Since including private access members for consideration when generating documentation, the QDoc codebase now contains three nearly identical functions for determining whether private nodes should be included in documentation:

• shouldIncludePrivateNode() (duplicated in two locations)
• shouldWarnAboutUndocumentedPrivateNode()

These functions contain the same branching logic yet are used for different purposes. This creates a maintenance burden and risk of inconsistency when inclusion rules need to be modified.

We can implement the Strategy pattern to centralize inclusion policy logic:

• Extract configuration state into InclusionPolicy POD struct
• Extract node state into NodeContext POD struct
• Implement pure inclusion checking functions operating on PODs
• Use QFlags for efficient policy matching

The benefits of this approach include having a single source of truth for inclusion logic. This will become more important as we consider other, similar configurable inclusion rules, for example for the re-enablement of including \internal documentation. The multiple light-weight POD structure allows for reduced coupling between components and improved testability. Also, relying on an established and well-known pattern makes it a clear extension point for future rules and code maintainers.