Text Template Transformation Toolkit (usually referred to as "T4") is a free and open-source template-based text generation framework. T4 source files are usually denoted by the file extension ".tt".
T4 is used by developers as part of an application or tool framework to automate the creation of text files with a variety of parameters. These text files can ultimately be any text format, such as code (for example C#), XML, HTML or XAML.
T4 uses a custom template format which can contain .NET code and string literals in it, this is parsed by the T4 command line tool into .NET code, compiled and executed. The output of the executed code is the text file generated by the template.[2] By using the Text Transformation class, T4 can also be run entirely from within a .NET application, eliminating the need for the end user to have Visual Studio installed.
There are four types of controls handled by the T4 template transformation engine.
Name
Syntax
Description
Directives
<#@ ... #>
Instructions for the transformation engine
Standard control blocks
<# ... #>
Code to be executed (e.g. loops)
Expression control blocks
<#= ... #>
Expressions evaluated and converted to a string
Class feature control blocks
<#+ ... #>
Class and function definitions
Historyedit
2005: Microsoft released the first version of T4 as an out-of-band release for Visual Studio 2005
2008: Microsoft includes it with Visual Studio 2008
2010: Microsoft includes it with Visual Studio 2010 which included significant new features to improve performance, usability for both template authors and tool builders and better integration into Visual Studio's DSL tools.[6]
2015: Visual Studio 2015 Update 2 can use C# version 6.0 features[7]
2017: Open source version of engine released which supports .NET Core[8]
text, template, transformation, toolkit, usually, referred, free, open, source, template, based, text, generation, framework, source, files, usually, denoted, file, extension, original, author, novell, xamarin, microsoftinitial, release2005, years, 2005, stabl. Text Template Transformation Toolkit usually referred to as T4 is a free and open source template based text generation framework T4 source files are usually denoted by the file extension tt Text Template Transformation Toolkit T4 Original author s Novell Xamarin MicrosoftInitial release2005 18 years ago 2005 Stable releasev2 0 5 June 13 2019 4 years ago 2019 06 13 1 Repositorygithub wbr com wbr mono wbr t4Written inC Operating systemLinux WindowsPlatform NET Framework NET Core MonoTypeSoftware frameworkLicenseMIT LicenseWebsiteCode Generation and T4 Text Templates Contents 1 Overview 2 Controls 3 History 4 See also 5 References 6 External linksOverview editT4 is used by developers as part of an application or tool framework to automate the creation of text files with a variety of parameters These text files can ultimately be any text format such as code for example C XML HTML or XAML T4 uses a custom template format which can contain NET code and string literals in it this is parsed by the T4 command line tool into NET code compiled and executed The output of the executed code is the text file generated by the template 2 By using the Text Transformation class T4 can also be run entirely from within a NET application eliminating the need for the end user to have Visual Studio installed T4 is used within Microsoft in ASP NET MVC for the creation of the views and controllers ADO NET Entity Framework for entity generation and ASP NET Dynamic Data 3 It is also used outside of Microsoft in projects such as SubSonic 4 T4 templating is supported in Visual Studio MonoDevelop and JetBrains Rider 5 Controls editThere are four types of controls handled by the T4 template transformation engine Name Syntax DescriptionDirectives lt gt Instructions for the transformation engineStandard control blocks lt gt Code to be executed e g loops Expression control blocks lt gt Expressions evaluated and converted to a stringClass feature control blocks lt gt Class and function definitionsHistory edit2005 Microsoft released the first version of T4 as an out of band release for Visual Studio 2005 2008 Microsoft includes it with Visual Studio 2008 2010 Microsoft includes it with Visual Studio 2010 which included significant new features to improve performance usability for both template authors and tool builders and better integration into Visual Studio s DSL tools 6 2015 Visual Studio 2015 Update 2 can use C version 6 0 features 7 2017 Open source version of engine released which supports NET Core 8 2019 JetBrains adds support for T4 in Rider 9 See also edit nbsp Free and open source software portalComparison of code generation tools m4 computer language SmartyReferences edit Tags mono t4 GitHub GitHub T4 repository Retrieved 2020 01 06 Web Templates 2013 Website templates Website Templates South Africa ISBN 978 1 4251 3374 0 retrieved 19 November 2013 Fun with T4 templates and Dynamic Data Angle Bracket Percent Site Home MSDN Blogs Blogs msdn com 2008 11 26 Retrieved 2012 05 17 SubSonic v3 s T4 Templates Daily Cycle Gcapnias wordpress com 2009 01 12 Retrieved 2012 05 17 Rider The Cross Platform NET IDE from JetBrains What s new in T4 in Visual Studio 2010 Profoundly Esoteric Image Site Home MSDN Blogs Blogs msdn com 2010 04 15 Retrieved 2012 05 17 Code Generation and T4 Text Templates Visual Studio Windows Mono TextTemplating GitHub 22 October 2021 ForTea GitHub 20 October 2021 External links editGitHub mono t4 T4 text templating engine Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Text Template Transformation Toolkit amp oldid 1161136759, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
