CodeSmith Generator Projects manage groups of CodeSmith Generator templates and their outputs all in a single CodeSmith Generator Project file (.csp). CodeSmith Generator Projects are files that enable you to run an entire generation process at anytime in a simplistic manner from many different environments.
A CodeSmith Generator Project file uses a .csp file windows extension, and stores XML metadata about your CodeSmith Generator Project.
Learn more by reading Anatomy of a Project File. |
A CodeSmith Generator Project file can be generated or configured by right clicking on on a CodeSmith Generator Project File (.csp).
CodeSmith Generator Project files enable the management and execution of a generation process in many environments.
Managing a CodeSmith Generator Project right from Windows Explorer is simple and doesn't require you to use CodeSmith Generator to manage a project. Options are available through the right-click context menu in your CodeSmith Generator Project file (.csp).
The menu options include:
Learn more by reading Using CodeSmith Generator Project from Windows Explorer. |
You can Generate Outputs of a CodeSmith Generator Project in the command line by using the Using the CodeSmith Generator Console ApplicationCodeSmith Generator Console application. You would simply call:
cs MyCodeSmithProject.csp |
The tight integration with Visual Studio allows you to fully manage any CodeSmith Generator Project right from Visual Studio. To manage a CodeSmith Generator Project, you can use the Right-Click context menu of a CodeSmith Generator Project file from the Solution Explorer window.
The menu options include:
Learn more by reading Using a CodeSmith Generator Project inside Visual Studio. |
CodeSmith Generator projects can be run from your MSBuild projects by adding the following line to your project file:
<CodeSmith ProjectFile="MyProject.csp" /> |
When you set the BuildAction to Generate in Visual Studio, you're actually using the CodeSmith Generate Target, located in: C:\Program Files\MSBuild\CodeSmith\CodeSmith.targets or C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\CodeSmith\CodeSmith.targets You can import this target in your Visual Studio Projects by using the Import tag.
<Import Project="$(MSBuildExtensionsPath)\CodeSmith\CodeSmith.targets" /> |
Learn more by reading Using a CodeSmith Generator Project from MSBuild. |