THE GITHTML FIELD GUIDE
Generate a Swift DocC archive locally
Use an existing Swift package’s configured Swift-DocC plugin to generate documentation locally, then inspect the reported archive location. A .doccarchive is a documentation package, not a single self-contained HTML guide. Keep the archive intact for its intended tools, and evaluate any portable HTML reading edition separately rather than renaming the archive or copying only its index page.
Check the package’s documentation setup
Read Package.swift and the project’s documentation instructions to confirm that the Swift-DocC plugin is configured. Check the installed Swift toolchain and the version expected by the project. Building documentation can compile package code and use dependencies, so review an unfamiliar package before running it.
Identify the target or product you want to document. A package can expose several modules, and generating everything may produce a broader result than the reader needs. Avoid assuming that the repository name is also the correct target name.
Generate with the existing toolchain
For a package already configured with the plugin, the example command generates documentation and reports the resulting archives. Run it from the package root in the project’s trusted development environment. Read the output to find the actual destination rather than guessing a universal path.
If you configure a custom destination, use the plugin’s documented write-permission and output-path options for your version. Choose a dedicated location and do not overwrite source catalogs or unrelated files while experimenting with export settings.
swift package generate-documentationInspect the archive as a package
Open the result using the project’s supported documentation viewing or preview workflow. Check the overview, one public symbol, a tutorial or article if present, and links between them. Confirm that the output matches the intended module and release.
Keep supporting data and assets together. DocC’s rendering architecture and available static-content features depend on the toolchain, so the presence of an index.html file alone is not evidence of a complete script-free reading document.
Choose a companion reading format when needed
gitHtml indexes .html files and is not a DocC archive viewer or compiler. Do not promise that importing one archive page recreates the full DocC experience. Test any selected HTML output in the actual destination environment.
For a focused offline task, write or export a separate guide containing the essential explanation and examples, with provenance back to the DocC source and release. Preserve the full archive for its intended use while giving readers a clearly scoped, independently understandable companion.
Sources and further reading
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