Exporting project items

Visual Studio is not limited to only working with entire projects when it comes to template support. If you only want a couple of files then simply choose the Item template option from the same Export Template Wizard dialog instead of Project template, as shown here:

Figure 9.14 – Exporting an item template

The remainder of the item template experience parallels the procedures we just followed for project templates. One key difference is that, to import your template's .zip file, place it in the ItemTemplates directory instead of the ProjectTemplates directory, as illustrated in the following code snippet:

C:\Users\<your username>\Documents\Visual Studio 2019\Templates\ItemTemplates

The other key difference is that you will be prompted to choose references that must be included for your item template to work:

Figure 9.15 – Select Item References dialog

You have now seen how to export...