DocBox - API Docs

DocBox is a JavaDoc-style documentation generator for your BoxLang and CFML Applications.

📚 DocBox - API Documentation Generator

DocBox is a JavaDoc-style documentation generator for BoxLang codebases, featuring modern HTML themes, JSON output, and UML diagram generation.

You can check out the API Docs for DocBox itself here: https://s3.amazonaws.com/apidocs.ortussolutions.com/docbox/5.0.0/index.html

✨ Features

• 🎨 Modern HTML Documentation - Two professional themes with dark mode support

• 🔍 Real-time Search - Live method filtering with keyboard navigation

• 📋 Multiple Output Formats - HTML, JSON, and XMI/UML diagrams

• 🦤 BoxLang Native - First-class BoxLang runtime and CLI support

• 📝 JavaDoc Compatible - Standard JavaDoc comment block parsing

• ⚡ Alpine.js SPA - Fast, modern single-page application interface

• 🌓 Dark Mode - System preference detection with manual toggle

🚀 Quick Start

BoxLang Module (Recommended)

Install DocBox as a BoxLang module for CLI access. You can find the full documentation here: https://docbox.ortusbooks.com/getting-started/boxlang-cli

# BoxLang OS runtime
install-bx-module bx-docbox

Generate documentation from the command line:

boxlang module:docbox --source=/path/to/code \
                       --mapping=myapp \
                       --output-dir=/docs \
                       --project-title="My API"

BoxLang Apps

Install as a development dependency in your BoxLang project:

box install docbox --saveDev

Use programmatically in your build scripts:

new docbox.DocBox()
    .addStrategy( "HTML", {
        projectTitle : "My API Docs",
        outputDir    : expandPath( "./docs" ),
        theme        : "default"  // or "frames"
    })
    .generate(
        source   = expandPath( "./models" ),
        mapping  = "models",
        excludes = "(tests|build)"
    );

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📦 Installation Options

Method	Command	Use Case
BoxLang Module	box install bx-docbox	CLI usage, BoxLang projects
BoxLang Apps	box install docbox --saveDev	Programmatic use, build scripts
CommandBox Module	box install commandbox-docbox	Task runner, automated builds

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🎨 Modern Themes

Default Theme (Alpine.js SPA)

• ⚡ Client-side routing and dynamic filtering

• 🌓 Dark mode with localStorage persistence

• 🔍 Real-time method search

• 📑 Method tabs (All/Public/Private/Static/Abstract)

• 💜 Modern purple gradient design

Frames Theme (Traditional)

• 🗂️ Classic frameset layout

• 📚 jstree navigation sidebar

• 🎯 Bootstrap 5 styling

• 📱 Mobile-friendly design

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💻 System Requirements

• BoxLang 1.8+

• CommandBox (for installation and CLI usage)

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📚 Output Formats

Format	Description	Use Case
HTML	Modern browsable documentation	Developer reference, public API docs
JSON	Machine-readable structured data	Integration with other tools, custom processing
XMI	UML diagram generation	Architecture diagrams, visual documentation

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🛠️ CLI Examples

BoxLang Module CLI

# Basic usage
boxlang module:docbox --source=/src --mapping=app --output-dir=/docs

# Multiple source mappings
boxlang module:docbox --mappings:v1=/src/v1 --mappings:v2=/src/v2 -o=/docs

# With theme selection
boxlang module:docbox --source=/src --mapping=app --theme=frames -o=/docs

# Show help
boxlang module:docbox --help

CommandBox Task Runner

Install the commandbox-docbox module:

box install commandbox-docbox

Generate documentation using CommandBox commands:

# Generate HTML docs
box docbox generate source=/path/to/code mapping=myapp outputDir=/docs

# Generate with excludes
box docbox generate source=/src mapping=app outputDir=/docs excludes=(tests|build)

# Generate JSON docs
box docbox generate source=/src mapping=app outputDir=/docs strategy=JSON

# Show help
box docbox generate help

Use in a task.cfc for automated builds:

component {
    function run() {
        command( "docbox generate" )
            .params(
                source    = getCWD() & "/models",
                mapping   = "models",
                outputDir = getCWD() & "/docs",
                excludes  = "tests"
            )
            .run();
    }
}

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📖 Documentation

Complete documentation is available at docbox.ortusbooks.com

• Getting Started

• BoxLang CLI Tool

• Configuration

• Annotating Your Code

• HTML Output

• JSON Output

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🔗 Related Projects

• commandbox-docbox - CommandBox module for task runner integration

• bx-docbox - BoxLang native module with CLI