I'm trying to create a multi-project template. On the New Project dialog,
the user would select this template and enter a name in the Name box (as if
they were creating a regular project). My multi-project vstemplate file
contains the following:

<VSTemplate Version="2.0.0" Type="ProjectGroup"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/vstemplate/2005">
<TemplateData>
<Name>MCIS Web Solution Template</Name>
<Description>MCIS Standard Web Solution Template</Description>
<Icon>__TemplateIcon.ico</Icon>
<ProjectType>VisualBasic</ProjectType>
</TemplateData>

<!-- Template Content -->
<TemplateContent>
<ProjectCollection>
<ProjectTemplateLink ReplaceParameters="true"
ProjectName="Schema">Source\Schema\Schema.vstempla te</ProjectTemplateLink>
</ProjectCollection>
<CustomParameters>
<CustomParameter Name="$solutionname$"
Value="MCIS.Applications.$safeprojectname$" />
</CustomParameters>
</TemplateContent>
</VSTemplate>

How would I go about passing the $solutionname$ parameter to the Schema
template so the Schema.vbproj file can set the root namespace and assembly
name to MCIS.Applications.<solution name here>.Schema? I'm kinda stuck. In
my Schema.vstemplate file, I can set custom parameters, but I don't know how
to create a custom parameter that has the name of the multi-project solution
as the value of the parameter....the following is my Schema.vstemplate that
does not work:


<VSTemplate Version="2.0.0" Type="Project"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/vstemplate/2005">
<!-- Template Information -->
<TemplateData>
<Name>Schema</Name>
<Description>MCIS Schema Project Template</Description>
<Icon>__TemplateIcon.ico</Icon>
<ProjectType>VisualBasic</ProjectType>
<CreateNewFolder>true</CreateNewFolder>
<ProvideDefaultName>true</ProvideDefaultName>
<DefaultName>Schema</DefaultName>
<LocationField>Enabled</LocationField>
<EnableLocationBrowseButton>true</EnableLocationBrowseButton>
</TemplateData>

<!-- Template Contents -->
<TemplateContent>
<Project File="Schema.vbproj" ReplaceParameters="true"
TargetFileName="Source\Schema\Schema.vbproj">
<Folder Name="classes">
<Folder Name="searchcriteria" />
</Folder>
<Folder Name="datasets" />
<Folder Name="My Project">
<ProjectItem
ReplaceParameters="true">Application.myapp</ProjectItem>
<ProjectItem
ReplaceParameters="true">Application.Designer.vb</ProjectItem>
<ProjectItem
ReplaceParameters="true">AssemblyInfo.vb</ProjectItem>
<ProjectItem
ReplaceParameters="true">Settings.settings</ProjectItem>
<ProjectItem
ReplaceParameters="true">Settings.Designer.vb</ProjectItem>
</Folder>
</Project>
<CustomParameters>
<CustomParameter Name="$mcisnamespace$"
Value="$solutionname$.Schema" />
</CustomParameters>
</TemplateContent>
</VSTemplate>

In my Schema.vbproj I have:
<Project .. >
<PropertyGroup>
...
<RootNamespace>$mcisnamespace$</RootNamespace>
...
</PropertyGroup>
...
</Project>

Thanks,
Mythran

Hi Mythran,

Thank you for posting here!

I notice that you have posted the same question in our
microsoft.public.vstudio.extensibility newsgroup, which I have already
responded. So please check my answer there and if you need any further
assistance on this particular issue, please reply to me in that thread so
that I can follow up with you in time.

Please go to
http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/?dg=microsoft.public.v
studio.extensibility&mid=bb27115d-2a8b-4131-bb3e-1c74b3b13688 to view my
reply.

For your convenience, I have included my reply as following:

---------------------
Do you mean that you want to pass the project name filled by the user when
creating a new project by multiple project template to its sub-project
template as a parameter? So that the sub-project name can contain the user
input project name. Please correct me if I am wrong.

As far as I know, custom parameters will not inherit from root template to
its sub-project templates. However, some default parameters can be passed
to its sub-project templates.
In root template file, we use <ProjectTemplateLink> element to include
sub-project template. Its attribute "ProjectName" will be considered as
default parameters "$projectname$" and "$safeprojectname$" in sub-project
templates. We could also use parameters to specify the "ProjectName"
attribute no matter we set "ReplaceParameters" attribute or not. (Note that
there is no "ReplaceParameters" attribute in <ProjectTemplateLink> element
schema.)

Now we could do like this:
1. Define a custom parameter named "$solutionname$" with value
"MCIS.Applications.$safeprojectname$".
2. Specify the attribute "ProjectName" as "$solutionname$.Schema" in
<ProjectTemlateLink> element.
3. In the Schema.vbproj file, using "$projectname$" or "$safeprojectname$"
to specify its <RootNamespace> element.

Here is the vstemplate files after change:

Root vstemplate file:
-------------------------------------------------------
<VSTemplate Version="2.0.0" Type="ProjectGroup"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/vstemplate/2005">
<TemplateData>
<Name>MCIS Web Solution Template</Name>
<Description>MCIS Standard Web Solution Template</Description>
<Icon>__TemplateIcon.ico</Icon>
<ProjectType>VisualBasic</ProjectType>
</TemplateData>

<!-- Template Content -->
<TemplateContent>
<ProjectCollection>
<ProjectTemplateLink
ProjectName=""$solutionname$.Schema">Source\Schema \Schema.vstemplate</Projec
tTemplateLink>
</ProjectCollection>
<CustomParameters>
<CustomParameter Name="$solutionname$"
Value="MCIS.Applications.$safeprojectname$" />
</CustomParameters>
</TemplateContent>
</VSTemplate>
-------------------------------------------------------

Schema.vstemplate
-------------------------------------------------------
<VSTemplate Version="2.0.0" Type="Project"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/vstemplate/2005">
<!-- Template Information -->
<TemplateData>
<Name>Schema</Name>
<Description>MCIS Schema Project Template</Description>
<Icon>__TemplateIcon.ico</Icon>
<ProjectType>VisualBasic</ProjectType>
<CreateNewFolder>true</CreateNewFolder>
<ProvideDefaultName>true</ProvideDefaultName>
<DefaultName>Schema</DefaultName>
<LocationField>Enabled</LocationField>
<EnableLocationBrowseButton>true</EnableLocationBrowseButton>
</TemplateData>

<!-- Template Contents -->
<TemplateContent>
<Project File="Schema.vbproj" ReplaceParameters="true"
TargetFileName="Source\Schema\Schema.vbproj">
<Folder Name="classes">
<Folder Name="searchcriteria" />
</Folder>
<Folder Name="datasets" />
<Folder Name="My Project">
<ProjectItem
ReplaceParameters="true">Application.myapp</ProjectItem>
<ProjectItem
ReplaceParameters="true">Application.Designer.vb</ProjectItem>
<ProjectItem
ReplaceParameters="true">AssemblyInfo.vb</ProjectItem>
<ProjectItem
ReplaceParameters="true">Settings.settings</ProjectItem>
<ProjectItem
ReplaceParameters="true">Settings.Designer.vb</ProjectItem>
</Folder>
</Project>
</TemplateContent>
</VSTemplate>
-------------------------------------------------------

Schema.vbproj
-------------------------------------------------------
<Project .. >
<PropertyGroup>
...
<RootNamespace>$safeprojectname$</RootNamespace>
...
</PropertyGroup>
...
</Project>

-------------------------------------------------------

---------------------

Thank you and have a nice day!

Regards,
Hongye Sun (hongyes (AT) online (DOT) microsoft.com, remove 'online.')
Microsoft Online Community Support

Delighting our customers is our #1 priority. We welcome your comments and
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Parameters can be passed among sub projects using a wizard. Here's how I do it:

You have several projects in the zip file for that template. Each has its
own vstemplate file in addition to the master vstemplate.

1. Write a wizard (class library that implements IWizard). Here's the trick:
ALL VARIABLES THAT YOU WANT TO PASS AMONG PROJECTS MUST BE STATIC:

private static string namespace;

2. Add a form to accept input from the user.
3. Only show the form for the multi-project template:

public void RunStarted(object automationObject,
Dictionary<string, string> replacementsDictionary,
WizardRunKind runKind, object[] customParams)
{
if (runKind == WizardRunKind.AsMultiProject)
{
//show your form and handle the user input
}
}

4. Build the wizard with a strongly named key, and add to your GAC
5. Edit ALL vstemplate files to include the WizardExtension tag pointing to
your wizard.

That's all you need to do.

Hope this helps you.

"Bob Egan" <Bob Egan (AT) discussions (DOT) microsoft.com> wrote

This is what I ended up doing. Sorry it took me so long to reply (and the
original message may or may not still be on the server)...there were quite a
few issues with templates in Visual Studio 2008 that I had to use
workarounds for (modifying the sub-directory the projects get placed into
.... had to implement IDTWizard and use VSZ files for the projects so I had a
Wizard and template wizard for the projects).

Thanks

Mythran

With pretty much similar requirement, I followed exactly your said steps, but still I'm not able to get it done. I mean, get sub projects replaced with parameter value when I am creating 2 projects from a template. Can I debug ? How ?

Thans in advance.