@inheritdoc
The {@inheritDoc}
inline tag is used to indicate that the documentation
of a parent Structural Element
should be reused on a child element that
overrides it.
Syntax
{@inheritDoc}Description
When a Structural Element overrides another, phpDocumentor can reuse the documentation from the parent element so you do not have to repeat it. Most of that inheritance is performed automatically, see Inheritance for the full list of elements and tags that are inherited.
The {@inheritDoc}
inline tag makes this intent explicit in the source
code. Even though it uses inline-tag syntax, in phpDocumentor it is
typically written as the sole content of a summary to signal that the
DocBlock body should be inherited from the parent element.
Effects in phpDocumentor
phpDocumentor applies inheritance as follows:
- When the summary
of a DocBlock is missing or consists only of
{@inheritDoc}(matched case-insensitively), phpDocumentor uses the summary of the parent element instead. - When the description of a DocBlock is missing, phpDocumentor uses the description of the parent element.
Summary and description are resolved independently: a child DocBlock may keep its own summary while inheriting the description from the parent, or the other way around.
If no parent element can be resolved (for example on a root class or on an element that does not override anything), nothing is inherited and the DocBlock is rendered as written.
Examples
Reuse the summary and description of the parent method:
class ParentClass
{
/**
* This is the parent summary.
*
* This is the parent description.
*/
public function aMethod()
{
}
}
class ChildClass extends ParentClass
{
/**
* {@inheritDoc}
*/
public function aMethod()
{
}
}Keep the child summary but inherit the parent's description by leaving the description empty:
class ChildClass extends ParentClass
{
/**
* This is the child summary.
*/
public function aMethod()
{
}
}