visual-studio-extensionsenvdte

How can I run custom tool or save a file programmatically using EnvDTE?


I want to save/run custom tools on a handful of .tt files from my extension. I don't want to loop over all the files in the solution/project, rather I want to be able to use a relative (or full) path of the file to execute a save/run custom tool.

Is there a way to get a ProjectItem object given a path of the file ($(SolutionDir)/MyProject/MyFile.tt) so I can execute methods on it?


Solution

  • You can use the FindProjectItem method of the EnvDTE.Solution type to find a file within the current solution by its name. The ExecuteCommand method is dependent on the current UI context; so the item must be selected, otherwise, the call fails.

    private bool TryExecuteTextTemplate(string filename)
    {
        var dte = (DTE2)this.GetService(typeof(SDTE));
        Solution solution = dte.Solution;
        if ((solution != null) && solution.IsOpen)
        {
            VSProjectItem projectItem;
            ProjectItem item = solution.FindProjectItem(filename);
            if (item != null && ((projectItem = item.Object as VSProjectItem) != null))
            {
                // TODO: track the item in the Solution Explorer
    
                try
                {
                    projectItem.RunCustomTool();
                    return true;
                }
                catch (COMException) 
                { 
                }
            }
        }
    
        return false;
    }