Trait CollectionRule 

pub trait CollectionRule: Send + Sync {
    // Required methods
    fn id(&self) -> &'static str;
    fn name(&self) -> &'static str;
    fn description(&self) -> &'static str;
    fn metadata(&self) -> RuleMetadata;
    fn check_collection(
        &self,
        documents: &[Document],
    ) -> Result<Vec<Violation>, MdBookLintError>;

    // Provided methods
    fn create_violation(
        &self,
        message: String,
        line: usize,
        column: usize,
        severity: Severity,
    ) -> Violation { ... }
    fn create_violation_for_file(
        &self,
        path: &Path,
        message: String,
        line: usize,
        column: usize,
        severity: Severity,
    ) -> Violation { ... }
}

Trait for rules that analyze multiple documents together

Collection rules are useful for cross-document validation such as:

• Checking for duplicate identifiers across files
• Validating inter-document links
• Ensuring sequential numbering across a set of documents
• Detecting inconsistencies between related documents

Unlike regular Rule implementations which process documents one at a time, CollectionRule implementations receive all documents at once, allowing them to perform comparisons and validations across the entire collection.

Implementation Example

use mdbook_lint_core::rule::{CollectionRule, RuleMetadata, RuleCategory};
use mdbook_lint_core::{Document, Violation, Result};

pub struct NoDuplicateTitles;

impl CollectionRule for NoDuplicateTitles {
    fn id(&self) -> &'static str { "COLL001" }
    fn name(&self) -> &'static str { "no-duplicate-titles" }
    fn description(&self) -> &'static str { "No two documents should have the same title" }

    fn metadata(&self) -> RuleMetadata {
        RuleMetadata::stable(RuleCategory::Structure)
    }

    fn check_collection(&self, documents: &[Document]) -> Result<Vec<Violation>> {
        // Implementation would collect titles and check for duplicates
        Ok(Vec::new())
    }
}

Required Methods

fn id(&self) -> &'static str

Unique identifier for the rule (e.g., “ADR010”)

fn name(&self) -> &'static str

Human-readable name for the rule (e.g., “adr-sequential-numbering”)

fn description(&self) -> &'static str

Description of what the rule checks

fn metadata(&self) -> RuleMetadata

Metadata about this rule’s status and properties

fn check_collection( &self, documents: &[Document], ) -> Result<Vec<Violation>, MdBookLintError>

Check a collection of documents for violations

This method receives all documents that should be analyzed together. Implementations should filter the documents as needed (e.g., only ADR files) and return violations that reference specific documents by path.

Provided Methods

fn create_violation( &self, message: String, line: usize, column: usize, severity: Severity, ) -> Violation

Create a violation for this rule

fn create_violation_for_file( &self, path: &Path, message: String, line: usize, column: usize, severity: Severity, ) -> Violation

Create a violation with a file path prefix in the message

Implementors