SourceDocParser 2.7.0

<br> <a href="https://github.com/glennawatson/SourceDocParserLib"> <img width="160" height="160" src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/glennawatson/SourceDocParserLib/main/icons/SourceDocParserIcon.png" alt="SourceDocParserLib"> </a> <br>

SourceDocParserLib

Roslyn-based .NET assembly walker that turns compiled .dll + .pdb + .xml triples into a strongly-typed API catalog (types, members, signatures, XML docs, <inheritdoc/>, SourceLink) and hands it to a pluggable IDocumentationEmitter for rendering.

The catalog is format-neutral. Emitters decide how to render it — Markdown for Zensical / mkdocs Material, or YAML for docfx ManagedReference, with room for other targets. Pages flow through an IPageSink so callers can write to disk (FilePageSink) or pipe straight into another async pipeline (CallbackPageSink) without staging files on disk.

Our primary target is API documentation in MkDocs / Zensical sites. We make opinionated choices about page structure, cross-TFM merging, and the packages that receive pages. Our Docfx emitter adapts that catalog to ManagedReference YAML. Docfx itself provides a broader documentation and site-building toolchain, including conceptual content, templates, navigation, and cross-references. See the performance overview and comparison for the scope of each tool and the measured differences.

Logging flows through Microsoft.Extensions.Logging.Abstractions source-generated [LoggerMessage] partials, so any host (Serilog, Console, NLog, …) plugs in without the libraries taking a dependency on a specific backend.

Packages

Each package is shipped to NuGet independently; the badge tracks the current published version.

Core

Package	NuGet	What
SourceDocParser		Walker, merger, source-link resolution. Defines IAssemblySource, IDocumentationEmitter, IMetadataExtractor, the IPageSink streaming contract (FilePageSink + CallbackPageSink), the ICrefResolver cross-link seam, and the shared CatalogIndexes rollup (derived classes / extension methods / inherited members).
SourceDocParser.Common		Shared primitives consumed by every other package: pooled StringBuilder rentals, span-based path / token helpers, allocation-free identifier formatting. No public API stability guarantee yet — pinned via the same MinVer baseline as the rest.

Assembly sources

Package	NuGet	What
SourceDocParser.NuGet		IAssemblySource that discovers documentation roots by NuGet owner or explicit manifest entries and restores an independent dependency graph for each root and target framework.

Emitters

Package	NuGet	Builder	What
SourceDocParser.Zensical		new ZensicalDocumentationEmitter()	Writes Markdown tuned for Zensical / mkdocs Material — admonitions, content tabs, mermaid, MD-style cross-links via the autoref UID convention.
SourceDocParser.Docfx		new DocfxYamlEmitter()	Provides ManagedReference YAML from our API catalog and a docfx.json configuration bridge for Docfx integrations.

Quick start

using Microsoft.Extensions.Logging;
using SourceDocParser;
using SourceDocParser.NuGet.Infrastructure;
using SourceDocParser.Zensical;

var loggerFactory = LoggerFactory.Create(b => b.AddConsole());

using var source = new NuGetAssemblySource(
    rootDirectory: "/path/to/repo",   // contains nuget-packages.json
    apiPath:       "/path/to/api",    // stores per-root restore graphs
    logger:        loggerFactory.CreateLogger<NuGetAssemblySource>());

var emitter = new ZensicalDocumentationEmitter();

// File-rooted sink for the legacy on-disk shape …
var sink = new FilePageSink("/path/to/markdown-output");

var result = await new MetadataExtractor().RunAsync(
    source,
    sink,
    emitter,
    loggerFactory.CreateLogger<MetadataExtractor>());

Console.WriteLine($"Emitted {result.PagesEmitted} pages across {result.CanonicalTypes} types.");

Streaming pages instead of writing to disk

CallbackPageSink invokes a (string relativePath, byte[] utf8Bytes) callback per page — useful when piping the output into another pipeline (e.g. an in-memory render queue) without staging anything on disk:

var sink = new CallbackPageSink((relativePath, bytes) =>
{
    Console.WriteLine($"{relativePath}: {bytes.Length} bytes");
});

await new MetadataExtractor().RunAsync(source, sink, emitter, logger);

The bytes are encoded once into a freshly-allocated byte[] so the callback owns them outright — safe to retain, no array-pool ties.

Package roots and references

NuGetAssemblySource uses NuGet.Client PackageReference restore. Dependency ranges, framework groups, source mappings, transitive conflicts, and compile assets come from NuGet's resolved graph. Each root and selected TFM has its own project.assets.json under apiPath/restore/; packages use the normal NuGet global cache. Restore inputs, pins, runtime identifiers, and effective NuGet configuration distinguish graph directories.

Only assemblies supplied by declared documentation roots produce pages and local API links. Transitive packages provide metadata for signatures and type resolution. Forwarded types are documented when their defining package is selected. excludePackages and excludePackagePrefixes exclude documentation roots, while required dependencies remain available as references. Exclusions match package IDs: Reactive.Wasm, for example, ships System.Reactive.Wasm.dll.

For repeatable inputs, specify an optional root version:

{
  "additionalPackages": [{ "id": "Refit", "version": "15.2.0" }],
  "tfmPreference": ["net10.0"],
  "tfmOverrides": { "Refit": "net10.0" }
}

An omitted version selects the latest stable root. An explicit version takes precedence over owner discovery. dependencyPins is an optional object mapping package IDs to exact versions or NuGet ranges; those constraints participate as direct references in each graph. runtimeIdentifier selects an optional RID. Use referencePackages for explicit references and targeting packs, scoped by targetTfm.

Package documentation runs through NuGet APIs without MSBuild, an installed SDK, or installed workloads. Framework reference DLLs come from NuGet reference packs. Android and Apple pack identities and versions come from manifest packages downloaded through the configured feeds. Reading Apple reference DLLs works on any supported host operating system.

Only compatible, required reference DLLs from the resolved package graph are added to the parser. Package build targets are not executed. Use an explicit referencePackages entry with pathPrefix for prebuilt assemblies in a nonstandard package directory.

Restore failures report the root, TFM, RID, NuGet diagnostic code, and dependency chain. Missing assembly diagnostics identify the documented API member requiring the reference and its root assembly. Private implementation references and unused dependency type forwarders do not produce documentation warnings. Reference completion inspects type metadata without loading XML documentation; page generation loads the requested XML documentation. Missing published manifest declarations identify the reference pack that needs an explicit version in referencePackages.

Supported target frameworks

Package metadata and available reference packs determine target-framework support independently of the host SDK and workload lifecycle:

• Modern .NET (5.0+) — net5.0, net6.0, net7.0, net8.0, net9.0, net10.0, net11.0, plus the net*-android, net*-ios, net*-maccatalyst, net*-windows workload variants. See the official .NET and .NET Core support policy.
• netstandard — netstandard1.0 through netstandard2.1. Sticks around because the BCL targets it, even though no future netstandard releases are planned.
• .NET Framework, net462 and newer — net462, net47, net471, net472, net48, net481. Reference assemblies are available as NuGet packages. See the .NET Framework support policy for which of those are still in mainstream / extended support.

Out of scope (legacy, not supported):

Packages that ship only legacy TFMs are skipped at fetch time. Skips are logged at information level so they don't drown out genuine warnings on real-world walks (ReactiveUI / Avalonia / Splat surfaces typically pull several dozen System.* packages whose entire TFM list is legacy-only). Set your logger filter to Information if you want to see the legacy-skip list during a build.

Performance

SourceDocParser focuses on fast API generation, with package, framework, and output choices determining the work required. See the performance overview for measurements, tradeoffs, and comparisons.

Repository layout

SourceDocParserLib/
  icons/SourceDocParserIcon.png        package icon (packed into every nupkg)
  src/
    SourceDocParser/                   core walker / merger / sinks
    SourceDocParser.Common/            shared primitives
    SourceDocParser.NuGet/             nuget.org IAssemblySource
    SourceDocParser.Docfx/             docfx YAML emitter
    SourceDocParser.Zensical/          mkdocs-Material Markdown emitter
    benchmarks/                        BenchmarkDotNet harness
    tests/
      SourceDocParser.Tests/             unit tests (TUnit)
      SourceDocParser.NuGet.Tests/
      SourceDocParser.Zensical.Tests/
      SourceDocParser.Docfx.Tests/
      SourceDocParser.IntegrationTests/  end-to-end + Zensical render-smoke
    Directory.Build.props              shared lib config (MinVer, packing, analyzers)
    Directory.Packages.props           central package versions
    SourceDocParserLib.slnx
  .editorconfig
  stylecop.json

dotnet build from src/ packs every non-test project into artifacts/packages/ automatically (<GeneratePackageOnBuild>true</GeneratePackageOnBuild>). Consumers in other repos can wire that directory up as a local feed via nuget.config until the libraries are published.

Versioning

MinVer derives the version from the most recent v* git tag. Untagged commits build as {nextMinor}.0.0-alpha.0.{height}+sha (auto-increment minor). Releases run via the Release workflow (workflow_dispatch) — pick major / minor / patch; the workflow computes the next version from the latest RTM tag in shell, creates the v$VERSION tag, propagates the version via MINVERVERSIONOVERRIDE so every downstream MSBuild project skips MinVer's per-project git walk, then builds / packs / signs / pushes to NuGet and creates the GitHub Release.

Acknowledgements

The metadata extraction pipeline is inspired by — and lifts patterns from — dotnet/docfx (MIT licensed). docfx's Roslyn-based assembly walker, inheritdoc resolution, and overall metadata model shaped this library's design. See LICENSE for the original docfx attribution.

Built on:

• Roslyn (Microsoft.CodeAnalysis.CSharp) for compilation + symbol model
• ICSharpCode.Decompiler for transitive reference resolution
• NuGet.Frameworks + NuGet.Versioning for proper TFM compatibility and SemVer ordering
• .NET rate limiting and exponential backoff for HTTP requests

License

MIT — see LICENSE for the full text and the docfx attribution.