Creating Custom Templates

A custom Microsoft^® Visual InterDev™ template is any .htm, .asp, or other text file that you create and place in the Templates directory. You can further customize the template by including parameters that prompt the user for input that is added to the new file based on the template.

A template can be:

To create a custom template

• Move your .htm .asp, or other text file to the Templates directory. The installation default is "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\VintDev98\Templates".

You can further customize a template so that it prompts the user for input when creating a new file.

To prompt the user for input

• Use delimiters (<%# and #%>) in the template to create a parameter.

  Parameters can be up to 100 characters long and are case-insensitive.

  For example, to prompt your user with a question, place text between the delimiters, as follows:

  <B><%#What is the name of your department?#%> Expense Report</B>
  

  If the user responds with the input "Marketing" then the new file would contain this line:

  <B>Marketing Expense Report</B>
  

The following parameters are reserved by Visual InterDev for unique functions.

• <%#DataConnection#%>

  When Visual InterDev encounters this parameter, it prompts the template user to select one of the existing project data connections.

• <%#FilenameWithExtension#%>

  This parameter automatically inserts the template's file name and extension into the new .htm or .asp file.

• <%#FilenameWithoutExtension#%>

  This parameter automatically inserts the template's own file name without its extension into the new .htm or .asp file.

• <%#ThemeName#%>

  When Visual InterDev encounters this parameter, it prompts the template user to select one of the available themes.

For more detailed information on Visual InterDev templates, read the technical paper "Creating Your Own Visual InterDev Templates" on our Web site at http://www.microsoft.com/vinterdev/.