6. The method of claim 1 , wherein a representation of the template instance is stored to a the circuit design file stored in computer readable storage media, and wherein the representation includes an instance name, a template type identifier that specifies the template instance's type, and a design object identifier that specifies the design object.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein a representation of the template instance is stored to a the circuit design file stored in computer readable storage media, and wherein the representation includes an instance name, a template type identifier that specifies the template instance's type, and a design object identifier that specifies the design object. 8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the template instance includes a template instance parameter, further comprising: storing in the circuit design file the template instance parameter, wherein the instance parameter is associated on the storage medium with the template instance.