How to register a template with Eclipse in How to extend the user interface using templates

Once the project template is ready, you need to register it with Eclipse to make the template available for use. It is a good practice to group all the files and resources related to the project template together in one folder. For example, if you are writing a project template for a Hello World Application, group all the resources required for this application in a folder "HelloWorld".

To register a project template with Eclipse follow the steps given below:

Create an empty plug-in project from the Eclipse workbench without the source folders.
Create a folder and copy the project template along with all the resources required to create the project. For example, all the hearder files, source files, resource files etc.
Open the plug-in manifest editor and select the Dependencies page. For more information on plug-in manifest editor, refer to PDE Guide > Getting Started > Basic Plug-in Tutorial > Plug-in manifest editor.
Click Add to select org.eclipse.cdt.templateengine plug-in from the list.
Select the Extensions page in the plug-in manifest editor.
Click Add to create an extension to the extension-point.
Select the extension-point with ID org.eclipse.cdt.templateengine.templates from the list of extensions-points.
Right-click on the newly added extension, and select New > template from the context menu.
Choose the new template added in step 6 from the All Extensions list.
Specify the wizardId attribute of the template as "org.eclipse.cdt.project.ui.NewProjectWizard". This attribute is mandatory.
Specify the location of the template relative to the plug-in created in step 1. This attribute is mandatory.
Specify a filterPattern to indicate the build Configurations for which the template is created. It is a regular expression used to filter the build Configurations. If the template is designed for a particular Configuration, it is recommended to specify the filter pattern. For example, If the template is designed for GCC Configurations, the filter pattern can be ".*gcc". If the template is designed for multiple build Configurations, you can specify the filter patterns delimited by "|" .

The New Project wizard filters the available build Configurations based on the filter pattern for the selected template. The filter patterns are matched against the available Configurations' ID to get a list of matching SDKs. This is an optional attribute.

For more information on regular expression patterns, refer to Java API document for java.util.regex.Pattern.
Select an appropriate project type from the projectType drop-down list. This is an optional attribute.
Specify the usageDescription, which is a notation describing how this template is used. Usually used to filter the list of templates on offer depending on other wizard attributes. This is an optional attribute. For more information, refer to Java API document for java.util.regex.Pattern.

The New Project wizard will list only those templates, which are relevant for the build Configurations choosen for the project. For a example, if the developer choose to create a C++ Application for Symbian OS, the wizard will list all the templates with the relevant usageDescription. Otherwise, for a standard CDT C++ Project the wizard will list all the templates, irrespective of whether the usageDescription is specified or not.
Specify the pagesAfterTemplateSelectionProvider, which is a fully qualified name of the class that implements org.eclipse.cdt.templateengine.IPagesAfterTemplateSelectionProvider interface. This is an optional attribute.

After creating the plug-ins and registering the templates, launch a runtime workbench and invoke the New Project wizard to check that the template you added is listed.

How to register a template with Eclipse

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