Sami: A Powerful API Documentation Generator for PHP

Generating separate documentation for your PHP methods, classes, and functions is a best practice. This article introduces Sami, a robust API documentation generator that simplifies this process, improving readability and accessibility.

Key Features of Sami:

• Generates standalone documentation for PHP code, eliminating the need to navigate source code directly.
• Easy installation via PHAR archive or Composer.
• Highly configurable through a PHP configuration file, allowing customization of themes, titles, build directories, and caching.
• Supports custom themes and asset inclusion for a personalized look and feel.
• Integrates with Git version control, enabling documentation for multiple codebase versions.

Understanding DocBlocks:

DocBlocks are essential for Sami. They're multi-line comments placed above class, interface, method, or attribute definitions. Here's a Laravel example:

abstract class Manager
{
    /**
     * The application instance.
     *
     * @var \Illuminate\Foundation\Application
     */
    protected $app;

    /**
     * Create a new manager instance.
     *
     * @param \Illuminate\Foundation\Application $app
     * @return void
     */
    public function __construct($app)
    {
        $this->app = $app;
    }
}

DocBlocks begin with /**, end with */, and each line within starts with *. Annotations like @param and @var provide additional information. phpDocumentor's annotation standards are widely supported.

Sami vs. Other Generators:

While other generators exist (e.g., phpDocumentor), Sami stands out due to its GitHub integration and Twig templating capabilities.

Installing Sami:

Choose one of these methods:

1. PHAR Archive: Download sami.phar and run php sami.phar.
2. Composer: Use composer require sami/sami:3.0.* to add Sami to your project. Then run php vendor/sami/sami/sami.php.

Generating Laravel Documentation (Example):

1. Clone the Laravel framework: git clone git@github.com:laravel/framework.git docs
2. Create a config/config.php file (see Configuration section below).
3. Run: php vendor/sami/sami/sami.php update config/config.php

Configuration (config/config.php):

This file returns a SamiSami instance:

$dir = __DIR__ . '/../docs';

$iterator = Symfony\Component\Finder\Finder::create()
    ->files()
    ->name('*.php')
    ->exclude('build')
    ->exclude('tests')
    ->in($dir);

$options = [
    'theme'                => 'default',
    'title'                => 'Laravel API Documentation',
    'build_dir'            => __DIR__ . '/../build/laravel',
    'cache_dir'            => __DIR__ . '/../cache/laravel',
];

$sami = new Sami\Sami($iterator, $options);

return $sami;

After running the update command, start a PHP server (php -S localhost:8000 -t build/) and access the documentation at http://localhost:8000/laravel/.

Git Versioning:

Sami excels at handling multiple Git versions. Add the versions option to your config:

abstract class Manager
{
    /**
     * The application instance.
     *
     * @var \Illuminate\Foundation\Application
     */
    protected $app;

    /**
     * Create a new manager instance.
     *
     * @param \Illuminate\Foundation\Application $app
     * @return void
     */
    public function __construct($app)
    {
        $this->app = $app;
    }
}

Remember to include %version% in build_dir and cache_dir.

Creating Custom Themes:

Sami allows creating custom themes. Place a manifest.yml file in your theme directory (e.g., themes/mytheme/manifest.yml):

$dir = __DIR__ . '/../docs';

$iterator = Symfony\Component\Finder\Finder::create()
    ->files()
    ->name('*.php')
    ->exclude('build')
    ->exclude('tests')
    ->in($dir);

$options = [
    'theme'                => 'default',
    'title'                => 'Laravel API Documentation',
    'build_dir'            => __DIR__ . '/../build/laravel',
    'cache_dir'            => __DIR__ . '/../cache/laravel',
];

$sami = new Sami\Sami($iterator, $options);

return $sami;

Then, modify the base.twig template to include your CSS. Update your config file to use your custom theme: 'theme' => 'mytheme'. Run sami render config/config.php --force to regenerate the documentation.

Conclusion:

Sami offers a powerful and flexible solution for generating high-quality API documentation for your PHP projects. Its features, including Git versioning and custom theme support, make it a valuable tool for any PHP developer. The complete example is available on GitHub (link would be added here if a GitHub repo existed for this example).

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