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Visual Studio template manifest schema reference

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Applies to: yesVisual Studio noVisual Studio for Mac

Note

This article applies to Visual Studio 2017. If you're looking for the latest Visual Studio documentation, see Visual Studio documentation. We recommend upgrading to the latest version of Visual Studio. Download it here

This schema describes the format of the Visual Studio template manifest (.vstman) files that are generated for Visual Studio project or item templates. The schema also describes the location and other relevant information about the template.

: Because there are separate item and project template directories, a manifest should never have a mix of item and project templates.

Important

This manifest is available starting in Visual Studio 2017.

VSTemplateManifest element

The root element of the manifest.

Attributes

  • Version: A string representing the version of the template manifest. Required.

  • Locale: A string representing the locale or locales of the template manifest. The locale value applies to all templates. You must use a separate manifest for each locale. Optional.

Child elements

  • VSTemplateContainer Optional.

  • VSTemplateDir Optional.

Parent element

None.

VSTemplateContainer

The container of the template manifest elements. A manifest has one template container for each template it defines.

Attributes

VSTemplateType: A string value that specifies the type of the template ("Project", "Item", or "ProjectGroup"). Required

Child elements

  • RelativePathOnDisk: The relative path of the template file on disk. This location also defines the placement of the template in the template tree shown in the New Project or New Item dialog. For templates deployed as a directory and individual files, this path refers to the directory containing the template files. For templates deployed as a .zip file, this path should be the path to the .zip file.

  • **VSTemplateHeader: A TemplateData element that describes the header.

Parent element

VSTemplateManifest

VSTemplateDir

Describes the directory where the template is located. A manifest can contain multiple VSTemplateDir entries to provide localized name and sort ordering for directories to control their appearance in template category tree.

Due to their design, VSTemplateDir entries should appear only in non-locale specified manifests.

Attributes

None.

Child elements

  • RelativePath: The path of the template. There can be only one entry per path, so the first one will win for all manifests.

  • LocalizedName: A NameDescriptionIcon element that specifies the localized name. Optional.

  • SortOrder: A string that specifies the sort order. Optional.

  • ParentFolderOverrideName: The overridden name of the parent folder. Optional. This element has a Name attribute, which is a string value that specifies the name.

Parent element

VSTemplateManifest

NameDescriptionIcon

Specifies the name and description, possibly for localized templates. See LocalizedName above.

Attributes

  • Package: A string value that specifies the package. Optional.

  • ID: A string value that specifies the ID. Optional.

Child elements

None.

Parent element

LocalizedName

Examples

The following code is an example of a project template .vstman file.

<VSTemplateManifest Version="1.0" Locale="1033" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/vstemplatemanifest/2015">
  <VSTemplateContainer TemplateType="Project">
    <RelativePathOnDisk>CSharp\1033\TestProjectTemplate</RelativePathOnDisk>
    <TemplateFileName>TestProjectTemplate.vstemplate</TemplateFileName>
    <VSTemplateHeader>
      <TemplateData xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/vstemplate/2005">
        <Name>TestProjectTemplate</Name>
        <Description>TestProjectTemplate</Description>
        <Icon>TestProjectTemplate.ico</Icon>
        <ProjectType>CSharp</ProjectType>
        <RequiredFrameworkVersion>2.0</RequiredFrameworkVersion>
        <SortOrder>1000</SortOrder>
        <TemplateID>aac0aeea-7883-4003-992f-937d53d70ab1</TemplateID>
        <CreateNewFolder>true</CreateNewFolder>
        <DefaultName>TestProjectTemplate</DefaultName>
        <ProvideDefaultName>true</ProvideDefaultName>
      </TemplateData>
    </VSTemplateHeader>
  </VSTemplateContainer>
</VSTemplateManifest>

The following code is an example of an item template .vstman file.

<VSTemplateManifest Version="1.0" Locale="1033" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/vstemplatemanifest/2015">
  <VSTemplateContainer TemplateType="Item">
    <RelativePathOnDisk>CSharp\1033\ItemTemplate1</RelativePathOnDisk>
    <TemplateFileName>ItemTemplate1.vstemplate</TemplateFileName>
    <VSTemplateHeader>
      <TemplateData xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/vstemplate/2005">
        <Name>ItemTemplate1</Name>
        <Description>ItemTemplate1</Description>
        <Icon>ItemTemplate1.ico</Icon>
        <TemplateID>bfeadf8e-a251-4109-b605-516b88e38c8d</TemplateID>
        <ProjectType>CSharp</ProjectType>
        <RequiredFrameworkVersion>2.0</RequiredFrameworkVersion>
        <NumberOfParentCategoriesToRollUp>1</NumberOfParentCategoriesToRollUp>
        <DefaultName>Class.cs</DefaultName>
      </TemplateData>
    </VSTemplateHeader>
  </VSTemplateContainer>
</VSTemplateManifest>