Auto generate function documentation in Visual Studio

Make that "three single comment-markers"

In C# it's ///

which as default spits out:

/// <summary>
/// 
/// </summary>
/// <returns></returns>

Here's some tips on editing VS templates.

GhostDoc!

Right-click on the function, select "Document this" and

private bool FindTheFoo(int numberOfFoos)

becomes

/// <summary>
/// Finds the foo.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="numberOfFoos">The number of foos.</param>
/// <returns></returns>
private bool FindTheFoo(int numberOfFoos)

(yes, it is all autogenerated).

It has support for C#, VB.NET and C/C++. It is per default mapped to Ctrl+Shift+D.

Remember: you should add information beyond the method signature to the documentation. Don't just stop with the autogenerated documentation. The value of a tool like this is that it automatically generates the documentation that can be extracted from the method signature, so any information you add should be new information.

That being said, I personally prefer when methods are totally selfdocumenting, but sometimes you will have coding-standards that mandate outside documentation, and then a tool like this will save you a lot of braindead typing.

///

is the shortcut for getting the Method Description comment block. But make sure you have written the function name and signature before adding it. First write the Function name and signature.

Then above the function name just type ///

and you will get it automatically

Visual Assist has a nice solution too, and is highly costumizable.

After tweaking it to generate doxygen-style comments, these two clicks would produce -

/**
* Method:    FindTheFoo
* FullName:  FindTheFoo
* Access:    private 
* Qualifier:
* @param    int numberOfFoos
* @return   bool
*/
private bool FindTheFoo(int numberOfFoos)
{

}

(Under default settings, its a bit different.)

Edit: The way to customize the 'document method' text is under VassistX->Visual Assist Options->Suggestions, select 'Edit VA Snippets', Language: C++, Type: Refactoring, then go to 'Document Method' and customize. The above example is generated by: