This is a prototype of a new command line experience for creating project and item templates. The overarching idea is to create a cross-platform self-contained command line tool which can be used to create projects/files which doesn't depend on installing a bunch of random tools onto the machine. We can later use this self-contained tool to enable templates across VS/Yeoman/VSCode.

We are also going to use this as an opportunity to simplify the following areas.

• Make creating templates easier
• Make it easier to share templates
• Improve the experience with dynamic templates

The initial thoughts are to create a prototype in PowerShell which shows the end state. After we provide proof of concept we can implement it using dnx/dotnet so that it's truly cross platform.

How to try it

# install
&{set-variable -name pwbranch -value 'master';$wc=New-Object System.Net.WebClient;$wc.Proxy=[System.Net.WebRequest]::DefaultWebProxy;$wc.Proxy.Credentials=[System.Net.CredentialCache]::DefaultNetworkCredentials;Invoke-Expression ($wc.DownloadString('https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ligershark/pecan-waffle/master/install.ps1'))}

# add a new template
Add-Project -templateName aspnet5-empty -destPath C:\temp\myprojects

To create a new template of your own add a file named pw-templateinfo.ps1 with content like https://github.com/ligershark/pecan-waffle/blob/master/templates/aspnet5/EmptyProject/pw-templateinfo.ps1. Then add the folder as a template source with.

Add-TemplateSource -path c:\projects\MyProject\

Video

Watch the 8 minute video on pecan-waffle https://youtu.be/Xi5Kn4Lq6Xg.