Docs Module

What is Docs Module?

Docs module is an application module for ABP framework. It simplifies software documentation. This module is free and open-source.

Integration

Currently docs module provides you to store your docs both on GitHub and file system.

Hosting

Docs module is an application module and does not offer any hosting solution. You can host your docs on-premise or on cloud.

Versioning

When you use GitHub to store your docs, Docs Module supports versioning. If you have multiple versions for your docs, there will be a combo-box on the UI to switch between versions. If you choose file system to store your docs, it does not support multiple versions.

The documents for ABP framework is also using this module.

Docs module follows the module architecture best practices guide.

Installation

1- Download

If you do not have an existing ABP project, this step shows you how to create a new project from abp.io to add the Docs Module. If you already have an ABP project, you can skip this step.

It is recommended to use ABP CLI to create new projects. Use the following command:

abp new Acme.MyProject

You can also navigate to https://abp.io/get-started. Enter your project name as Acme.MyProject, other use default options.

Note that this document covers Entity Framework Core provider but you can also select MongoDB as your database provider.

2- Running The Empty Application

After you download the project, extract the ZIP file and open Acme.MyProject.sln. You will see that the solution consists of Application, Application.Contracts, DbMigrator, Domain, Domain.Shared, EntityFrameworkCore, EntityFrameworkCore.DbMigations, HttpApi, HttpApi.Client and Web projects. Right click on Acme.MyProject.Web project and Set as StartUp Project.

The database connection string is located in appsettings.json of your Acme.MyProject.Web project. If you have a different database configuration, change the connection string.

{
  "ConnectionStrings": {
    "Default": "Server=(LocalDb)\\MSSQLLocalDB;Database=MyProject;Trusted_Connection=True;MultipleActiveResultSets=true"
  }
}

Run Acme.MyProject.DbMigrator project, it will be responsible for applying database migration and seed data. The database MyProject will be created in your database server.

Now an empty ABP project has been created! You can now run your project and see the empty website.

To login your website enter admin as the username and 1q2w3E* as the password.

2- Referencing Docs Module Packages

Docs module packages are hosted on NuGet. There are 4 packages that needs be to installed to your application. Each package has to be installed to the relevant project.

It is recommended to use the ABP CLI to install the module, open the CMD window in the solution file (.sln) directory, and run the following command:

abp add-module Volo.Docs

Or you can also manually install nuget package to each project:

• Install Volo.Docs.Domain nuget package to Acme.MyProject.Domain project.

  Install-Package Volo.Docs.Domain

• Install Volo.Docs.EntityFrameworkCore nuget package to Acme.MyProject.EntityFrameworkCore project.

  Install-Package Volo.Docs.EntityFrameworkCore

• Install Volo.Docs.Application nuget package to Acme.MyProject.Application project.

  Install-Package Volo.Docs.Application

• Install Volo.Docs.Web nuget package to Acme.MyProject.Web project.

  Install-Package Volo.Docs.Web

3- Adding Module Dependencies

An ABP module must declare [DependsOn] attribute if it has a dependency upon another module. Each module has to be added in[DependsOn] attribute to the relevant project.

• Open MyProjectDomainModule.csand add typeof(DocsDomainModule) as shown below;

  [DependsOn(
          typeof(DocsDomainModule),
          typeof(AbpIdentityDomainModule),
          typeof(AbpAuditingModule),
          typeof(BackgroundJobsDomainModule),
          typeof(AbpAuditLoggingDomainModule)
          )]
      public class MyProjectDomainModule : AbpModule
      {
          //...
      }
  

• Open MyProjectEntityFrameworkCoreModule.csand add typeof(DocsEntityFrameworkCoreModule) as shown below;

      [DependsOn(
          typeof(DocsEntityFrameworkCoreModule),
          typeof(MyProjectDomainModule),
          typeof(AbpIdentityEntityFrameworkCoreModule),
          typeof(AbpPermissionManagementEntityFrameworkCoreModule),
          typeof(AbpSettingManagementEntityFrameworkCoreModule),
          typeof(AbpEntityFrameworkCoreSqlServerModule),
          typeof(BackgroundJobsEntityFrameworkCoreModule),
          typeof(AbpAuditLoggingEntityFrameworkCoreModule)
          )]
      public class MyProjectEntityFrameworkCoreModule : AbpModule
      {
          //...
      }
  

• Open MyProjectApplicationModule.csand add typeof(DocsApplicationModule) as shown below;

     [DependsOn(
          typeof(DocsApplicationModule),
          typeof(MyProjectDomainModule),
          typeof(AbpIdentityApplicationModule))]
      public class MyProjectApplicationModule : AbpModule
      {
          public override void ConfigureServices(ServiceConfigurationContext context)
          {
              Configure<PermissionOptions>(options =>
              {
                  options.DefinitionProviders.Add<MyProjectPermissionDefinitionProvider>();
              });
  
              Configure<AbpAutoMapperOptions>(options =>
              {
                  options.AddProfile<MyProjectApplicationAutoMapperProfile>();
              });
          }
      }
  

• Open MyProjectWebModule.csand add typeof(DocsWebModule) as shown below;

     [DependsOn(
          typeof(DocsWebModule),
          typeof(MyProjectApplicationModule),
          typeof(MyProjectEntityFrameworkCoreModule),
          typeof(AbpAutofacModule),
          typeof(AbpIdentityWebModule),
          typeof(AbpAccountWebModule),
          typeof(AbpAspNetCoreMvcUiBasicThemeModule)
      )]
      public class MyProjectWebModule : AbpModule
      {
          //...
      }
  

4- Database Integration

4.1- Entity Framework Integration

If you choose Entity Framework as your database provider, you need to configure the Docs Module. To do this;

• Open MyProjectMigrationsDbContext.cs and add builder.ConfigureDocs() to the OnModelCreating().

  public class MyProjectMigrationsDbContext : AbpDbContext<MyProjectMigrationsDbContext>
    {
        public MyProjectMigrationsDbContext(DbContextOptions<MyProjectMigrationsDbContext> options)
            : base(options)
        {
  
        }
  
        protected override void OnModelCreating(ModelBuilder builder)
        {
            base.OnModelCreating(builder);
  
            /* Include modules to your migration db context */
  
            builder.ConfigurePermissionManagement();
            builder.ConfigureSettingManagement();
            builder.ConfigureBackgroundJobs();
            builder.ConfigureAuditLogging();
            builder.ConfigureIdentity();
            builder.ConfigureIdentityServer();
            builder.ConfigureFeatureManagement();
            builder.ConfigureTenantManagement();
            builder.ConfigureDocs(); //Add this line to configure the Docs Module
  
            /* Configure customizations for entities from the modules included  */
  
            builder.Entity<IdentityUser>(b =>
            {
                b.ConfigureCustomUserProperties();
            });
  
            /* Configure your own tables/entities inside the ConfigureQaDoc method */
  
            builder.ConfigureMyProject();
        }
    }
  

• Open Package Manager Console in Visual Studio and choose Acme.MyProject.EntityFrameworkCore.DbMigrations as default project. Then write the below command to add the migration for Docs Module.

  add-migration Added_Docs_Module
  

  When the command successfully executes , you will see a new migration file named as 20181221111621_Added_Docs_Module in the folder Acme.MyProject.EntityFrameworkCore.DbMigrations\Migrations.

  Now, update the database for Docs module database changes. To do this run the below code on Package Manager Console in Visual Studio. Be sure Acme.MyProject.EntityFrameworkCore.DbMigrations is still default project.

  update-database
  

  Finally, you can check your database to see the newly created tables. For example you can see DocsProjects table must be added to your database.

5- Linking Docs Module

The default route for Docs module is;

/Documents

To add Docs module link to your application menu;

• Open MyProjectMenuContributor.cs and add the below line to the method ConfigureMainMenuAsync().

  context.Menu.Items.Add(new ApplicationMenuItem("MyProject.Docs", l["Menu:Docs"], "/Documents"));
  

  Final look of MyProjectMenuContributor.cs

      private async Task ConfigureMainMenuAsync(MenuConfigurationContext context)
      {
          var l = context.ServiceProvider.GetRequiredService<IStringLocalizer<MyProjectResource>>();
  
          context.Menu.Items.Insert(0, new ApplicationMenuItem("MyProject.Home", l["Menu:Home"], "/"));
  
          context.Menu.Items.Add(new ApplicationMenuItem("MyProject.Docs", l["Menu:Docs"], "/Documents"));
      }
  

The Menu:Docs keyword is a localization key. To localize the menu text, open Localization\MyProject\en.json in the project Acme.MyProject.Domain. And add the below line

"Menu:Docs": "Documents"

Final look of en.json

{
  "culture": "en",
  "texts": {
    "Menu:Home": "Home",
    "Welcome": "Welcome",
    "LongWelcomeMessage": "Welcome to the application. This is a startup project based on the ABP framework. For more information, visit abp.io.",
    "Menu:Docs": "Documents"
  }
}

The new menu item for Docs Module is added to the menu. Run your web application and browse to http://localhost:YOUR_PORT_NUMBER/documents URL.

You will see a warning says;

There are no projects yet!

As we have not added any projects yet, this warning is normal.

6- Adding New Docs Project

Open DocsProjects in your database, and insert a new record with the following field information;

• Name: The display name of the document name which will be shown on the web page.
• ShortName: A short and URL friendly name that will be used in your docs URL.
• Format: The format of the document (for Markdown: md, for HTML: html)
• DefaultDocumentName: The document for the initial page.
• NavigationDocumentName: The document to be used for the navigation menu (index).
• MinimumVersion: The minimum version to show the docs. Below version will not be listed.
• DocumentStoreType: The source of the documents (for GitHub:GitHub, for file systemFileSystem)
• ExtraProperties: A serialized JSON that stores special configuration for the selected DocumentStoreType.
• MainWebsiteUrl: The URL when user clicks to the logo of the Docs module page. You can simply set as / to link to your website root address.
• LatestVersionBranchName: This is a config for GitHub. It's the branch name which to retrieve the docs. You can set it as master.

Sample Project Record for "GitHub"

You can use ABP Framework GitHub documents to configure your GitHub document store.

• Name: ABP framework (GitHub)

• ShortName: abp

• Format: md

• DefaultDocumentName: Index

• NavigationDocumentName: docs-nav.json

• MinimumVersion: <NULL> (no minimum version)

• DocumentStoreType: GitHub

• ExtraProperties:

  {"GitHubRootUrl":"https://github.com/abpframework/abp/tree/{version}/docs","GitHubAccessToken":"***","GitHubUserAgent":""}
  

  Note that GitHubAccessToken is masked with ***. It's a private token that you must get it from GitHub. See https://help.github.com/articles/creating-a-personal-access-token-for-the-command-line/

• MainWebsiteUrl: /

• LatestVersionBranchName: master

For SQL databases, you can use the below T-SQL command to insert the specified sample into your DocsProjects table:

INSERT [dbo].[DocsProjects] ([Id], [Name], [ShortName], [Format], [DefaultDocumentName], [NavigationDocumentName], [MinimumVersion], [DocumentStoreType], [ExtraProperties], [MainWebsiteUrl], [LatestVersionBranchName], [ParametersDocumentName]) VALUES (N'12f21123-e08e-4f15-bedb-ae0b2d939658', N'ABP framework (GitHub)', N'abp', N'md', N'Index', N'docs-nav.json', NULL, N'GitHub', N'{"GitHubRootUrl":"https://github.com/abpframework/abp/tree/{version}/docs","GitHubAccessToken":"***","GitHubUserAgent":""}', N'/', N'master', N'')

Be aware that GitHubAccessToken is masked. It's a private token and you must get your own token and replace the *** string.

Now you can run the application and navigate to /Documents.

Sample Project Record for "FileSystem"

You can use ABP Framework GitHub documents to configure your GitHub document store.

• Name: ABP framework (FileSystem)

• ShortName: abp

• Format: md

• DefaultDocumentName: Index

• NavigationDocumentName: docs-nav.json

• MinimumVersion: <NULL> (no minimum version)

• DocumentStoreType: FileSystem

• ExtraProperties:

  {"Path":"C:\\Github\\abp\\docs"}
  

  Note that Path must be replaced with your local docs directory. You can fetch the ABP Framework's documents from https://github.com/abpframework/abp/tree/master/docs and copy to the directory C:\\Github\\abp\\docs to get it work.

• MainWebsiteUrl: /

• LatestVersionBranchName: <NULL>

For SQL databases, you can use the below T-SQL command to insert the specified sample into your DocsProjects table:

INSERT [dbo].[DocsProjects] ([Id], [Name], [ShortName], [Format], [DefaultDocumentName], [NavigationDocumentName], [MinimumVersion], [DocumentStoreType], [ExtraProperties], [MainWebsiteUrl], [LatestVersionBranchName], [ParametersDocumentName]) VALUES (N'12f21123-e08e-4f15-bedb-ae0b2d939659', N'ABP framework (FileSystem)', N'abp', N'md', N'Index', N'docs-nav.json', NULL, N'FileSystem', N'{"Path":"C:\\Github\\abp\\docs"}', N'/', NULL, N'')

Add one of the sample projects above and run the application. In the menu you will see Documents link, click the menu link to open the documents page.

So far, we have created a new application from abp.io website and made it up and ready for Docs module.

7- Creating a New Document

In the sample Project records, you see that Format is specified as md which refers to Mark Down. You can see the mark down cheat sheet following the below link;

https://github.com/adam-p/markdown-here/wiki/Markdown-Cheatsheet

ABP Docs Module can render mark down to HTML.

Now let's have a look a sample document in markdown format.

# This is a header

Welcome to Docs Module.

## This is a sub header

 [This is a link](https://abp.io) 

![This is an image](https://abp.io/assets/my-image.png)

## This is a code block

```csharp
public class Person
{
    public string Name { get; set; }

    public string Address { get; set; }
}
```

As an example you can see ABP Framework documentation:

https://github.com/abpframework/abp/blob/master/docs/en/

Conditional sections feature (Using Scriban)

Docs module uses Scriban for conditionally show or hide some parts of a document. In order to use that feature, you have to create a JSON file as Parameter document per every language. It will contain all the key-values, as well as their display names.

For example, en/docs-params.json:

{
    "parameters": [{
        "name": "UI",
        "displayName": "UI",
		"values": {
			"MVC": "MVC / Razor Pages",
			"NG": "Angular"
		}
    },
	{
        "name": "DB",
        "displayName": "Database",
		"values": {
			"EF": "Entity Framework Core",
			"Mongo": "MongoDB"			
		}
    },
	{
        "name": "Tiered",
        "displayName": "Tiered",
		"values": {
			"No": "Not Tiered",
			"Yes": "Tiered"
		}
    }]
}

Since not every single document in your projects may not have sections or may not need all of those parameters, you have to declare which of those parameters will be used for sectioning the document, as a JSON block anywhere on the document.

For example Getting-Started.md:

.....

​

........

This section will be automatically deleted during render. And f course, those key values must match with the ones in Parameter document.

Now you can use Scriban syntax to create sections in your document.

For example:

You can also use variables in a text, adding _Value postfix to its key:

This document assumes that you prefer to use **** as the UI framework and **** as the database provider.

Also, Document_Language_Code and Document_Version keys are pre-defined if you want to get the language code or the version of the current document (This may be useful for creating links that redirects to another documentation system in another domain).

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Scriban uses " and " for syntax. Therefore, you must use escape blocks if you are going to use those in your document (an Angular document, for example). See Scriban docs for more information.

8- Creating the Navigation Document

Navigation document is the main menu of the documents page. It is located on the left side of the page. It is a JSON file. Take a look at the below sample navigation document to understand the structure.

{  
   "items":[  
      {  
         "text":"Sample Menu Item - 1",
         "items":[  
            {  
               "text":"Sample Menu Item - 1.1",
               "items":[  
                  {  
                     "text":"Sample Menu Item - 1.1.1",
                     "path":"SampleMenuItem_1_1_1.md"
                  }
               ]
            },
            {  
               "text":"Sample Menu Item - 1.2",
               "items":[  
                  {  
                     "text":"Sample Menu Item - 1.2.1",
                     "path":"SampleMenuItem_1_2_1.md"
                  },
                  {  
                     "text":"Sample Menu Item - 1.2.2",
                     "path":"SampleMenuItem_1_2_2.md"
                  }
               ]
            }
         ]
      },
      {  
         "text":"Sample Menu Item - 2",
         "items":[  
            {  
               "text":"Sample Menu Item - 2.1",
               "items":[  
                  {  
                     "text":"Sample Menu Item - 2.1.1",
                     "path":"SampleMenuItem_2_1_1.md"
                  }
               ]
            }
         ]
      }
   ]
}

The upper sample JSON file renders the below navigation menu as HTML.

Finally a new Docs Module is added to your project which is feeded with GitHub.

Full-Text Search(Elastic Search)

The Docs module supports full-text search using Elastic Search. It is not enabled by default. You can configure DocsElasticSearchOptions to enable it.

Configure<DocsElasticSearchOptions>(options =>
{
    options.Enable = true;
    options.IndexName = "your_index_name"; //default IndexName is abp_documents
});

The Index is automatically created after the application starts if the Index does not exist.

DefaultElasticClientProvider is responsible for creating IElasticClient. By default, it reads Elastic Search's Url from IConfiguration. If your IElasticClient needs additional configuration, please use override IElasticClientProvider service and replace it in the dependency injection system.

{
  "ElasticSearch": {
    "Url": "http://localhost:9200"
  }
}

Next

Docs Module is also available as a standalone application. Check out VoloDocs.