I have a javascript function that returns a constructor (see code sample below). How would I document this with the @returns tag of jsdoc. It doesnt seem correct to do @returns {MyConstructor} because that implies I am returning an instance of "MyConstructor" rather than the constructor itself, right?
function MyConstructor() {
var self = this;
self.myFunction = function() {
return true;
};
self.getMyFunctionResult = function() {
return self.myFunction();
};
}
/**
* @returns {?} A constructor that will be instantiated
*/
function getConstructor() {
return MyConstructor;
}
var constructor = getConstructor();
var instance = new constructor();
You can check the types returned by your functions using:
console.log(typeof constructor, typeof instance); // function object
In the documentation it says:
/**
* Returns the sum of a and b
* @param {Number} a
* @param {Number} b
* @returns {Number} Sum of a and b
*/
function sum(a, b) {
return a + b;
}
http://usejsdoc.org/tags-returns.html
So in you example it would be:
/**
* Returns the MyConstructor class
* @returns {Function} MyConstructor class
*/
function getConstructor() {
return MyConstructor;
}
Or if you are creating an instance of an Item:
/**
* Returns an instance of the MyConstructor class
* @returns {Object} MyConstructor instance
*/
function getInstance() {
return new MyConstructor();
}