What this is about

Bouvard is what is called a doclet, i.e. a Javadoc tool extension. Javadoc is a standard component of the JDK and is used to automatically generate documentation from Java source code files. It usually relies on a standard doclet to produce a series of HTML files illustrating the requested packages. These files are then read with a standard HTML browser.

Bouvard is a substitute for the standard doclet that generates, starting from analogous commands, a few files in a custom format readable by the Pécuchet browser. Pécuchet is a Java Swing application expressly designed to offer a more effective exploration tool. Togheter they form a tool that tries to improve the understanding of software written in the Java language.

In comparison with the traditional HTML based documentation, Bouvard and Pécuchet allow to:

• graphically depict the relationships amongst classes and interfaces, possibly using selection to focus on a reduced set of elements;
• find a class, interface, field, constructor or method by simply typing its partial name while the global index automatically positions itself;
• filter the visible elements according to their type and attributes;
• organize information with flexibility, choosing the preferred combination of lists, graphics and text;
• view and navigate syntax highlighted source code using hypertextual links.

Altough advisable, documentation of the source code through javadoc comments is not required to obtain useful data, such as an inheritance scheme and navigable source code.

Bouvard & Pécuchet are free software; you can redistribute them and/or modify them under the terms of the GNU General Public License, version 2.

About FreshMeat

The project has a homepage on the freshmeat site, where you can check for new releases. If you want to receive one e-mail message when a new version is released, you can subscribe. Finally, if you like this software, you can rate it.

Requirements

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ChangeLog

Credits

Why these names?

Bouvard and Pécuchet are the main characters of the homonymous unfinished novel by Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880). They are a couple of clerks who leave their jobs to throw themselves, with the candour of the plain people, into the exhaustive exploration of the entire human knowledge.