Multi Project / Solution Templates for Visual Studio 2012 with VSIX Installer and Nuget Packages

Question

I would like to have a multi-project template that will create sub projects, and will install the nuget dependencies as well as have a vsix installer that will install this template.

Problems with methods already tried

Multi project template without VSIX, no nuget

I was able to create a multi project template, and it worked fine, except when it came time to including nuget references, it did not work. There was no easy/elegant support for nuget that did not involve VSIX.

Multi project template with VSIX, without a root template

So I tried using VSIX, and it seemed very straightforward. Add a template project as a zip or from solution, build the vsix installer. But when I added the second project template, to create a multi project template, built it, installed the template and tried to create a project I realised that it does not support a master-sub project setup, where a master project creates sub projects. This was a big problem because developers would have to create each project in dependency order.

Fifine

Answer 1

I finally have the setup working. It took me many days of experimenting and patching together different MSDN articles and blogs to figure this out.

Combining Multi project template (with root template) and VSIX

The end result is

• Visual Studio 2012 VSIX project, which holds a packages folder that has all the nuget dependencies.
• A Zip file with the root/master template which links the multiple projects together that are also in the zip file in their corresponding folders.
• A built vsix installer which will install a single project template that has sub projects.
• This will allow you to maintain a template from a project that continues to grow, with very little effort, using the File-Export Template feature.
• Uses auto generated and customizable parameters to rename your template namespaces and files to match your new project name.

When creating a project with this template, it automatically creates multiple sub-projects, yet, the sub-projects are not (but can be) available as templates in the new project menu themselves. This is great if you are trying to template something like an enterprise design that is dependent on many projects working together, but you don’t want the user to be able to create these sub projects, or you want them to be available in a different project template area/category.

Steps:

1. Create a folder “MyTemplate”
2. Create a root.vstemplate file

3. Add the following to the file:

   <WizardExtension>
     <Assembly>NuGet.VisualStudio.Interop, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a</Assembly>
     <FullClassName>NuGet.VisualStudio.TemplateWizard</FullClassName>
   </WizardExtension>
   <WizardData>
     <packages repository="extension" repositoryId="fill this in">
       <package id="Newtonsoft.Json" version="5.0.6" />
     </packages>
   </WizardData>
   

4. Open your first project you wish to use as a “sub project” template, export template from File->Export Template.

5. Extract the zip contents to your MyTemplate folder, so you end up with MyTemplate/Project1
6. Open up the Project1.vstemplate from what you just extracted.

7. and paste in the following below the TemplateContent block (for example if you want to add a Json nuget package)

   <WizardExtension>
     <Assembly>NuGet.VisualStudio.Interop, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a</Assembly>
     <FullClassName>NuGet.VisualStudio.TemplateWizard</FullClassName>
   </WizardExtension>
   <WizardData>
     <packages repository="extension" repositoryId="fill this in">
       <package id="Newtonsoft.Json" version="5.0.6" />
     </packages>
   </WizardData>
   

8. Zip up your entire root folder MyTemplate, so you end up with MyTemplate.zip which has the contents of the MyTemplate folder.

9. Create a VSIX project (you will need Visual Studio 2012 SDK to have this template) from the Extensibility template category under C#.
10. Create a packages folder
11. Add the nuget package (.nupkg file only) you referenced in your sub projects vstemplate to the packages folder and in the files properties, set its build action to content, and Include in VSIX to true. In my case I added Newtonsoft.Json.5.0.6.nupkg.
12. In the source.extension.vsixmanifest set the Author name
13. In the Assets tab, click new and select project template from the drop down, then file on file-system in the next drop down.
14. Browse and select the zip you created, hit Ok. This will create a ProjectTemplates Folder with the zip.
15. Copy the Product Id from the top of the source.extension.vsixmanifest.
16. Open up the zip with a program like WinRar that allows you to save changes directly to the zip (the default windows zip app does not allow this).
17. Paste in the Product id into the repositoryid section
18. Save the changes to the zip file (make sure you go back to WinRar if thats what you are using, as it will have detected the changes and will ask you if you wish to update)
19. Build the solution and go to the bin/debug folder to run the vsix installer
20. Create your project

Optional Step to have your master project rename your files and namespaces

• Open each sub project vstemplate file, and add $safeprojectname$ to the DefaultName Element. e.g.

<DefaultName>$safeprojectname$.Domain</DefaultName>

Fifine

do you have a zip with an example you can share? – Nils

I did exactly what you have described, but when I want to create a new project I get the following error message: Package Installation Error This template wizard can only be applied to single-project or projetct-item templates. Do you know whats wrong here? – Duma

What if ProjectA has a reference to ProjectB? I tried both $safeprojectname$ and $projectname$ but didnt work. – Riane

@WhiteIntel: Do not add the packages in root.vstemplate file. just add those in relevant project.vstemplate it will solve the exception – Pancake