Template Libraries Overview

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RAD Studio allows you to create multiple custom template libraries to use as the basis for creating future projects. Template libraries let you declare how a project can look, and enable you to add new types of projects to the New Items dialog box.

Creating a template library is a two-step process.

1. First, create a RAD Studio project to use as the basis for the template, and an XML file with a .bdstemplatelib extension that describes the project. This project can be any kind of project that RAD Studio supports.
2. Next, add the project to the list of template libraries in the IDE by pointing to the .bdstemplatelib template library file in the Template Libraries dialog box, accessed with Tools > Template Libraries.

Adding a template library does not create a project. It simply adds metadata information to the development environment that tells the IDE how to create this kind of project, and it adds an icon for the project in the specified New Items dialog box page. After the custom template library is in the New Items dialog box, you can select the icon to create a new project.

You can create your own template libraries, and you can use those created by other developers. RAD Studio delivers a default template library, which cannot be removed. However, you can add and remove custom template libraries.

Note: When creating a project to use with a template library, make sure the project is located in a subdirectory that contains no other projects. All of the files that are in the project should be located within the subdirectory or child subdirectories.

You can either create a single .bdstemplatelib template library file for each template library project, or list several related template projects in the same .bdstemplatelib template library file by assigning each project a separate unique item number.

See Also

• Creating Template Libraries
• Template Libraries command and dialog box