How do I create a Visual Studio project template that includes linked files?

Question

In Visual Studio 2010, I want to create a project template that includes links to two files that should exist on the system. One of them is a common AssemblyInfo.cs file. Another is the strong name key file (*.snk).

I need these references to be relative, because each developer's workspace will be set up differently. Is it possible for the project template to somehow figure out where these files reside in each developer's environment?

From reading about templates, it sound like they're pretty static so I wonder if tricks can be done to do something like this. If nothing else, I can add bogus references that will cause compilation errors and force the developer to hook these files in. But if I can do it for them, that would be better.

score 19 · Answer 1 · edited Feb 21 '12 at 18:44

19

You should set the CreateInPlace property to true in the vstemplate. The documentation says

Specifies whether to create the project and perform parameter replacement in the specified location, or perform parameter replacement in a temporary location and then save the project to the specified location.

If you want relative paths to work, you need the parameter replacement to occur in the place where you're creating the project, not in a temporary location.

edited Feb 21 '12 at 18:44

Anthony Mastrean

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answered Jan 05 '12 at 12:28

Wilhelm Medetz

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Spot on what I needed, cheers. Just a quick note about the MSDN documentation, it states that the default is true but it seems to actually be false for VS 2012 project templates. – Adrian Smith Aug 20 '13 at 16:13
CreateInPlace is broken for VC++ project templates. Confirmed as a bug: http://connect.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/feedback/details/789683/problem-with-createinplace-tag-in-project-template – makhdumi May 02 '14 at 17:52

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 23 '11 at 10:00

Microsoft have confirmed that this is a bug with the extensibility model and project templates. I managed to get round this by using IWizard. I added the following code in the RunFinished method of my IWizard implementation:

    //Get linked file directory
    string coreDir = Path.GetDirectoryName(MyProject.FullName);

    //Data folder
    ProjectItem propertiesProjectItem = slSharedProject.ProjectItems.Cast<ProjectItem>().Where(p => p.Name == "Data").First();
    propertiesProjectItem.ProjectItems.AddFromFile(coreDir + @"\Service\TheFileIWantToLink.cs");

This code links in a copy of TheFileIWantToLink.cs file to my shared Silverlight project (slSharedProject).

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered May 25 '11 at 20:32

You could try to integrate a Wizard into your Project Template and set the Paths to the linked files. If i remember right you don't have to create an User Inteface; you only have to specify the correct replacements in the replacementsDictionary and VS will replace the values in your Template File. See this or this for further information.

How do I create a Visual Studio project template that includes linked files?

3 Answers3