VS2012 template wizard - GUI not showing

Question

I'm having problems having my visual studio template wizard's gui showing up. I followed these steps: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms185301.aspx

Here's what I did:

1) Generated a C# class library (.dll) with the following files:

UserInputForm.cs

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Data;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;
using System.Windows.Forms;

namespace myprojectvstemplate
{
    public partial class UserInputForm : Form
    {
        private string customMessage;

        public UserInputForm()
        {

            InitializeComponent();
            MessageBox.Show("here, calling ui");
        }

        public string get_CustomMessage()
        {
            return customMessage;
        }

        private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            customMessage = textBox1.Text;

            this.Dispose();
        }
    }
}

2) Added a user input form with a editbox and a combobox with code UserInputForm.cs

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using Microsoft.VisualStudio.TemplateWizard;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using EnvDTE;

namespace myprojectvstemplate
{
    public class IWizardImplementation : IWizard
    {
        private UserInputForm inputForm;
        private string customMessage;

        // This method is called before opening any item that 
        // has the OpenInEditor attribute.
        public void BeforeOpeningFile(ProjectItem projectItem)
        {

        }

        public void ProjectFinishedGenerating(Project project)
        {

        }

        // This method is only called for item templates,
        // not for project templates.
        public void ProjectItemFinishedGenerating(ProjectItem
            projectItem)
        {

        }

        // This method is called after the project is created.
        public void RunFinished()
        {

        }

        public void RunStarted(object automationObject,
            Dictionary<string, string> replacementsDictionary,
            WizardRunKind runKind, object[] customParams)
        {


            try
            {
                // Display a form to the user. The form collects 
                // input for the custom message.
                inputForm = new UserInputForm();
                inputForm.ShowDialog();

                customMessage = inputForm.get_CustomMessage();

                // Add custom parameters.
                replacementsDictionary.Add("$custommessage$",
                    customMessage);
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                MessageBox.Show(ex.ToString());
            }
        }

        // This method is only called for item templates,
        // not for project templates.
        public bool ShouldAddProjectItem(string filePath)
        {

            return true;
        }
    }
}

3) generated a public/private strong key and registered the assembly from the "signing" tab in the property page

4) Release-generated the dll

5) registered it with gacutil /i mydllname.dll, no errors

6) Created a C++ console project template with just one file:

#include <iostream>
using namespace std;


int main(int argc, char** argv)
{

    cout << "Hi hello world:" << "$custommessage$";

    return 0;
}

7) Exported as a template project (not item) with checkbox on "import automatically into vs". Modified inside the zip file the .vstemplate file like this:

<VSTemplate Version="3.0.0" xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/vstemplate/2005" Type="Project">
  <TemplateData>
    <Name>myproject_project</Name>
    <Description>&lt;No description available&gt;</Description>
    <ProjectType>VC</ProjectType>
    <ProjectSubType>
    </ProjectSubType>
    <SortOrder>1000</SortOrder>
    <CreateNewFolder>true</CreateNewFolder>
    <DefaultName>myproject_project</DefaultName>
    <ProvideDefaultName>true</ProvideDefaultName>
    <LocationField>Enabled</LocationField>
    <EnableLocationBrowseButton>true</EnableLocationBrowseButton>
    <Icon>__TemplateIcon.ico</Icon>
  </TemplateData>
  <TemplateContent>
    <Project TargetFileName="myproject_project.vcxproj" File="myproject_project.vcxproj" ReplaceParameters="true">
      <ProjectItem ReplaceParameters="false" TargetFileName="$projectname$.vcxproj.filters">myproject_project.vcxproj.filters</ProjectItem>
      <ProjectItem ReplaceParameters="true" TargetFileName="myproject_project.cpp">myproject_project.cpp</ProjectItem>
      <ProjectItem ReplaceParameters="false" TargetFileName="ReadMe.txt">ReadMe.txt</ProjectItem>
    </Project>
  </TemplateContent>
  <WizardExtension>
    <Assembly>myprojectvstemplate, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=Neutral, PublicKeyToken=a0a3d031ed112d61</Assembly>
    <FullClassName>myprojectvstemplate.IWizardImplementation</FullClassName>
  </WizardExtension>
</VSTemplate>

Unfortunately when I try to create a new template project the UI is not displayed at all. The project is just opened and there's no substitution of the $custommessage$ parameter.

Why can't I show my wizard's GUI?

Additionally: is there any way to debug why the assembly isn't being loaded??

Answer 1

I had the same problem as the OP, following the same tutorial.

The solution I found was this:

In the Modifying The Template section,

Step 2 extract the zip file into a folder and delete the zip file. Then modify the vstemplate.

Finally try the wizard in a new instance of VS.

I don't know if this is the proper solution, but this is what worked for me.

Answer 2

Probably the assembly with the wizard implementation is not found.

In the WizardExtension section you should write exact your assembly and class name.

Of course, this assembly should be in the extension directory or registered in GAC.

<WizardExtension>
    <Assembly>myprojectvstemplate, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=Neutral, PublicKeyToken=a0a3d031ed112d61</Assembly>
    <FullClassName>myprojectvstemplate.IWizardImplementation</FullClassName>
</WizardExtension>

Thanks, Serge