A T4 ("Text Template Transformation Toolkit") template is a text generation tool that mixes raw text and code to generate text as output.

In my last article, I showed how to create a Runtime Text Template and generate output from it via the following lines of C# code:

var tt = new myT4Template();
string outputText = tt.TransformText();
  

But sometimes, it is helpful to pass parameters from your C# code and use them in your template.

The steps to do this are:

Add a T4 Runtime Text Template to your Visual Studio project  In the T4 template:

1. Add one or more parameter directives  
2. Use the parameters in your template

In your C# code

1. Instantiate your T4 template object
2. Set the Session property to a new Dictionary
3. Pass the parameters in the Session object
4. Initialize the T4 template object
5. Generate the output text with the T4 template object's TransformText() method.

An example will help illustrate this.

I have a T4 Runtime Text Template named "ParamTemplate1.tt" and I want to add 2 parameters: firstName and lastName (both strings) and use them in my template.

At the top of the template file, add the following directive:

<#@ parameter name="firstName" type="System.String" #>
<#@ parameter name="lastName" type="System.String" #>
  

Notice that we included the Namespace in the parameters' data types.

Now, use the parameters in your template, as in the following code:

Hello <#=firstName #> <#=lastName #>!
  

In your C# program, add the following code

var pt1 = new ParamTemplate1();
pt1.Session = new Dictionary<string, object>();
pt1.Session["firstName"] = "David";
pt1.Session["lastName"] = "Giard";
pt1.Initialize();
var outputText1 = pt1.TransformText();
  

This passes the values "David" and "Giard" to the firstName and lastName parameters, respectively.

We can even pass in a custom data type, based on a type we create.

Imagine I have created a Person class with a FirstName and a LastName properties (both strings) and I want to pass a parameter of this type into my T4 template named "ParamTemplate2.tt" and use that parameter inside the template.

Here is an example of my custom Person class:

namespace DemoT4Parameters
{
    public class Person
    {
        public string FirstName { get; set; }
        public string LastName { get; set; }
    }
}
  

In my T4 template, I again add a parameter directive, as shown below:

<#@ parameter name="person" type="DemoT4Parameters.Person" #>
  

Notice the custom namespace in the Type.

Now, I can use the parameter and its properties in my template, as shown below:

Hello <#=person.FirstName #> <#=person.LastName #>!
  

My C# code is very similar to the first example.

var pt2 = new ParamTemplate2();
pt2.Session = new Dictionary<string, object>();
var person = new Person()
{
	FirstName = "Satya",
	LastName = "Nadella"
};
pt2.Session["person"] = person;
pt2.Initialize();
var outputText2 = pt2.TransformText();
  

You can find this code in my GitHub repository at https://github.com/DavidGiard/Demo-T4-Parameters.

In this article, I showed how to pass parameters into a T4 Runtime Text Template.