docs-rst: doc-guide: split the kernel-documentation.rst contents

Having the kernel-documentation at the topmost level doesn't
allow generating a separate PDF file for it. Also, makes harder
to add extra contents. So, place it on a sub-dir.

Signed-off-by: Mauro Carvalho Chehab <mchehab@s-opensource.com>
Signed-off-by: Jonathan Corbet <corbet@lwn.net>

1 files changed, 363 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/Documentation/doc-guide/kernel-doc.rst b/Documentation/doc-guide/kernel-doc.rst
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+Including kernel-doc comments
+=============================
+
+The Linux kernel source files may contain structured documentation comments, or
+kernel-doc comments to describe the functions and types and design of the
+code. The documentation comments may be included to any of the reStructuredText
+documents using a dedicated kernel-doc Sphinx directive extension.
+
+The kernel-doc directive is of the format::
+
+  .. kernel-doc:: source
+     :option:
+
+The *source* is the path to a source file, relative to the kernel source
+tree. The following directive options are supported:
+
+export: *[source-pattern ...]*
+  Include documentation for all functions in *source* that have been exported
+  using ``EXPORT_SYMBOL`` or ``EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL`` either in *source* or in any
+  of the files specified by *source-pattern*.
+
+  The *source-pattern* is useful when the kernel-doc comments have been placed
+  in header files, while ``EXPORT_SYMBOL`` and ``EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL`` are next to
+  the function definitions.
+
+  Examples::
+
+    .. kernel-doc:: lib/bitmap.c
+       :export:
+
+    .. kernel-doc:: include/net/mac80211.h
+       :export: net/mac80211/*.c
+
+internal: *[source-pattern ...]*
+  Include documentation for all functions and types in *source* that have
+  **not** been exported using ``EXPORT_SYMBOL`` or ``EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL`` either
+  in *source* or in any of the files specified by *source-pattern*.
+
+  Example::
+
+    .. kernel-doc:: drivers/gpu/drm/i915/intel_audio.c
+       :internal:
+
+doc: *title*
+  Include documentation for the ``DOC:`` paragraph identified by *title* in
+  *source*. Spaces are allowed in *title*; do not quote the *title*. The *title*
+  is only used as an identifier for the paragraph, and is not included in the
+  output. Please make sure to have an appropriate heading in the enclosing
+  reStructuredText document.
+
+  Example::
+
+    .. kernel-doc:: drivers/gpu/drm/i915/intel_audio.c
+       :doc: High Definition Audio over HDMI and Display Port
+
+functions: *function* *[...]*
+  Include documentation for each *function* in *source*.
+
+  Example::
+
+    .. kernel-doc:: lib/bitmap.c
+       :functions: bitmap_parselist bitmap_parselist_user
+
+Without options, the kernel-doc directive includes all documentation comments
+from the source file.
+
+The kernel-doc extension is included in the kernel source tree, at
+``Documentation/sphinx/kernel-doc.py``. Internally, it uses the
+``scripts/kernel-doc`` script to extract the documentation comments from the
+source.
+
+.. _kernel_doc:
+
+Writing kernel-doc comments
+===========================
+
+In order to provide embedded, "C" friendly, easy to maintain, but consistent and
+extractable overview, function and type documentation, the Linux kernel has
+adopted a consistent style for documentation comments. The format for this
+documentation is called the kernel-doc format, described below. This style
+embeds the documentation within the source files, using a few simple conventions
+for adding documentation paragraphs and documenting functions and their
+parameters, structures and unions and their members, enumerations, and typedefs.
+
+.. note:: The kernel-doc format is deceptively similar to gtk-doc or Doxygen,
+   yet distinctively different, for historical reasons. The kernel source
+   contains tens of thousands of kernel-doc comments. Please stick to the style
+   described here.
+
+The ``scripts/kernel-doc`` script is used by the Sphinx kernel-doc extension in
+the documentation build to extract this embedded documentation into the various
+HTML, PDF, and other format documents.
+
+In order to provide good documentation of kernel functions and data structures,
+please use the following conventions to format your kernel-doc comments in the
+Linux kernel source.
+
+How to format kernel-doc comments
+---------------------------------
+
+The opening comment mark ``/**`` is reserved for kernel-doc comments. Only
+comments so marked will be considered by the ``kernel-doc`` tool. Use it only
+for comment blocks that contain kernel-doc formatted comments. The usual ``*/``
+should be used as the closing comment marker. The lines in between should be
+prefixed by `` * `` (space star space).
+
+The function and type kernel-doc comments should be placed just before the
+function or type being described. The overview kernel-doc comments may be freely
+placed at the top indentation level.
+
+Example kernel-doc function comment::
+
+  /**
+   * foobar() - Brief description of foobar.
+   * @arg: Description of argument of foobar.
+   *
+   * Longer description of foobar.
+   *
+   * Return: Description of return value of foobar.
+   */
+  int foobar(int arg)
+
+The format is similar for documentation for structures, enums, paragraphs,
+etc. See the sections below for details.
+
+The kernel-doc structure is extracted from the comments, and proper `Sphinx C
+Domain`_ function and type descriptions with anchors are generated for them. The
+descriptions are filtered for special kernel-doc highlights and
+cross-references. See below for details.
+
+.. _Sphinx C Domain: http://www.sphinx-doc.org/en/stable/domains.html
+
+Highlights and cross-references
+-------------------------------
+
+The following special patterns are recognized in the kernel-doc comment
+descriptive text and converted to proper reStructuredText markup and `Sphinx C
+Domain`_ references.
+
+.. attention:: The below are **only** recognized within kernel-doc comments,
+	       **not** within normal reStructuredText documents.
+
+``funcname()``
+  Function reference.
+
+``@parameter``
+  Name of a function parameter. (No cross-referencing, just formatting.)
+
+``%CONST``
+  Name of a constant. (No cross-referencing, just formatting.)
+
+``$ENVVAR``
+  Name of an environment variable. (No cross-referencing, just formatting.)
+
+``&struct name``
+  Structure reference.
+
+``&enum name``
+  Enum reference.
+
+``&typedef name``
+  Typedef reference.
+
+``&struct_name->member`` or ``&struct_name.member``
+  Structure or union member reference. The cross-reference will be to the struct
+  or union definition, not the member directly.
+
+``&name``
+  A generic type reference. Prefer using the full reference described above
+  instead. This is mostly for legacy comments.
+
+Cross-referencing from reStructuredText
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+To cross-reference the functions and types defined in the kernel-doc comments
+from reStructuredText documents, please use the `Sphinx C Domain`_
+references. For example::
+
+  See function :c:func:`foo` and struct/union/enum/typedef :c:type:`bar`.
+
+While the type reference works with just the type name, without the
+struct/union/enum/typedef part in front, you may want to use::
+
+  See :c:type:`struct foo <foo>`.
+  See :c:type:`union bar <bar>`.
+  See :c:type:`enum baz <baz>`.
+  See :c:type:`typedef meh <meh>`.
+
+This will produce prettier links, and is in line with how kernel-doc does the
+cross-references.
+
+For further details, please refer to the `Sphinx C Domain`_ documentation.
+
+Function documentation
+----------------------
+
+The general format of a function and function-like macro kernel-doc comment is::
+
+  /**
+   * function_name() - Brief description of function.
+   * @arg1: Describe the first argument.
+   * @arg2: Describe the second argument.
+   *        One can provide multiple line descriptions
+   *        for arguments.
+   *
+   * A longer description, with more discussion of the function function_name()
+   * that might be useful to those using or modifying it. Begins with an
+   * empty comment line, and may include additional embedded empty
+   * comment lines.
+   *
+   * The longer description may have multiple paragraphs.
+   *
+   * Return: Describe the return value of foobar.
+   *
+   * The return value description can also have multiple paragraphs, and should
+   * be placed at the end of the comment block.
+   */
+
+The brief description following the function name may span multiple lines, and
+ends with an ``@argument:`` description, a blank comment line, or the end of the
+comment block.
+
+The kernel-doc function comments describe each parameter to the function, in
+order, with the ``@argument:`` descriptions. The ``@argument:`` descriptions
+must begin on the very next line following the opening brief function
+description line, with no intervening blank comment lines. The ``@argument:``
+descriptions may span multiple lines. The continuation lines may contain
+indentation. If a function parameter is ``...`` (varargs), it should be listed
+in kernel-doc notation as: ``@...:``.
+
+The return value, if any, should be described in a dedicated section at the end
+of the comment starting with "Return:".
+
+Structure, union, and enumeration documentation
+-----------------------------------------------
+
+The general format of a struct, union, and enum kernel-doc comment is::
+
+  /**
+   * struct struct_name - Brief description.
+   * @member_name: Description of member member_name.
+   *
+   * Description of the structure.
+   */
+
+Below, "struct" is used to mean structs, unions and enums, and "member" is used
+to mean struct and union members as well as enumerations in an enum.
+
+The brief description following the structure name may span multiple lines, and
+ends with a ``@member:`` description, a blank comment line, or the end of the
+comment block.
+
+The kernel-doc data structure comments describe each member of the structure, in
+order, with the ``@member:`` descriptions. The ``@member:`` descriptions must
+begin on the very next line following the opening brief function description
+line, with no intervening blank comment lines. The ``@member:`` descriptions may
+span multiple lines. The continuation lines may contain indentation.
+
+In-line member documentation comments
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+The structure members may also be documented in-line within the definition::
+
+  /**
+   * struct foo - Brief description.
+   * @foo: The Foo member.
+   */
+  struct foo {
+        int foo;
+        /**
+         * @bar: The Bar member.
+         */
+        int bar;
+        /**
+         * @baz: The Baz member.
+         *
+         * Here, the member description may contain several paragraphs.
+         */
+        int baz;
+  }
+
+Private members
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+Inside a struct description, you can use the "private:" and "public:" comment
+tags. Structure fields that are inside a "private:" area are not listed in the
+generated output documentation.  The "private:" and "public:" tags must begin
+immediately following a ``/*`` comment marker.  They may optionally include
+comments between the ``:`` and the ending ``*/`` marker.
+
+Example::
+
+  /**
+   * struct my_struct - short description
+   * @a: first member
+   * @b: second member
+   *
+   * Longer description
+   */
+  struct my_struct {
+      int a;
+      int b;
+  /* private: internal use only */
+      int c;
+  };
+
+
+Typedef documentation
+---------------------
+
+The general format of a typedef kernel-doc comment is::
+
+  /**
+   * typedef type_name - Brief description.
+   *
+   * Description of the type.
+   */
+
+Overview documentation comments
+-------------------------------
+
+To facilitate having source code and comments close together, you can include
+kernel-doc documentation blocks that are free-form comments instead of being
+kernel-doc for functions, structures, unions, enums, or typedefs. This could be
+used for something like a theory of operation for a driver or library code, for
+example.
+
+This is done by using a ``DOC:`` section keyword with a section title.
+
+The general format of an overview or high-level documentation comment is::
+
+  /**
+   * DOC: Theory of Operation
+   *
+   * The whizbang foobar is a dilly of a gizmo. It can do whatever you
+   * want it to do, at any time. It reads your mind. Here's how it works.
+   *
+   * foo bar splat
+   *
+   * The only drawback to this gizmo is that is can sometimes damage
+   * hardware, software, or its subject(s).
+   */
+
+The title following ``DOC:`` acts as a heading within the source file, but also
+as an identifier for extracting the documentation comment. Thus, the title must
+be unique within the file.
+
+Recommendations
+---------------
+
+We definitely need kernel-doc formatted documentation for functions that are
+exported to loadable modules using ``EXPORT_SYMBOL`` or ``EXPORT_SYMBOL_GPL``.
+
+We also look to provide kernel-doc formatted documentation for functions
+externally visible to other kernel files (not marked "static").
+
+We also recommend providing kernel-doc formatted documentation for private (file
+"static") routines, for consistency of kernel source code layout. But this is
+lower priority and at the discretion of the MAINTAINER of that kernel source
+file.
+
+Data structures visible in kernel include files should also be documented using
+kernel-doc formatted comments.