File templates
Last modified: 21 July 2022Configure: Ctrl+Alt+S Settings/Preferences | Editor | File and Code Templates
File templates are specifications of the default contents for new files that you create. Depending on the type of file you are creating, templates provide initial code and formatting expected in all files of that type (according to industry or language standards, your corporate policy, or for other reasons).
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PyCharm provides predefined templates for all supported file types suggested when you create a new file. The set of suggested file types depends on the module and configuration, as well as the properties of your current location in the Project tool window. For example, PyCharm will not suggest creating a Python file outside of the Python source or test directories.
Manage and configure file templates
Press Ctrl+Alt+S to open the IDE settings and select Editor | File and Code Templates.
tip
In case of multiple projects, settings apply to the main project, which is the first in the list in the Project tree.
For more information, see File and Code Templates.
By default, the list of templates contains only predefined templates provided by PyCharm. Some of them are internal, which means they cannot be deleted or renamed. PyCharm shows the names of internal templates in bold. The names of templates that you modified, as well as custom templates that you created manually, are shown in blue.
The following procedures describe how to create file templates. Similar procedures can be used for creating include templates.
Create a new file template
Press Ctrl+Alt+S to open the IDE settings and select Editor | File and Code Templates.
On the Files tab, click
and specify the template name, file extension, name of the resulting file, and body of the template.
Apply the changes and close the dialog.
Copy an existing file template
Press Ctrl+Alt+S to open the IDE settings and select Editor | File and Code Templates.
On the Files tab, click
and modify the name, file extension, and body of the template as necessary.
Apply the changes and close the dialog.
Save a file as a template
Open a file in the editor.
From the main menu, select File | Save File as Template.
In the Save File as Template dialog, specify the new template name and edit the body, if necessary.
Apply the changes and close the dialog.
Syntax
File templates use the Velocity Template Language (VTL), which includes the following constructs:
Plain text rendered as is.
Variables that are replaced by their values. For example,
${NAME}
inserts the name provided by the user when adding the file.Various directives, including #parse,
#set
,#if
, and others.
Start typing $
or #
to see completion suggestions for available variables and directives.
For more information, see the VTL reference guide.
The following example shows the default template for creating a Gherkin features file in PyCharm:
# Created by ${USER} at ${DATE}
Feature: #Enter feature name here
# Enter feature description here
Scenario: # Enter scenario name here
# Enter steps here
In this template, ${USER}
and ${DATE}
are template variables. When you create a new Gherkin file, this template generates a feature file with contents similar to the following:
# Created by jetbrains at 25.06.2018
Feature: #Enter feature name here
# Enter feature description here
Scenario: # Enter scenario name here
# Enter steps here
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