docs/getting_started/docs-build.rst

Building Documentation
======================

To create a rendered copy of this documentation locally you can use the
`Sphinx`_ tool to build and package the plain-text documents into HTML-formatted
pages.

If you are building the documentation for the first time then you will need to
check that you have the required software packages, as described in the
*Prerequisites* section that follows.

.. note::
   An online copy of the documentation is available at
   https://www.trustedfirmware.org/docs/tf-a, if you want to view a rendered
   copy without doing a local build.

Prerequisites
-------------

For building a local copy of the |TF-A| documentation you will need:

- Python 3 (3.5 or later)
- PlantUML (1.2017.15 or later)
- Python modules specified in ``docs/requirements.txt``

   You can install these with ``pip3`` (the Python Package Installer) by
   passing it the requirements file above (with ``-r``). An optional ``--user``
   argument will install them locally, but you have to add their location to
   $PATH (pip will emit a warning). Alternatively, they can be installed
   globally (but will probably require root privileges).

   .. note::
      Although not necessary, it is recommended you use a virtual environment.
      More advanced usage instructions for *pip* are beyond the scope of this
      document but you can refer to the `pip homepage`_ for detailed guides.

- Optionally, the `Dia`_ application can be installed if you need to edit
  existing ``.dia`` diagram files, or create new ones.

An example set of installation commands for Ubuntu follows, assuming that the
working directory is ``docs``:

.. code:: shell

    sudo apt install python3 python3-pip plantuml [dia]
    pip3 install [--user] -r requirements.txt

.. note::
   Several other modules will be installed as dependencies. Please review
   the list to ensure that there will be no conflicts with other modules already
   installed in your environment.

Building rendered documentation
-------------------------------

Documents can be built into HTML-formatted pages from project root directory by
running the following command.

.. code:: shell

   make doc

Output from the build process will be placed in:

::

   docs/build/html

We also support building documentation in other formats. From the ``docs``
directory of the project, run the following command to see the supported
formats. It is important to note that you will not get the correct result if
the command is run from the project root directory, as that would invoke the
top-level Makefile for |TF-A| itself.

.. code:: shell

   make help

Building rendered documentation from a container
------------------------------------------------

There may be cases where you can not either install or upgrade required
dependencies to generate the documents, so in this case, one way to
create the documentation is through a docker container. The first step is
to check if `docker`_ is installed in your host, otherwise check main docker
page for installation instructions. Once installed, run the following script
from project root directory

.. code:: shell

   docker run --rm -v $PWD:/TF sphinxdoc/sphinx \
          bash -c 'cd /TF && \
          pip3 install plantuml -r ./docs/requirements.txt && make doc'

The above command fetches the ``sphinxdoc/sphinx`` container from `docker
hub`_, launches the container, installs documentation requirements and finally
creates the documentation. Once done, exit the container and output from the
build process will be placed in:

::

   docs/build/html

--------------

*Copyright (c) 2019, Arm Limited. All rights reserved.*

.. _Sphinx: http://www.sphinx-doc.org/en/master/
.. _pip homepage: https://pip.pypa.io/en/stable/
.. _Dia: https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Dia
.. _docker: https://www.docker.com/
.. _docker hub: https://hub.docker.com/repository/docker/sphinxdoc/sphinx