TBC Macros and Extensions1

Tips

• Start all your macro captions with a special character so they appear first in Trimble Business Center All Commands list in the Command pane (e.g., _My Macro)

• Start all macro code with: “import clr”. This adds the .NET environment.

• Know the name and assembly of classes you are working with

  a. clr.AddReference("Trimble.Vce.Geometry")b. from Trimble.Vce.Geometry import Point3D

• Use the Object Browser to see classes and methods.

• The path to the macro must match what TBC is looking for, so open the file directly from C:\ProgramData\Trimble\MacroCommands.

• If needed, set breakpoints in macros in the same way as in as C#. F5, F9, F10 all work the same way. In VS, select Debug > New Breakpoint or press Ctrl + B.

• In the debugger, you can see the current value of variables.

• If you make a change to a macro (or its .xaml file), restart the command in Trimble Business Center to refresh it.

• On command start, the current file’s Modify date is checked. If needed, the macro is ‘recompiled’.

• Online WPF documentation is helpful (and required). See Resources.
  

   

Learning Resources

• Python

  • https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Macros/Python_Design_Guide

  • https://wiki.openoffice.org/wiki/Python_as_a_macro_language

  • https://docs.python.org/2/tutorial/

  • http://www.ironpython.info/index.php?title=Main_Page

  • https://ironpython-test.readthedocs.io/en/latest/contents.html

Return to the first topic: 01 Welcome to TBC Macros!