DevExpress End-User Documentation

This End-User Documentation targets application end-users and explains how to use UI elements implemented by DevExpress. This information helps software developers create their own help files for projects that incorporate DevExpress technologies.

For Developer Documentation with API Reference see https://documentation.devexpress.com.

The Scope

DevExpress products for WinForms, WPF and ASP.NET WebForms/MVC.

Licensing

By accessing this repository, you agree to be bound by the terms of the DevExpress End-User Documentation License Agreement.

Two Ways to Browse Content

To browse this repository's content, start with index.md.

We have also compiled this End-User Documentation into a sample website available at devexpress.github.io/dotnet-eud.

Document Format and Supported Output Types

Documents in this repository are written in markdown. One way to use them is to manually copy required information to your own help file.

The repository also includes a docfx.json file, which enables you to convert a set of topics to an HTML website or a PDF file using DocFX and wkhtmltopdf.

Build an HTML Website

To create a documentation website for your application:

• Download and install the latest version of DocFX.

• Clone the repository to your computer and checkout the branch corresponding to the version of DevExpress controls your application uses. Make sure not to use the master branch, which represents the version currently under development.

  git clone https://github.com/DevExpress/dotnet-eud.git --branch 17.1
  

  If you do not have Git installed, select the required branch using the GitHub web interface and then download and extract the ZIP archive.

  

• If you want to reuse the end-user documentation as is, skip this step. Otherwise, make changes as required, which may include:

  • removing files that are not needed in your documentation;
  • adding new documents specific to your application;
  • changing screenshots to match your app UI;
  • creating a custom DocFX template.

  Make sure to update toc.yml (table-of-content) files if you have added or removed topics.

• Open a console window, change the current directory to the repository root folder and call the DocFX executable with the build and docfx.json parameters. DocFX will place the generated documentation content into the _site folder. Add the --serve switch to preview the generated website at http://localhost:8080 once the build process is complete.

  docfx.exe build docfx.json --serve
  

• Finally, deploy the created documentation to a web server or browse the documentation directly from local file system. Since DocFX creates static HTML files only, no additional deployment or configuration steps are required.

Build Printer-Friendly PDF Files

If your end-users require a printed version, you can create a PDF file:

• Ensure that you can successfully build a website with DocFX (see the previous section).
• Download and install wkhtmltopdf.
• Open a console window and add the wkhtmltopdf executable path to the %PATH% environment variable:

  set PATH=%PATH%;C:\Program Files\wkhtmltopdf\bin
  

• Change the current directory to the repository root folder and call the DocFX executable with the pdf and docfx.json parameters. This will generate a _pdf subfоlder with a PDF file for each included table-of-contents file.

  docfx.exe pdf docfx.json
  

Troubleshooting

Below are the common issues you may face when building this repository's documentation.

• The build process fails with the System.IO.PathTooLongException exception

  Reduce your working directory's full path (move the repository closer to a drive root).

  See also: dotnet/docfx#156

• The wkhtmltopdf is a prerequisite when generating a PDF error occurs when creating a PDF

  Ensure that wkhtmltopdf is installed and its executable path is correctly added to the %PATH% environment variable.

  See also: Generate PDF Documentation

• The table of contents is not displayed when browsing the generated documentation from the file system

  Your browser security configuration may restrict executing the JavaScript code that accesses your local files (the table of contents is in a separate toc.html file when using the default DocFX template). In this case, you can use the statictoc template instead. To switch to this template, add --template statictoc to the docfx.exe parameters:

  docfx.exe build docfx.json --template statictoc
  

  The table of contents is embedded into each topic with this template which increases the build time and HTML file sizes. Alternatively, you can override the browser's restrictions (which may be insecure). For example, Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge accept the --allow-file-access-from-files command line switch which allows loading local files.

  We recommend using the --serve DocFX switch to preview documentation, and then share it with end users via a web server, instead of browsing the file system

If your issue is not listed, do not hesitate to submit a new issue to this repository or contact us using the DevExpress Support Center. You can search the DocFX issues list, or try building the docfx-seed sample documentation project to check if your issue is specific to this repository.

Obtain End-User Documentation for Versions Prior to 17.1

This repository provides help files for DevExpress versions 17.1 and above. End-user documentation for previous versions is published in CHM and PDF formats at https://www.devexpress.com/Support/Documentation/download.xml?platform=user-dev-docs.