Bug 95904

Version:           3.2.2 (using KDE KDE 3.2.3)
Installed from:    Debian testing/unstable Packages
OS:                Linux

I would love to see a built-in macro tied to some keybinding (like Ctrl-Shift-C) that will insert the skeleton for a phpDocumentor-style docblock[1] above a function or class method that is context sensitive.  In other words, when the user places the cursor immediately preceeding a function declaration and presses a special key combination, Quanta would generate a specially formatted comment (using the codes and keywords defined by phpDocumentor -- loosely the javadoc protocol), corresponding to *that* function definition.  

Quanta would have to parse the document (which it already does) and be aware of the method name, the arguments list etc.  I believe that with the object-oriented language constructs in PHP5, Quanta may even know the argument type assuming that Quanta parses PHP5.  

This may sound like feature creep, but alas a good developer provides good documentation.  And a good IDE will make the mundane aspects of the developer's job more easily accomplished.  If Quanta could spit out a docblock with all the boring stuff already done...just waiting for the developer to add commentary and usage examples, that would make Quanta even more cool than it already is.

One reason this is an urgent request is that the developers of phpDocumentor are swamped, and may not be actively maintaining the code (although it currently supports PHP 5).  If Quanta (which has a heavy user audience and community) were to add phpDocumentor integration / support, then perhaps the phpDocumentor project itself would garner some more attention.  It's all a self-fulfilling positive feedback loop :-)

The one editor that I know does this is phpEdit (their 'Help Generator' feature -- see http://www.waterproof.fr).  phpEdit is built for Windows, and although it used to be available for free download, it is now a licensed software project.  Alas, it is not free and is not available on *nix.

[1] phpDocumentor is the defacto standard for inline API documentation for PHP code website at http://phpdoc.org   Sample documentation at http://phpdoc.org/docs/HTMLframesConverter/phpedit/.

Example of Feature Request

assuming we have this code....

function setFoo($bar) {
   $this->foo = $bar;
   return true;
}

Quanta would be able to generate and insert this comment skeleton if the right key sequence were used while the cursor was on the line preceeding the function definition:

/**
*  setFoo
*
* @access public
* @param string $bar
* @return boolean
*/