Template Editor User Interface

The CodeSmith Generator Template Editor is made up of several windows, each with its own purpose. The screenshot below highlights the main ones in color.

Element	Highlighted in	Purpose
Toolbar	Red	Build and generate the current template.
Template documents	Green	Edit templates and view generated code.
Template Explorer	Yellow	Browse your templates. Double-click a template to open it in the editor.
Properties window	Orange	View and set the current template's properties, like the property sheet you get when you execute a template from Template Explorer.
Output window	Purple	Show status messages, such as build results.
Error List	Not shown	Show errors and warnings found while you edit or build a template.

Arranging windows

You can dock Template Explorer, the Properties window and the Output window to any side of the template documents, or let them float. Multiple floating windows can be docked to one another.

To auto-hide a docked window, click the pin button in its upper-right corner. When you point at an auto-hidden window, it slides out and covers the other windows until you move away.

Menus

In Visual Studio, Generator's windows and commands are on the Generator menu, including Schema Explorer, Template Explorer, the Map Editor, Manage Data Sources and ActiveSnippet configuration. In the standalone Template Editor, use the View menu to show windows such as Template Explorer and Schema Explorer.

Toolbar

The toolbar appears only when a template document has the focus.

Button	Name	Shortcut	What it does
	Build	F6	Compiles the current template. The Output window shows the result.
	Generate	F5	Runs the current template with the values from the Properties window and shows the result in a generated document.

Output window

Generator uses the Output window to send you status messages, such as the results of a build or of generating a template.

Use the list at the top of the Output window to switch between the Build and Debug panes.