Code Preview

preview The Code Preview screen lets you see what a template will produce for a specific data object — without generating any files. It’s your sandbox for testing and fine-tuning templates.

What you can do here

Preview template output

Select a data object and a template, and ADL will show you exactly what the generated output would look like. This gives you a fast feedback loop for:

• Testing new templates: write a template and immediately see if it produces the output you expect.
• Debugging issues: if generated output doesn’t look right, the preview helps you pinpoint what needs to change.
• Exploring built-in templates: see how the included templates render against your own metadata.

Compare and iterate

You can switch between different data objects and templates to compare output. This is especially useful when:

• Verifying that a template works correctly across different data objects with varying column counts, data types, or relationships.
• Checking that conditional logic in your templates handles edge cases properly.

Tips

• Use this before the Code Generator. It’s much faster to catch issues in the preview than to generate all files and then hunt for problems.
• Try different data objects. A template might work perfectly for one object but produce unexpected results for another, so test with a few different objects to be sure.
• Keep it open while editing templates, switching between the Templates screen and Code Preview to iterate quickly.

Related

• Code Generator — Generate output for all mapped objects at once
• Templates — Create and edit your templates
• Handlebars Helpers — Helper functions available in your templates