Returns a URL of the external javadoc-generated documentation of the specified Java project's language item (package, class, method, fields,...).

This function allows you programming in the templates the processing of -link and -linkoffline command-line options in the same way as the Standard Javadoc Doclet does it.

When DocFlex/Doclet meets a -link or -linkoffline option on the Javadoc command line, it processes such an option so that the content of the package-list file referred from it is loaded into a special internal hash-table. Further, this function uses that table to translate any Java qualified name into a possible URL of the external documentation.

Parameter:

element

The Doc element representing the Java project or program item whose external documentation is needed.

It may be also a Type element, which is automatically converted to the ClassDoc by calling the method: Type.asClassDoc()

If this parameter is not specified, the generator context element is assumed by default, which is the same as the call: contextElement.getExternalDocURL()

Returns:

The URL of the external documentation.

The following table shows how the returned URL is produced (in Java code using Doclet API) depending on the docElement type:
docElement Returned URL
PackageDoc extdocURLs.get(packageDoc.name()) + '/' + "package-summary.html"
ClassDoc extdocURLs.get(classDoc.containingPackage()) + '/' + classDoc.name() + ".html"
ExecutableMemberDoc extdocURLs.get(methodDoc.containingPackage().name()) + '/' + methodDoc.containingClass().name() + ".html" + '#' + methodDoc.name() + methodDoc.signature()
FieldDoc extdocURLs.get(fieldDoc.containingPackage().name()) + '/' + fieldDoc.containingClass().name() + ".html" + '#' + fieldDoc.name()
neither of the above an empty string

Here, 'extdocURLs' is a hash-table initialized from package-list files that maps a package qualified name to the URL where the external documentation of that package is located.