Here are the key features and components of Spring REST Docs:
Here’s a simplified example of how Spring REST Docs works:
@RunWith(SpringRunner.class)
@SpringBootTest
@AutoConfigureRestDocs(outputDir
= "build/generated-snippets")
public class ApiDocumentation
{
@Autowired private
WebApplicationContext context;
private MockMvc mockMvc;
@Before
public void setUp()
{
this.mockMvc = MockMvcBuilders
.webAppContextSetup
(context)
.apply(documentationConfiguration
(restDocumentation))
.build();
}
@Test
public void exampleDocumentation()
throws Exception
{
this.mockMvc.perform(get
("/api/resource/{id}", 1))
.andExpect(status().isOk())
.andDo(document("resource",
pathParameters(
parameterWithName
("id").description
("The ID of the resource to retrieve")
),
responseFields(
fieldWithPath("id").description
("The ID of the resource"),
fieldWithPath("name").description
("The name of the resource")
)
));
}
}
In this example, a Spring MVC test is written to document the /api/resource/{id}
endpoint. The andDo(document(...))
method is used to specify the documentation format and describe the request and response fields.
After running the tests, Spring REST Docs generates documentation in the specified output directory (build/generated-snippets) in the chosen format (e.g., AsciiDoc, HTML). You can then include this documentation in your project’s documentation set or publish it for API consumers.
Spring REST Docs is a powerful tool for keeping your API documentation up-to-date and ensuring that it accurately reflects your API’s behavior. It encourages a test-driven approach to documentation, which is especially beneficial for complex APIs that may change over time.