1 files changed, 49 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/lib/puppet/reference/providers.rb b/lib/puppet/reference/providers.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2d9d7f8cb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/puppet/reference/providers.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+providers = Puppet::Util::Reference.newreference :providers, :doc => "Which providers are valid for this machine" do
+    types = []
+    Puppet::Type.loadall
+    Puppet::Type.eachtype do |klass|
+        next unless klass.providers.length > 0
+        types << klass
+    end
+    types.sort! { |a,b| a.name.to_s <=> b.name.to_s }
+
+    ret = ""
+    types.each do |type|
+        ret += h(type.name, 2)
+        features = type.features
+        unless features.empty?
+            ret += option("Available Features", features.collect { |f| f.to_s }.sort.join(", "))
+        end
+        ret += "\n" # add a trailing newline
+        type.providers.sort { |a,b| a.to_s <=> b.to_s }.each do |pname|
+            provider = type.provider(pname)
+            ret += h(provider.name, 3)
+
+            unless features.empty?
+                ret += option(:features, provider.features.collect { |a| a.to_s }.sort.join(", "))
+            end
+            if provider.suitable?
+                ret += option(:suitable?, "true")
+            else
+                ret += option(:suitable?, "false")
+            end
+            ret += "\n" # add a trailing newline
+        end
+        ret += "\n"
+    end
+
+    ret += "\n"
+
+    ret
+end
+providers.header = "
+Puppet resource types are usually backed by multiple implementations called ``providers``,
+which handle variance between platforms and tools.
+
+Different providers are suitable or unsuitable on different platforms based on things
+like the presence of a given tool.
+
+Here are all of the provider-backed types and their different providers.  Any unmentioned
+types do not use providers yet.
+
+"