The CodeTemplate object

Every CodeSmith Generator template is compiled into a class that inherits from CodeSmith.Engine.CodeTemplate (or from another class you name in the Inherits attribute). The CodeTemplate object represents your template while Generator processes it, so you can override its members in a <script runat="template"> block or a code-behind file to take part in the generation process.

Members covered in these docs

Member	Kind	What it does
GetFileName	Method you override	Supplies the default output file name.
ParseDefaultValue	Method you override	Converts a property's Default string into a value.
Render	Method you override	Produces the template's output.
GetCustomValidationErrors	Method you override	Returns your own validation errors, which stop generation.
OnInit, OnPreRender, OnPostRender, OnPropertyChanged	Events	Let you run code at points in the template processing cycle.
Response	Property	The output stream. Write to it directly or add more output destinations.
Progress	Property	Controls the progress bar shown while the template generates.
CodeTemplateInfo	Property	Information about the template file.
Create<T>, CopyPropertiesTo, RenderToFile	Methods	Create, configure and render sub-templates from a master template.

Overriding ParseDefaultValue

Sometimes a property needs a default value that can't be converted automatically from a string. In that case, override the ParseDefaultValue method to parse the Default string from the template and assign the value to the property yourself.

Generator calls ParseDefaultValue for each property in the template and passes it the property and the default value string. In your override, handle the properties you care about and pass all other properties on to the base ParseDefaultValue method.