How do I reference a secondary constructor in KDoc?

Question

I have a Kotlin class with a secondary constructor, that is supposed to be used in a certain scenario. Now this should be properly documented from the first constructor so you can see it right away.

/**
* This is my class.
* 
* @constructor This is the primary constructor meant for Scenario A.
* If you are in Scenario B, please use [reference to secondary constructor] <- what do I put in here?
*/
class MyClass(val a: String) {

    constructor(b: Int) : this("$b abc")

}

I have not the slightest idea what to put in the square brackets that are meant for referencing members/functions, but I feel it should be possible. Would be great if somebody knows more about this

Answer 1

I couldn't find any possibility to exactly do what you want to do, but I did find an alternative. So the KDocs documentation here: KDoc, explicitly says that @constructor is specific for the primary constructor, but there is no mention to a multiple constructors. Reading through the forums and through the issues created I also found something about this issue, but I couldn't find anything there. However I did came up with an idea that isn't perfect, but I guess its the best we can find for now:

/**
 * This is my class.
 *
 * @property a A String
 * @constructor This is the primary constructor meant for Scenario A.
 * If you are in Scenario B, please use constructor MyClass with an [Int] as input argument
 */
class MyClass(val a: String) {

    /**
     * This is the other constructor
     * @param b Integer
     */
    constructor(b: Int) : this("$b abc")

}

This allows you to document at least the existence of the second constructor, on the primary constructor, and then the developers can check the docs for it because that does work. So everything gets documented, just not yet with a direct link. At least here, awareness of the second or multiple other constructors will always be achieved.