribute


`Name`	if not given the actual parameter name is used
`Description`	if not used no description will be included in documentation

ExcelCommand Attribute


`Name`	if not given the actual parameter name is used
`Description`	if not used no description will be included in documentation
`HelpTopic`	can be used to link function to generated help in Excel's function wizard
`ShortCut`	if not used no shortcut will be included in documentation

If ExcelDna.Documentation is included as a reference (default in NuGet package) then an additional attribute ExcelFunctionDoc is available as a replacement to the ExcelFunction attribute which includes additional fields that can be used for additional documentation.

ExcelFunctionDoc Attribute


`Name`	if not given the actual method name is used
`Description`	if not used no description will be included in documentation
`Category`	if not given functions will be grouped under " Functions"
`HelpTopic`	can be used to link function to generated help in Excel's function wizard
`Returns`	description of the return value
`Summary`	longer discussion of function included in documentation
`Remarks`	remarks on usage and / or possible errors

Example

 1: 
 2: 
 3: 
 4: 
 5: 
 6: 
 7: 
 8: 
 9: 
10: 
11: 
12: 
13: 
14: 
15: 
16: 
17: 
18:

namespace DocTest
open ExcelDna.Integration
open ExcelDna.Documentation

module Math =

    [<ExcelFunctionDoc( Name = "Math.AddThem", Category = "Math", 
                        Description = "adds two numbers", 
                        HelpTopic = "DocTest-AddIn.chm!1001",
                        Summary = "really all it does is add two number ... I promise.",
                        Returns = "the sum of the two arguments")>]
    let addThem
        (
            [<ExcelArgument(Name = "Arg1", Description = "the first argument")>]a,
            [<ExcelArgument(Name = "Arg2", Description = "the second argument")>]b
        ) = 

        a+b

namespace DocTest
{
    using ExcelDna.Integration;

    public class Text 
    {
        [ExcelFunction( Name = "Text.ConcatThem", 
                        Description = "concatenates two strings", 
                        HelpTopic = "DocTest-AddIn.chm!1002")]
        public static object ConcatThem(
            [ExcelArgument(Description="the first string")] object a, 
            [ExcelArgument(Description="the second string")] object b)
        {
            return string.Concat(a.ToString(), b.ToString());
        }
    }
}

Command Line Usage

1:	ExcelDnaDoc.exe dnaPath

dnaPath The path to the primary .dna file for the ExcelDna add-in.

Example: ExcelDnaDoc.exe <build folder>\SampleLib-AddIn.dna
The HTML Help Workshop content will be created in <build folder>\HelpContent\.

External libraries will be searched for UDFs and Commands that are exposed to Excel and documented using the ExcelFunctionAttribute and the ExcelArgumentAttribute.

If The ExcelDna.Documentation library has been referenced then the ExcelFunctionDocAttribute is also available to include additional documentation fields that will not be exposed in the Excel Function Wizard, but will be included in the HTML Help Workshop content.

This Project Uses

Excel-DNA
FAKE (F# MAKE)
HTML Help Workshop
NuGet Package Manager
RazorEngine

Contributing and copyright

The project is hosted on GitHub where you can report issues, fork the project and submit pull requests.

The library is available under the MIT license, which allows modification and redistribution for both commercial and non-commercial purposes. For more information see the License file in the GitHub repository.