.IML

Introduction

An .iml file describes a module in JetBrains’ IntelliJ IDEA and the other IDEs built on the same platform, such as PyCharm and Android Studio. A project is made of one or more modules; each module’s file lists its source, test and resource folders, the folders to leave out, and the libraries and other modules it depends on.

The project’s own settings live in the .idea folder beside it, as a set of XML files, including modules.xml, which lists the project’s .iml files. When a project is imported from Maven or Gradle, the IDE works the modules out from the build files instead, and may not write .iml files at all.

Structure

An .iml file is XML with a module root whose type attribute names the kind of module, such as JAVA_MODULE. A component element named NewModuleRootManager holds a content element with the sourceFolder and excludeFolder entries, then orderEntry elements for the SDK, the module’s own sources, libraries and other modules. Paths are written relative to the module with the $MODULE_DIR$ macro.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<module type="JAVA_MODULE" version="4">
  <component name="NewModuleRootManager" inherit-compiler-output="true">
    <exclude-output />
    <content url="file://$MODULE_DIR$">
      <sourceFolder url="file://$MODULE_DIR$/src" isTestSource="false" />
    </content>
    <orderEntry type="inheritedJdk" />
    <orderEntry type="sourceFolder" forTests="false" />
  </component>
</module>

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