What's New in GhostDoc v5

What's new in v5.x:

Both Pro and Enterprise editions of GhostDoc in version 5 introduce Documentation Quality hints in Visual Studio editor; Documentation Management assistance - find auto-generated comments, edit or remove the bulk created docs; identify and fix comments that are missing, out of sync or can be copied from base class; mark generated XML comments as auto-generated and "to be edited". The v5 also includes multiple Help documentation themes and layouts to choose from.

See this article for the Overview of GhostDoc v5.0 Features

The free version of GhostDoc has been re-branded as GhostDoc Community Edition and adds general improvements, limited generation of CHM help documentation as well as the means to find auto-generated comments.

• VS2017 RTM support
• GhostDoc is now also available as VSIX for VS2017
• Documentation Quality hints in Visual Studio editor
• Documentation Maintenance - Find auto-generated comments - edit or remove the bulk created docs
• Documentation Maintenance - Identify and fix comments that are missing, out of sync or can be copied from base class
• Official Visual Studio 2015 and ASP.NET Core support
• Options to add Auto-generated doc and TODO 'Edit' attributes
• Theme support for generated help documentation and new themes - Flat Gray and Flat Main
• Help Configuration option for declarative help documentation file naming - namespace-classname-membername.htm
• Exclude from Documentation action
• Hide/Show Comments feature
• New Summary Override table in Options - configure predefined summaries for specific member or type names instead of auto-generated
• Limited Build Documentation feature is now available in the Community edition of GhostDoc

Note to GhostDoc Pro v4.x and GhostDoc Enterprise v4.x users: Your v4 license code will not work with the recently released v5. We have sent out the v5 license codes to users with License Protection and active Software Assurance subscription. If you have not received or misplaced your new license, you can retrieve it on the My Account page.

Detailed changes by build:

• Build 5.9.18240 (Aug 28, 2018) - Maintenance Release

  VS2017 v15.8 compatibility update for GhostDoc Pro and GhostDoc Enterprise.

  • Fixed: Resolved VS2017 Update 15.8 compatibility issue - the VS freezing when comparing two versions of a source code file
  • Added: Support for C# 7.2 and VB 2017 syntax
• Build 5.9.18070 (Mar 9, 2018) - Compatibility Release

  VS2017 v15.6 compatibility update.

  • Fixed: Resolved VS2017 Update 15.6 compatibility issue - the "Visual Studio still loading the project." message
• Build 5.8.17335 (Dec 1, 2017) - Maintenance Release
  • Fixed: Resolved issue with VS slowdown when adding/renaming solution files
• Build 5.8.17330 (Nov 26, 2017) - Maintenance Release
  • Added: SubMain.GhostDoc.Cmd.clr4.exe to run the command line utility on .NET FW 4.0
  • Added: Now can add XML Comments for single files outside of the project
  • Fixed: Now don’t run new version check when in Debug mode
  • Fixed: Updated styling for <note> and <list>
  • Fixed: Improved scaling on high DPI monitors
  • Fixed: Issue documenting the Main method in the Community edition
  • Fixed: Issue with the conceptual content topic placement in the TOC
  • Fixed: Keep conceptual content tags in <solution>.GhostDoc.xml file in Pro, free versions
  • Fixed: Added VB property parameters section in the Help file
  • Fixed: Visual Editing - removing exception row can now be undone
  • Fixed: Spelling literals with an & character in Designer files
• Build 5.8.17265 (Sep 22, 2017) - Maintenance Release

  Critical update for VS2017 users. VS2017 performance and stability improvements, minor enhancements and bug fixes.

  • Fixed: GhostDoc is no longer crashing VS2017 when working with .NET Core projects
  • Fixed: Issue when Document File action duplicates existing <seealso> tags for a class
  • Fixed: Issue of all solution project unchecked when opening the Build Help Documentation dialog first time
• Build 5.7.17240 (Aug 28, 2017) - Maintenance Release

  VS2017 performance improvements, minor enhancements and bug fixes.

  • Fixed: Improved performance loading solutions in VS2017 by moving it to an async thread
  • Fixed: Issue related to license activation with the VSIX install in VS2017
  • Fixed: "Active content" security warning in the Comment Preview window
  • Fixed: Issue documenting parameters of VB properties
  • Added: Progress indication for the Document File/Type batch actions with large number of the members to be documented
  • Added: Now .cshtml and .vbhtml file extensions are enabled for spell checking
  • Fixed: Improved performance of the Document File/Type batch actions
  • Fixed: Issue of missing readonly VB properties without get/set blocks when generating help documentation
  • Fixed: Issue related to the PathTooLongException when building help file - these now are attempted to get resolved automatically, and when fails GhostDoc shows a warning message
  • Fixed: No longer show Exception when previewing an empty member comment
• Build 5.6.17190 (Jul 9, 2017) - Maintenance Release

  This update is recommended for VS2017 users.

  • Fixed: Improved support of VS2017 .NET Core projects
  • Fixed: Resolved the "Environment Integration error - Current file is not part of the project" error on VS2017 .NET Core projects
  • Fixed: Addressed issue of the realtime Spell Checker not highlighting misspellings when using MSI setup
  • Fixed: Resolved issue of the Documentation Quality Hints not rendering when using MSI setup
  • Added: Introduced support for "target" and "alt" attributes within the <see href="">, <seealso href=""> tags
  • Added: Enable Spell Checker and Show Documentation Hints in Editor are now Off when using the VS2017 VSIX setup
  • Fixed: Synced the use of lower and proper casing web-based help docs that used to cause errors when hosted on a UNIX server
  • Fixed: Issue calculating max file path when generating web-based help documentation
  • Fixed: JavaScript source files are not recognized by GhostDoc in VS2017
  • Fixed: Issue with comment inheritance in C++
  • Fixed: Suggestions when spell checking "Doesnt"
  • Fixed: Duplicates of the selected projects in .sln.GhostDoc.xml file
  • Fixed: Spell checker not taking IgnoreFiles into account in some cases
• Build 5.5.17070 (Mar 11, 2017) - Minor Feature Release
  • Added: Support for VS2017 RTM
  • Added: GhostDoc is now also available as VSIX for VS2017
  • Fixed: Documentation Hints no longer visible in the Debug mode
  • Fixed: Issue wrapping lines within the <value></value> tag
  • Added: In the Offline Activation Preview - the fields are now auto-selected on focus/click for easy copying
  • Fixed: No longer adding extra line when re-documenting header in VB
  • Fixed: No longer appending generated XML comments to the existing comment when using auto-generated properties in VB
• Build 5.4.16325 (Nov 20, 2016) - Maintenance Release
  • Added VS2017 RC integration
  • Added New menu items - Getting Started Tutorial and Tutorials and Resources
  • Added (Pro) (Ent) Edit buttons in Options - Solution Ignore List and Options - Spelling Ignore List
  • Added (Pro) (Ent) Test button in Options - Solution Ignore List
  • Added (Ent) Now GhostDoc shows error message when Conceptual Content path is invalid in the solution configuration file
  • Fixed PathTooLongException exception when generating preview/build help file for C++ projects
  • Fixed (Ent) Updated ClassLibrary1.zip, moved all conceptual content files inside the project in GhostDoc Enterprise\Samples\Conceptual Content\
  • Fixed Issues documenting ReadOnly auto-properties in VB
  • Fixed Issue re-documenting a type at the top of source code file in VB
  • Fixed Issue with generating preview of the <seealso> tag for generics in VB
• Build 5.3.16270 (Sep 26, 2016) - Maintenance Release
  • Fixed: Resolved setup issue on Visual Studio 2015 Update 3
• Build 5.3.16260 (Sep 16, 2016) - Maintenance Release 
  • Added: Full support for string interpolation in C# and VB parsers
  • Added: Support for "arrow functions" in JavaScript parser
  • Fixed: "File is not part of a solution" issue when loading projects
  • Added: (Pro) (Ent) IsAbstract property to CurrentCodeElement in the T4 templates
  • Changed: Improved exception documentation - now the type name in a nameof() parameter is added as part of the generated documentation template
  • Fixed: (Ent) Issue when using <section> along with <code> elements in an .aml file
• Build 5.2.16200 (Jul 18, 2016) - Minor Feature Release 

  A required update for Visual Studio 2015 Update 3 users.

  • Added: Support for Visual Studio 2015 Update 3
  • Fixed: Now correctly loading the latest ASP.NET Core projects
  • Added: GhostDoc now treats underscore as a delimiter to improve summary generation for underscore delimited identifiers
  • Added: "Use Modern URLs" Help Configuration option for declarative help documentation file naming - namespace-classname-membername.htm
  • Added: Option to turn on/off Documentation Hints during setup
  • Added: (Pro) (Ent)Comment Preview is now rendered using the FlatGray theme
  • Changed: No longer creating the solution settings .ghostdoc.xml file if none of the default settings have been changed for the solution
  • Fixed: Issue when using the /// and ''' shortcuts at the end of file
  • Fixed: Issue when renaming a project within the Solution Folder
  • Fixed: (Ent) Incorrect cref linking when building help documentation from command line
  • Fixed: Exception text is now rendered correctly when the exception argument is a string interpolated string
  • Fixed: Issue using with Global namespace in VB.NET
  • Fixed: Custom property rules not working
  • Fixed: Help Configuration not saved when cancel out of the Build Help File
  • Fixed: Issue with Command Line utility failing when the output folder does not exist. The folder is now created when generating the help docs
  • Fixed: Problem with GhostDoc incorrectly identifying user path as a network location
  • Fixed: Help Configuration issue when Output Path points at a network location
  • Fixed: CSHTML files are no longer included as the Documentation Maintenance supported source file type
  • Changed: Renamed Browse button to Change in GhostDoc Options -> General -> User folder path
  • Fixed: Issue when handling expression body methods
• Build 5.1.16036 (Feb 5, 2016) - Maintenance Release 

  This update is highly recommended for Visual Studio 2015 users.

  • Added: Added property IsConst to CodeElement enabling proper identification for constants in the rule T4 template
  • Added: Comment Preview - both Refresh and Synchronize now work in GhostDoc Community
  • Added: Added a mutex to prevent GhostDoc setting file corruption when multiple instances of Visual Studio open/close simultaneously
  • Added: When time limited license expires, now showing appropriate message "The license code has expired on {date}."
  • Fixed: Resolved minor styling/formatting issues with the new Help documentation themes
  • Fixed: Expression bodied function followed by function with documentation no longer breaks the documenting function
  • Fixed: When using v4 license, GhostDoc won't anymore erroneously confirm the registration
  • Fixed: Resolved PathTooLongException when loading ASP.NET 5.0/ASP.NET Code 1.0 solution/project
  • Fixed: Property Context.CurrentCodeElement.HasBaseTypes returns correct value as expected
  • Fixed: Issues with Visual Studio when documenting inside the Peek Definition window
  • Fixed: In the generated help documentation for the <example> tag no longer inserting extra blank line for VB sample code
• Build 5.0.15325 (Nov 21, 2015) - Feature Release 
  • Added: (Pro) Documentation Quality hints in Visual Studio editor
  • Added: Documentation Maintenance - Find auto-generated comments - edit or remove the bulk created docs
  • Added: (Pro) Documentation Maintenance - Identify and fix comments that are missing, out of sync or can be copied from base class
  • Added: Support for Visual Studio 2015
  • Added: Support for C# 6.0 and VB 14 syntax
  • Added: (Pro) Theme support for generated help documentation
  • Added: (Pro) New help documentation themes - Flat Gray (default) and Flat Main. The old help doc view preserved as Classic theme. Web theme preview - Flat Gray and Flat Main
  • Added: (Pro) Help Configuration option to select help documentation theme
  • Added: (Pro) Help Configuration option to clean up the output directory before generating new help documentation
  • Added: (Pro) Options -> Rules dialog now allows to turn specific templates On or Off instead of blanking them out. Works with Document Type and Document File commands
  • Added: 'Exclude This from Documentation' menu item - adds <exclude /> tag to the member
  • Changed: (Pro) Namespace Template is now turned Off by default
  • Added: Performance - new option - Options -> General -> "Show only Missing Comments hints for large files" - intended to improve GhostDoc editor hints performance when editing large source files. When On GhostDoc will not be analyzing in real-time for auto-generated comments and base class comments.
  • Added: Performance - Solution option "Search for inherited comments only within the project" - When turned On, this allows to improve GhostDoc Document This performance when executing first time on large solution (at the expense of potentially missing base members outside of the project). Default behavior for GhostDoc to look for base members within the complete solution.
  • Changed: Error Logging now Off by default. Options -> General -> Enable Error Log to turn on.
  • Changed: New spelling window link color in Dark theme for better readability
  • Added: Support for VS2015 vNext ASP.NET 5 projects
  • Added: (Pro) Hide/Show Comments feature
  • Added: Option to add a TODO reminder to edit auto-generated comment ("TODO Edit XML Comment Template")
  • Added: Option to add an <autogeneratedoc /> tag to flag XML comments that have been auto-generated
  • Added: (Pro) Help Configuration options for comments marked auto-generated or "to be edited" - Include/Ignore/Highlight
  • Added: New Summary Override table in Options - allows to configure predefined summaries for specific member or type names instead of auto-generated
  • Added: (Community) Build Help Documentation - a limited Build Documentation feature is now available in the Community edition of GhostDoc. Limited to one (Classic) theme only, very little configuration options and includes a watermark.
  • Added: Ability to tag at the class/interface level and have ALL the public elements in that class implicitly tagged
  • Added: Included a 'seealso' when a class / interface / struct inherits from another
  • Added: (Ent) Added 'nobullet' class to list element in MAML
  • Added: Ignore folders in IgnoreFiles by Pattern, for example, "*\MyFolder\*"
  • Added: GlobalNamespaceAlias global property - when changed will show up in the help documentation instead of the default "global" namespace for types with no explicit namespace
  • Added: Support for C++ template classes in help file
  • Added: Support for C++ links in cref, for example, <see cref="CtestdocApp::MyTestFunc2"/>
  • Added: Option to select source code syntax language(s) included with the help documentation
  • Added: Option to have the default summary text focused and selected when using Document This command - allows to edit/override the summary quickly
  • Added: Automatically calculate correctly the 'see' and 'seealso' links for members
  • Added: Included standard font names into the 'complang' spelling dictionary
  • Added: Support for documenting .aspx, .ascx and .asmx pages
  • Added: New macro $(newLine) correctly inserts blank line within XML comment
  • Added: (Community) About menu command and dialog
  • Fixed: XML Comment When Document This in .h file the XML Comment added within the .h file, for .c
  • Fixed: Now have all of the assemblies signed with our code signing certificate
  • Fixed: Inherited XML Comments are now properly copied for partial interface members
  • Fixed: Inherited XML Comments are now properly copied for partial class members
  • Fixed: Class summary does not render twice anymore for C++ types
  • Fixed: Issue in the File Header template - incorrect rendering of multi-line summary comments
  • Fixed: Missing inherited <summary> when documenting a constructor
  • Fixed: Tagged With now works properly with C++ code
  • Fixed: Issue with "ASP.NET web site" project help file showing an EXE assembly
  • Fixed: Issue with C++ EXE project help showing .DLL assembly
  • Fixed: Build Help file dialog - the project list now accommodates for longer project names
  • Fixed: Importing Options section from configuration file is now working correctly
  • Fixed: Issue with not applying inherited documentation from the base generic class
  • Fixed: Issue with Visual Studio freezing when documenting variable argument list parameter in C++ code
  • Fixed: (Ent) Issue with the command line utility when help file configuration file does have any projects selected
  • Changed: Options -> Rules buttons 'Export' and 'Import' renamed to 'Save' and 'Load' respectively
  • Changed: Revised the Configuration Wizard' behavior on start-up
  • Changed: Renamed SubMain.GhostDoc.Setup.exe to SubMain.GhostDoc.ActionProxy.exe
  • Changed: No longer copy the following files into the Visual Studio\Extension directory - *.exe.config, *.exe, *.log
  • Changed: (Community) The solution properties file (<solution name>.GhostDoc.xml) is no longer stored in the solution folder when none of the solution properties default values have been modified

Also see What's New in GhostDoc v4.x