A project template defines how to build a particular type of project output. In a project template, build step patterns describe the necessary processes, their input files, and their output files.

Project templates give you great flexibility when you build your project output. You can select a template from those supplied with APM or you can construct your own. You can modify a project template by adding tools and changing the way they are executed while building the project. You can modify variables at any level in the project hierarchy to change the way specific files are handled. You can also create additional variants.

APM includes standard templates that you can copy and modify to suit your own needs. If you have installed the ARM C++ Compiler you will have some additional templates that you can use (see Using APM with C++).

A template can exist in two distinct forms:

Normally you have one blank template for each type of project that you might want to create, and you accumulate an increasing number of project templates. Each project template is based on one of the blank templates, but now uniquely defines the build steps for one particular project.

In most of this chapter, editing a template or any of its elements (details, variables, paths, build steps) implies editing a project template, not editing one of the blank templates. Creating a new template describes how to create and edit new blank templates.