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Using GPT to document javascripting

JeffJohnVol

I'm starting to get really good at the scripting thing and am really having fun with this platform. If you aren't paying for the upgraded plan to be able to use scripting, you should consider it. There are so many things that I have been able to fix or create that I couldn't with the general platform for general tasks.

As I am building up a large number of automations, I sometimes have difficulty remembering what I may have done 2 weeks ago, etc. I have a paid ChatGPT account and asked it to document my code and to put it into dokuwiki format so I could host it on our wiki page for other team members to help debug, etc.

It's pretty incredible how well it does it.  You can see the output here: https://wiki.chattlab.org/code_breakdown for one of the sample cases.

In another case, I asked it to look at the code and make a text based flowchart of it, and it gave me the block below.  It's such a great tool to help document code and find issues.

Start
|
v
Load Inputs (Rec_ID, Meeting_ID) and Initialize Variables
|
v
Load Records from the Table
|
v
Iterate Through Records
|
+--> Does groupField match Meeting_ID?
| |
| +--> No --> Skip Record
|
+--> Yes
|
v
Parse autoNumberField and Compare with maxautoNumberValue
|
v
Update maxautoNumberValue if Current Value is Greater
|
v
Increment maxautoNumberValue by 1
|
v
Update Record with ID Rec_ID
|
v
End

 

Jeff JohnsonPresident, ChattLab Makerspace
Kenneth_Raghuna
TheTimeSavingCo
2 people like this
  • Kenneth_Raghuna
    Kenneth_Raghuna
  • TheTimeSavingCo
    TheTimeSavingCo

2 replies

kuovonne
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  • kuovonne
  • Brainy
  • 5987 replies
  • January 21, 2025

Congrats on your progress on your scripting journey. Scripting is a powerful tool and I encourage anyone who is curious about scripting to jump in.

 

I have been hesitant to use AI to document code. Perhaps you can help me better understand the workflows involved for AI generated documentation.

- How do you ensure that the AI generated documentation is accurate? Do you read through it and compare it to the actual code? What do you do if you find inconsistencies?

- How do you maintain the AI generated documentation when the code changes? Do you regenerate the entire AI documentation? Do you manually change just the portions of the documentation that change? Do you have AI regenerate portions of the documentation, and if so, how do you manage the prompting for that?

- How do you use the documentation after it is generated? (Not just how it could be used, but how has it actually been used 2 months, 6 months, a year later?)

- Do you feel that using AI generated documentation has improved your ability to write new code?

JeffJohnVol
  • JeffJohnVol
  • Author
  • Inspiring
  • 44 replies
  • January 22, 2025

Answers to your inquiries....

- How do you ensure that the AI generated documentation is accurate? Do you read through it and compare it to the actual code? What do you do if you find inconsistencies?

Well, The code pieces I wrote were pretty basic, and I found that most errors, if existed were pretty obvious. For example, I asked it to make a flowchart and it made this silly cartoon thing.  I replied that it was not accurate and just a jumble of random nonsense and it then did the text version, which I found to be solid.

I didn't match each variable and thing it wrote out, but it seemed pretty accurate with what I wrote, and best of all, I was able to come back a week or two later and remember what I was trying to do. Having 15 to 20 scripts I lose track when I come back later. Apparently Woodford Reserve clears my long term memory.... 😉

- How do you maintain the AI generated documentation when the code changes? Do you regenerate the entire AI documentation? Do you manually change just the portions of the documentation that change? Do you have AI regenerate portions of the documentation, and if so, how do you manage the prompting for that?

I would have to regenerate it. This was just a test case I did. I would probably wait until the end of my testing to do this documentation. It's mostly for when others take over after me, so I don't think I'd be re-doing this on a daily basis.

- How do you use the documentation after it is generated? (Not just how it could be used, but how has it actually been used 2 months, 6 months, a year later?)

I haven't used it yet, as I said, I just tested it to see if it'd work, and I may find more flaws later.  I hope to use it mostly to be able to search and remind myself.

- Do you feel that using AI generated documentation has improved your ability to write new code?

Documentation hasn't helped, but the AI analysis to find errors and correct my code has, as it points out my errors and explains it.

Jeff JohnsonPresident, ChattLab Makerspace

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