DocC Tutorial for Swift: Automating Publishing With GitHub Actions

Within the software program improvement routine, it’s frequent to carry out repetitive duties manually. However this comes with a value: It’s each tedious and error-prone. Fortuitously, the business has developed options that deal with the necessity to automate the repetitive processes a developer or a workforce should carry out.

In a earlier tutorial, Mina H. Gerges walked by utilizing DocC and Xcode to generate documentation for an app and a Swift bundle after which export them within the DocC archive format.

On this follow-up tutorial, you’ll learn to automate exporting a DocC archive file utilizing DocC on GitHub Actions after which publish it on the web utilizing GitHub Pages as a static web site host.

Alongside the best way, you’ll be taught:

• generate the documentation within the DocC utilizing Xcode and the command line.
• configure a GitHub repo to host the generated documentation.
• arrange GitHub Actions to regenerate and republish the documentation once you push adjustments to the repo.

Getting Began

Begin by clicking Obtain supplies on the high or backside of this tutorial. Open GivenWithLove.xcworkspace within the Starter listing in Xcode.

You’ll discover the workspace incorporates the app in addition to a Swift bundle. For each, Xcode can construct the documentation. Whereas this tutorial is about calling DocC by way of command line, you should utilize the Xcode UI to construct the documentation. To take action, choose any simulator as a run vacation spot relatively than a tool or Any iOS Gadget. Then, open the Product menu, and choose Construct Documentation.

After a couple of seconds, Xcode builds the documentation after which routinely opens it within the Developer Documentation window.

On this tutorial, you’ll learn to execute this similar Motion from the command line, export it to HTML and host it utilizing GitHub Pages — all powered by GitHub Actions. However earlier than beginning and getting your palms on the keyboard, right here’s a fast assessment of what CI/CD and GitHub Actions imply.

Understanding CI/CD and GitHub Actions

For those who work with cellular or internet improvement, there’s an excellent likelihood you’re acquainted with the phrases steady integration (CI), steady supply (CD) and GitHub Actions. In the event that they’re new to you, no worries: You’re in the appropriate place!

What Is CI/CD?

When including new options or fixing bugs, it’s worthwhile to check your new code and confirm you didn’t break the rest. Otherwise you may work on an SDK and have to publish the up to date documentation. However doing it manually — time and again — is much from very best. To resolve this subject, and to cut back human error, an excellent apply is automating these duties.

Steady integration is the automation of constructing and testing code at any time when the model management system, equivalent to Git, detects new adjustments. Normally, utilizing webhooks, the Git distant repository updates the CI system concerning the adjustments. For instance, when the primary department has a brand new commit, when somebody creates a pull request or when a brand new tag is accessible, it updates the CI, which, in flip, runs particular workflows relying on the set off.

One other time period that steadily seems alongside CI is CD, which stands for “steady supply”. Moreover compiling and working exams on the brand new code, builders usually need to preview their adjustments with out performing guide operations. A CD system (no, not these outdated sound methods from the ’90s) addresses this want by deploying a preview web site or a beta app, and even absolutely releasing an app or a web site.

On the whole, CI/CD runs on a distant, hosted laptop, with the target of offloading time and sources from a developer’s machine, along with the round the clock availability.

Meet GitHub Actions

Though Git and CI/CD aren’t interchangeable ideas, they’re primarily intertwined. By definition, CI/CD should have entry to the supply code and be alert for the occasions talked about above. Due to the pure relationship between these instruments, in 2018, GitHub launched its personal workflow automation instrument. By offering each Git and CI/CD, GitHub can centralize them in a single place, permitting for a quicker, seamless developer expertise.

A repository on GitHub may comprise a number of workflows, every with a unique purpose. As an example, one workflow runs exams whereas one other builds and uploads a brand new app model. They run based mostly on triggered occasions: The exams’ workflow can run when there’s a brand new pull request, and the deploy workflow can begin as soon as a brand new Git tag is pushed. The workflow itself incorporates one or a number of jobs, which in flip include a number of steps.

A step could be a common terminal command, equivalent to working Swift, NodeJS or some other CLI instruments and binaries. However to make its CI much more highly effective, GitHub permits builders to create their very own constructing blocks and share them with the open-source neighborhood. These constructing blocks are known as actions, and your workflows can use these steps apart from working one-off script instructions. Right here’s the place GitHub’s platform makes a distinction, and the GitHub Market web page lets you seek for actions that may suit your wants.

Runners are one other essential element of GitHub Actions. A runner is a server hosted by GitHub that executes a job of a workflow. Upon execution of a job, a contemporary, clear digital machine is created, working the platform of your selection: Linux, Home windows or macOS.

The Workflow YAML File

GitHub Actions permits a number of workflows per repository, and every workflow describes its jobs and their steps utilizing a YAML file. For those who aren’t acquainted with the syntax, YAML is a knowledge serialization language extensively adopted within the business, principally for describing configuration recordsdata. Right here’s a brief instance of the way it works:

# Key-value pairs are separated by a colon and an area
title: Jane Appleseed
age: 30
metropolis: Cupertino

# Maps/Dictionaries use indentation to point out nested key-value pairs
deal with:
  road: 19400 Homestead Highway
  metropolis: Cupertino
  state: CA
  zip: 95014

# Arrays are denoted by a hyphen and an area, and might comprise any kind of information, together with nested dictionaries or arrays
fruits:
  - apple
  - orange
  - banana

As some individuals discover the syntax complicated, you’ll be able to go to Be taught YAML in Y minutes if you wish to be taught extra or have additional doubts. On-line linter instruments, equivalent to YAML Lint, are additionally beneficial when validating a YAML file.

One should place all workflow recordsdata within the .github/workflows listing of a repository. A later part will instruct you on tips on how to configure a workflow file for this tutorial’s objective, however listed below are among the most essential and frequent properties:

• title: The title GitHub shows for actions that ran a workflow underneath the “Actions” tab. It’s non-compulsory, defaulting to the workflow file title.
• on: A listing of occasions that set off a workflow, equivalent to pushes, new pull requests, webhooks and lots of extra. You may see the total listing of occasions on this hyperlink.
• jobs: A workflow consists of a number of jobs. Though they run in parallel, a job can have a dependency on one other job, which means it waits for one more’s completion earlier than beginning.
• runs-on: Each job in a workflow can run in a unique runner. The job should declare which working system and machine to run on. A number of the choices are macos-latest, macos-13, ubuntu-latest, ubuntu-18.04 and some other runner picture current on this listing.

The total listing of choices and parameters is accessible within the Workflow syntax for GitHub Actions web page.

Constructing the Documentation Regionally

Earlier than shifting straight to GitHub Actions, it is best to confirm that you would be able to construct the documentation domestically. To attain that — and to arrange the following steps of the automation — you’ll create a bash script to consolidate the instructions.

Creating the Script

First, open Terminal within the root listing of the pattern mission to create the script file. Enter the next command:

contact build-docc.sh

This creates a file named build-docc.sh. Earlier than enhancing it, make the script executable by including the suitable permission to the file so you’ll be able to run it later:

chmod +x build-docc.sh

Now, open it along with your textual content editor of selection, and add the next command:

##!/bin/sh

xcrun xcodebuild docbuild 
    -scheme GivenWithLove 
    -destination 'generic/platform=iOS Simulator' 
    -derivedDataPath "$PWD/.derivedData"

Though it’s unfold throughout 4 traces, it is a single command. Right here’s what it does:

1. xcrun is a instrument that permits interplay with Xcode by way of command line, and xcodebuild is the a part of it liable for constructing Xcode initiatives. docbuild is the subcommand that builds the documentation for a given goal.
2. Select the scheme you need to construct documentation for. On this case, it’s the GivenWithLove app.
3. Each the app and bundle have been constructed for iOS and import SwiftUI, so set the vacation spot to iOS. Some xcodebuild actions don’t require a selected machine or simulator to run on, so prefix the vacation spot with generic/. And since you don’t need to take care of code signing, select iOS Simulator as a substitute of an precise machine.
4. By default, xcodebuild generates its merchandise and locations them within the default derived information folder. Since you’ll want to search out the documentation it generates, use a customized derived information location, with a recognized path, for straightforward entry.

Operating the Script Regionally

Now, it’s time to make use of the script and generate the documentation domestically. Again in Terminal, run the next command:

./build-docc.sh

After a couple of moments, the command ought to succeed. As soon as the xcodebuild output ends its explosion of characters, you’re able to discover the generated documentation.

To search out the DocC archives, open the .derivedData folder. As a result of it’s a hidden folder, you may not see it straight away in Finder. To show hidden recordsdata and directories, press Command-Shift-.. As soon as you discover it, open it and go to the Construct folder, adopted by the Merchandise and the Debug-iphonesimulator directories. There, you’ll discover the GivenWithLove.doccarchive file. For those who can’t discover the hidden folder or need to bounce proper into the ultimate listing, run the next command:

open .derivedData/Construct/Merchandise/Debug-iphonesimulator

That is what you’ll see in that folder:

Double-click GivenWithLove.doccarchive, and Xcode will open the Developer Documentation window once more. Discover how Xcode now shows it underneath the Imported Documentation part, as xcrun constructed it:

Congrats! You simply generated your bundle’s documentation fully by way of Terminal instructions — with out interacting with the Xcode UI. Within the upcoming sections, you’ll learn to generate the identical recordsdata on GitHub Actions, rework them right into a website-compatible format and publish them to GitHub Pages.

Changing the Documentation to HTML

Whereas it’s attainable to view the DocC archive on a Mac, it’s nonetheless not the best format for publishing on the net. For that, Apple has added a command to docc that converts a .doccarchive enter right into a listing. This listing will comprise all the required recordsdata for publishing the documentation as a static web site.

Open the build-docc.sh file, and add the next traces after the present command:

xcrun docc process-archive transform-for-static-hosting 
    "$PWD/.derivedData/Construct/Merchandise/Debug-iphonesimulator/GivenWithLove.doccarchive" 
    --output-path ".docs" 
    --hosting-base-path "" # add your repo title later

By working this command, you’ll inform docc the place to search out the enter archive and the place it ought to place the output recordsdata: in a folder named .docs. After creating your repository on GitHub, you’ll have to set the hosting-base-path argument, however you’ll be able to go away it empty for now. Run the script once more to verify the outcome:

./build-docc.sh

After this command finishes, navigate to the .docs folder to see its contents:

open .docs

Notice: To view the documentation domestically, you’ll have to run a neighborhood server to host the web site. As working a neighborhood server isn’t within the scope of this tutorial and likewise isn’t important to it, it’s solely briefly talked about. When you’ve got Python 3 put in, you’ll be able to run the command python3 -m http.server -d .docs. In case your macOS doesn’t have Python, you’ll be able to set up it with homebrew — brew set up python3 — first. Upon getting the native server working, the documentation will probably be seen at http://localhost:8000/documentation/givenwithlove/.

Redirecting to the Documentation Web page

For those who have been in a position to serve the docs domestically, you is likely to be questioning why the foundation web page shows an error. It is because DocC organizes the recordsdata for static internet hosting within the following construction:

As you’ll be able to see, the givenwithlove listing is positioned underneath documentation. To view the documentation of an app or bundle, the deal with needs to be within the sample host.com/documentation/your-product-name as a substitute of accessing the foundation web page (host.com). Accessing the foundation web page ends in an error.

To assist your readers, you’ll be able to exchange the .docs/index.html file with a redirect, and the browser will lead them on to the right path.

Open the build-docc.sh file once more, and in a brand new line, add the next:

echo '<script>window.location.href += "/documentation/givenwithlove"</script>' > .docs/index.html

It will redirect the foundation web page to the documentation. Rerun build-docc.sh, restart your native server, and once you go to http://localhost:8000/, you’ll be redirected to the documentation web page.

Now, it’s time to maneuver on and get your palms on GitHub!

Setting Up GitHub Pages

To this point, you’ve realized tips on how to generate the .doccarchive file and convert it right into a format appropriate for static internet hosting. The subsequent step is defining the workflow file for working the identical script you ran domestically and publishing the content material to GitHub Pages.

GitHub Pages is one other service — you guessed proper, from GitHub — that permits builders to host static web site content material for a private profile or particular initiatives. It even permits customized domains with HTTPS help!

Activating GitHub Pages in Your Repository

Create an empty repository on GitHub for this tutorial. GitHub Pages solely works with non-public repos in case you’re on the Professional plan. In any other case, if in case you have a free GitHub account, ensure you create a public repository. To make pushing your commits smoother, don’t embody a Readme or a .gitignore file.

In your browser, open your new repository, and go to the Settings tab. Within the left pane, underneath the Code and automation part, click on Pages. Within the Construct and deployment part, click on the Supply menu, and select GitHub Actions. There are two methods of deploying to GitHub Pages, and though nonetheless in beta, publishing to Pages by way of Actions is the best way GitHub recommends (as a substitute of pushing to a selected department).

The GitHub Pages URL Format

GitHub Pages can host two kinds of pages: private and initiatives. Private pages are meant to be your “residence” on the net, whereas mission pages could be an open-source mission’s showcase.

Whereas private pages should belong to a repository named <username>.github.io, and the web page is accessible at https://username.github.io, mission pages work barely in another way. The repository can have any title, and customers can discover it at https://username.github.io/<repository-name>.

To take that into consideration, the export command can obtain a base path and alter the routes accordingly. Open — for the final time in the present day — the construct script at build-docc.sh. Within the second command, the place you see the remark, set your repository title within the already current, however empty, hosting-base-path argument:

--hosting-base-path "<your-repository-name>"

This makes your documentation conscious of the relative location during which it’s positioned on the web site when DocC transforms the documentation for publishing.

Transferring ahead, it’s time to arrange your workflow.

Configuring GitHub Actions

All of the GitHub Actions configuration you’ll want takes place within the workflow file, so there’s no want to vary the Actions settings. All workflow recordsdata should reside underneath the .github/workflows listing. To create one, run the next command:

mkdir -p .github/workflows

Now, create the YAML file you’ll use to outline your workflow:

contact .github/workflows/docc.yml

Defining the Workflow File

Open the file you simply created along with your textual content editor. Copy the traces beneath and paste them into this new file. Be sure that your textual content editor retains the house indentation as a substitute of changing them with tabs. YAML depends on the areas and the indentation to validate the content material and its construction.

#1
title: docc

#2
on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
  workflow_dispatch:

#3
permissions:
  pages: write
  id-token: write
  contents: learn

Right here’s what this file describes to date:

1. The title of this workflow.
2. The occasions that can set off working this workflow. The push set off will work when new commits are pushed to the primary department. Including workflow_dispatch permits manually triggering the workflow from the GitHub Actions UI.
3. Set permissions for the GitHub token working the Motion to permit deployment to GitHub Pages, and skim permissions for testing the repository content material.

A workflow incorporates a number of jobs. The primary stage of the workflow is working the script you ready above. To configure the job to take action, add the next code:

#1
jobs:
  construct:
    #2
    runs-on: macos-12
    #3
    steps:
      - title: Checkout Repository
        makes use of: actions/checkout@v3
        with:
          fetch-depth: 0
      #4
      - title: Run Construct Docs
        run: ./build-docc.sh
      #5
      - title: Setup Pages
        id: pages
        makes use of: actions/configure-pages@v3
      - title: Add artifact
        makes use of: actions/upload-pages-artifact@v1
        with:
          path: .docs

It is likely to be rather a lot, however breaking it down piece by piece makes it simpler to know:

1. Declare the roles map, and begin with the construct job.
2. As a result of the script depends on xcrun and Xcode, you’ll want a macOS runner. When utilizing DocC as a Swift bundle plugin, you should utilize a Linux machine as a substitute.
3. A number of steps make up a job. Declare the listing of steps, and begin by testing the repository taking solely the final commit. Subsequently, the fetch-depth choice is about to 0.
4. After testing the repository, run the build-docc.sh script.
5. Use the actions that GitHub supplies: one for configuring pages and one other for importing the contents that the script will generate and place underneath .docs. Discover how this is similar listing you set within the final line.

You’re nearly finished! Now, it’s worthwhile to outline a job to deploy what the construct job generated.

Publishing to GitHub Pages by way of Actions

Nonetheless within the docc.yml file, add the traces beneath. Take note of the truth that the deploy key ought to have the identical indentation because the construct key from the earlier snippet.

  #1
  deploy:
    #2
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    #3
    wants: construct
    #4
    steps:
      - title: Deploy to GitHub Pages
        id: deployment
        makes use of: actions/deploy-pages@v2 
    setting:
      title: github-pages
      url: ${{ steps.deployment.outputs.page_url }}

Right here’s what these traces imply:

1. Outline the deploy job.
2. As a result of Xcode isn’t obligatory anymore, you’ll be able to select a Linux runner.
3. The earlier job, construct, created and uploaded the artifacts. So, add a dependency on that job, which means that this one will solely run when the primary has completed.
4. Declare a single step for this job based mostly on the official actions/deploy-pages Motion. Set the setting variables it requires.

It’s lastly time to check all of it!

Operating the Workflow on GitHub Actions

For those who haven’t but created your repository domestically, run:

git init

As it is a new repository, all of your adjustments are file additions. After staging them, create an preliminary commit. Then, add the GitHub distant. Exchange your username and the repository title earlier than working this command:

git distant add origin https://github.com/<your-username>/<your-repository-name>.git

Create the primary department, and push your adjustments:

git department -M predominant && git push -u origin predominant

After pushing it to GitHub, open your repository web page, and go to the Actions tab. Within the listing, you’ll see the Motion you simply created, inside a couple of moments, within the queued state.

In some circumstances, the Motion may get caught within the queued state. If that’s the case, you’ve already outlined the workflow_dispatch occasion within the workflow, which permits manually triggering the Motion.

After shifting from the queued to the working state, click on the workflow run within the listing to see extra particulars:

Discover how, within the picture above, there’s a line between the construct and deploy. It represents the dependency of the deploy job on the construct job.

After a couple of minutes, each jobs needs to be full:

As you’ll be able to see, each jobs have inexperienced verify marks, making the run itself a profitable one. Underneath deploy, you’ll see a hyperlink. Clicking it can take you to https://<your-username>.github.io/<repository-name>, and the browser will show the documentation you labored so exhausting to publish:

The place to Go From Right here?

You may obtain the finished mission recordsdata by clicking Obtain supplies on the high or backside of the tutorial.

Congratulations on reaching the top of this tutorial! It included many steps: writing a shell script, making a repository, enabling GitHub Pages on it, defining your workflow file and working it. For those who made it right here, it means you realized and bought new abilities.

For those who already really feel the superpowers of automating your processes, you may need to increase your information within the CI/CD house, deepen your experience in GitHub Actions, and likewise in applied sciences or providers that host static content material and make its distribution even quicker with content material supply networks (CDNs). Right here’s what you can do subsequent:

• Wrap your steadily used steps right into a shareable Motion of your individual.
• Hook up with the net: Automate calling your workflows by way of webhooks and likewise name exterior webhooks out of your workflow steps.
• Automate era of Swift code that compiles on Linux, utilizing the DocC Swift Bundle Supervisor plugin, as a substitute of counting on Xcode and macOS. By doing so, you don’t want to make use of the macOS runners. The Linux runners will probably be sufficient, which is a constructive issue since they eat fewer credit than the macOS ones.
• Publish your documentation to different providers, equivalent to Netlify, which supplies a CDN on high of internet hosting.

We hope you loved this tutorial, and if in case you have any questions or feedback, please be a part of the discussion board dialogue beneath!