BuildOnLoad attribute and element
Applies to: 
Visual Studio 
Visual Studio for Mac
Note
This article applies to Visual Studio 2017. If you're looking for the latest Visual Studio documentation, see Visual Studio documentation. We recommend upgrading to the latest version of Visual Studio. Download it here
Specifies whether to build the project immediately after it's created. BuildOnLoad is both an attribute and an element.
Element hierarchy:
<VSTemplate>
<TemplateData>
<BuildOnLoad>
Element syntax
<BuildOnLoad> true/false </BuildOnLoad>
Parent elements
| Element | Description |
|---|---|
| TemplateData | Categorizes the template and defines how it displays in either the New Project or the Add New Item dialog box. |
Text value
A text value is required for the BuildOnLoad element. The text must be either true or false, indicating whether to build the project immediately after it's created.
Remarks
BuildOnLoad is an optional attribute. The default value is false.
Example
The following example illustrates the metadata for a C# template when BuildOnLoad is used as an element:
<VSTemplate Type="Project" Version="3.0.0"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/developer/vstemplate/2005">
<TemplateData>
<Name>My template</Name>
<Description>A basic template</Description>
<Icon>TemplateIcon.ico</Icon>
<ProjectType>CSharp</ProjectType>
<BuildOnLoad>true</BuildOnLoad>
</TemplateData>
<TemplateContent>
<Project File="MyTemplate.csproj">
<ProjectItem>Form1.cs<ProjectItem>
<ProjectItem>Form1.Designer.cs</ProjectItem>
<ProjectItem>Program.cs</ProjectItem>
<ProjectItem>Properties\AssemblyInfo.cs</ProjectItem>
<ProjectItem>Properties\Resources.resx</ProjectItem>
<ProjectItem>Properties\Resources.Designer.cs</ProjectItem>
<ProjectItem>Properties\Settings.settings</ProjectItem>
<ProjectItem>Properties\Settings.Designer.cs</ProjectItem>
</Project>
</TemplateContent>
</VSTemplate>