Error while using custom TYPE in TextTemplate(t4)

Question

0.00/5 (No votes)

See more:

I created MVC project and added "Class1.cs" to it(in the same project)
Class1 code:

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Web;
using MvcApplication2.Models;
namespace MvcApplication2
{
    public class EntityAttribute
    {
        public string Name { get; set; }
    }
    public class Entity
    {
        public List<EntityAttribute> Attributes { get; set; }
        public string Name { get; set; }
    }
    public class Class1
    {
        public static string getTable()
        {
            return "tbl";
        }
    }
}

I have Text Template file .tt:

<#@ template debug="true" language="C#" #>
<#@ output extension=".cs" #>
<#@ assembly name="MvcApplication2.dll" #>
<#@ import namespace="MvcApplication2" #>
<#
    string s = Class1.getTable();
#>

When I run CustomTool on TextTemplate I get the following error:

Error	2	Compiling transformation: Metadata file 'MvcApplication2.dll' could not be found	C:\Users\Igor\Documents\Visual Studio 2010\Projects\MvcApplication2\MvcApplication2\TextTemplate1.tt	1	1	MvcApplication2

When I change "<#@ assembly name="MvcApplication2.dll" #>" to full path "<#@ assembly name="C:\Users\Igor\Documents\Visual Studio 2010\Projects\MvcApplication2\MvcApplication2\bin\MvcApplication2.dll" #>"

I get the following error:

Error   2   Compiling transformation: 'MvcApplication2.Class1' does not contain a definition for 'getTable' c:\Users\Igor\Documents\Visual Studio 2010\Projects\MvcApplication2\MvcApplication2\TextTemplate1.tt    8   20

Where is my mistake??
Thank you

Posted 16-Jan-11 4:21am

TheAteist

Add a Solution

1 solution

Add a Solution

Add your solution here

Treat my content as plain text, not as HTML

Preview 0

…

Existing Members

Sign in to your account

...or Join us

Download, Vote, Comment, Publish.

Your Email
Password
Forgot your password?

Your Email
This email is in use. Do you need your password?
Optional Password

I have read and agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
Please subscribe me to the CodeProject newsletters

When answering a question please:

Read the question carefully.
Understand that English isn't everyone's first language so be lenient of bad spelling and grammar.
If a question is poorly phrased then either ask for clarification, ignore it, or edit the question and fix the problem. Insults are not welcome.
Don't tell someone to read the manual. Chances are they have and don't get it. Provide an answer or move on to the next question.

Let's work to help developers, not make them feel stupid.

This content, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)

Theraot · Answer 1 · 2011-06-30T02:05:00

You need to compile the assembly with the new method before the template can be executed because it links the compiled assambly. So it will hardly work with the same project.

If it's not in the same project, then make sure you are referencing the last build of it, may be you are accessing an out-dated local copy or an out-dated GAC copy. Of course this is not the case if you use the full path. [By the way, use $(SolutionDir), $(ProjectDir) and $(OutDir) they are very handy here, for example: <#@ assembly name="$(SolutionDir)YourProjectName\$(OutDir)\YourAssemblyName.dll" #>].

If you need to use custom clases in your T4, I recommend you to put them in a separate project, one that has no dependency on the one where you use the template. This way compiling the project will not be a problem before using it in the template.

You may be interested in some other techniques too... for example using T4 to generate a T4 file. Or using T4 to read from a file** and output it's content, perhaps modified. And of course, you can use T4 to write to files, if those files are in the project, you have a T4 with multiple outputs.

**The file may be in a another project, perhaps a dummy project with dummy build actions. Such as this: http://www.darinhiggins.com/creating-a-dummy-build-project-in-vs2008/[^]

How to update GAC on build:
Automatically GAC an assembly after a build and include debug info.[^]

Check out OlegSych blog:
http://www.olegsych.com/articles/[^]

http://www.olegsych.com/2008/02/t4-assembly-directive/[^]

Opps, I'm giving away some of my "secrets" :P

Hope this helps you out.