TBC Macros and Extensions

Hi,

what's the most performant way to get a list of Point3D's either within a certain radius or box around a given Point3D (not station), assuming I have list of GUID's of all currently visible cloud regions.

To get that center point I use Hoops3dView.PointCloudPick, that works in 3D. But in planview the Hoops2dView.PointCloudPick always returns NaN. Is this a bug?

I'm currently building my own cloudpoint Octree during macro startup and after a ViewfilterChange. That is time consuming at first but works reasonably well during runtime.

Box filtering is quite a bit faster than circular.

------------------------------
Ronny Schneider
------------------------------

Hey Ronny, 
Any chance you have played with the FilterByBox in the Sde library?

Something like this. 

// Given: Point3D center, double halfSize, IPointCloudRegion region// 1. Get the SDE CloudId from the region integrationvar integration = region.Integration.Provide<IPointCloudRegionIntegration>();var cloudId = integration.Provide<Sde.CloudId>();if (cloudId == null) return;// 2. Build an axis-aligned box filter around your center pointvar origin = new Point3D(    center.X - halfSize,    center.Y - halfSize,    center.Z - halfSize);var axisX = new Vector3D(2 * halfSize, 0, 0);var axisY = new Vector3D(0, 2 * halfSize, 0);var axisZ = new Vector3D(0, 0, 2 * halfSize);var boxFilter = new Sde.FilterByBox(    origin.ToSde(), axisX.ToSde(), axisY.ToSde(), axisZ.ToSde());// 3. Create a filtered Cloud - SDE handles spatial culling internallyusing (var cloud = new Cloud(cloudId))using (var filtered = new Cloud(cloud, boxFilter, SdePointSource.Full, out var exclusion)){    exclusion?.Dispose();    var results = new List<Point3D>();    foreach (SdePointInfo pt in filtered)    {        results.Add(pt.FromSde());    }}

------------------------------
Bryce Haire

Original Message:
Sent: 04-01-2026 19:49
From: Ronny Schneider
Subject: built-in way to retrieve certain points from cloud and potential bug in Hoops2dView.PointCloudPick

Hi,

what's the most performant way to get a list of Point3D's either within a certain radius or box around a given Point3D (not station), assuming I have list of GUID's of all currently visible cloud regions.

To get that center point I use Hoops3dView.PointCloudPick, that works in 3D. But in planview the Hoops2dView.PointCloudPick always returns NaN. Is this a bug?

I'm currently building my own cloudpoint Octree during macro startup and after a ViewfilterChange. That is time consuming at first but works reasonably well during runtime.

Box filtering is quite a bit faster than circular.

------------------------------
Ronny Schneider
------------------------------

Hello Bryce,

thanks for the code.

no, I wasn't aware of it and how to use it, and it doesn't seem to be straight forward as the error below shows.

It's not a standard Trimble.Sdk assembly and mostly undocumented in the object browser.

We still haven't got any decent documentation on how the pointcloud database works internally and how everything is intertwined.

The last reasonably decent documentation we received was for IFC objects, and that dates more than 1 year back, https://community.trimble.com/viewdocument/2023-2024-bimifc-schema-update?CommunityKey=8a262af4-a35e-4e9a-9dd3-191cc785899a&tab=librarydocuments

There are database files, guids, the standard serial numbers, several types of integrations???, what does SDE stand for, spatial data engine?? ......

A decent tree-like view would be good for this.

And please keep in mind that you're advertising the macro language to be used with IronPython, no help/samples/documentation/templates are provided to use C#.

A lot of the above code doesn't work straight away in IronPython. I had to rely heavily on a chatbot. I finally got to the point where I do get a filter result, but now I'm stuck on looping over the filtered list. 

So far, I've got to this point

            closesttocursor = self.activeForm.View.PointCloudPick(e.MousePosition.X, e.MousePosition.Y, False)            # for some reason those SDE classes are stored in a separate assembly            clr.AddReference ("SDE.NET")            from Trimble.Sde import Cloud as SdeCloud, FilterByBox as SdeFilterByBox, CloudId as SdeCloudId, SdePointSource            # visibleclouds contains region objects of type  Trimble.Vce.Data.Scanning.ExposedPointCloudRegion or DefaultExposedPointCloudRegion            # in IronPython the <> need to be []            cloudId = self.visibleclouds[0].Integration.Provide[SdeCloudId]()            cloud = SdeCloud(cloudId)            # casting with an extension like ToSde() doesn't work in IronPython            # either import            # from System.Windows.Media.Media3D import Point3D as SdePoint3D, Vector3D as SdeVector3D            # and build the objects manually            # or import Point3DExtensions            # problem with those is that they are spread over multiple assemblies, you need to add the proper reference            # Point3DExtensions.ToSde is in Namespace "Trimble.Vce.Geometry" but inside "Trimble.Vce.Scanning"            # if you reference "Trimble.Vce.Geometry" only you won't have access to the methods in Trimble.Vce.Scanning->Namespace:Trimble.Vce.Geometry.Point3DExtensions            # but once you reference "Trimble.Vce.Scanning" it's enough to import from "Trimble.Vce.Geometry"            clr.AddReference ("Trimble.Vce.Scanning")            from Trimble.Vce.Geometry import Point3DExtensions            # now you can do the following            r = self.captureradius.Distance            boxorigin = Point3DExtensions.ToSde(Point3D(closesttocursor.X - r, closesttocursor.Y - r, closesttocursor.Z - r))            # or build the correct type objects manually, as for instance the vectors below; is probably simpler than finding the assembly the extensions are hidden in            boxfilter = SdeFilterByBox(boxorigin, SdeVector3D(2*r, 0, 0), SdeVector3D(0, 2*r, 0), SdeVector3D(0, 0, 2*r))            exclusion = clr.StrongBox[SdeCloud]()            filtered = SdeCloud(cloud, boxfilter, SdePointSource.Full, exclusion) # and here it fails, it wants more arguments

it fails on the last step with "expected IntPtr, got NoneType".

From the VS object browser

Cloud(Trimble.Sde.Cloud sourceCloud, Trimble.Sde.Filter filter, Trimble.Sde.SdePointSource pointSource,out Trimble.Sde.Cloud filterExclusion, Trimble.Sde.ProgressionDelegate progressionCallback = null, IntPtr userData = null)

it seems to ignore the missing "ProgressionDelegate", but insists to get the "IntPtr"

using

            filtered = SdeCloud(cloud, boxfilter, SdePointSource.Full, exclusion, None, None)

it complains about NoneTypes

using IntPtr with an arbitrary number works, why does it need this pointer? what is this pointer?

            filtered = SdeCloud(cloud, boxfilter, SdePointSource.Full, exclusion, None, IntPtr(0))

But now I'm unable to loop over the filtered list. It says it contains some points, but the enumerator is empty. I have the feeling this is using some extension again.

I tried

filtered.GetEnumerator()

but doesn't work either

------------------------------
Ronny Schneider

Original Message:
Sent: 04-02-2026 10:18
From: Bryce Haire
Subject: built-in way to retrieve certain points from cloud and potential bug in Hoops2dView.PointCloudPick

Hey Ronny, 
Any chance you have played with the FilterByBox in the Sde library?

Something like this. 

// Given: Point3D center, double halfSize, IPointCloudRegion region// 1. Get the SDE CloudId from the region integrationvar integration = region.Integration.Provide<IPointCloudRegionIntegration>();var cloudId = integration.Provide<Sde.CloudId>();if (cloudId == null) return;// 2. Build an axis-aligned box filter around your center pointvar origin = new Point3D(    center.X - halfSize,    center.Y - halfSize,    center.Z - halfSize);var axisX = new Vector3D(2 * halfSize, 0, 0);var axisY = new Vector3D(0, 2 * halfSize, 0);var axisZ = new Vector3D(0, 0, 2 * halfSize);var boxFilter = new Sde.FilterByBox(    origin.ToSde(), axisX.ToSde(), axisY.ToSde(), axisZ.ToSde());// 3. Create a filtered Cloud - SDE handles spatial culling internallyusing (var cloud = new Cloud(cloudId))using (var filtered = new Cloud(cloud, boxFilter, SdePointSource.Full, out var exclusion)){    exclusion?.Dispose();    var results = new List<Point3D>();    foreach (SdePointInfo pt in filtered)    {        results.Add(pt.FromSde());    }}

------------------------------
Bryce Haire

Original Message:
Sent: 04-01-2026 19:49
From: Ronny Schneider
Subject: built-in way to retrieve certain points from cloud and potential bug in Hoops2dView.PointCloudPick

Hi,

what's the most performant way to get a list of Point3D's either within a certain radius or box around a given Point3D (not station), assuming I have list of GUID's of all currently visible cloud regions.

To get that center point I use Hoops3dView.PointCloudPick, that works in 3D. But in planview the Hoops2dView.PointCloudPick always returns NaN. Is this a bug?

I'm currently building my own cloudpoint Octree during macro startup and after a ViewfilterChange. That is time consuming at first but works reasonably well during runtime.

Box filtering is quite a bit faster than circular.

------------------------------
Ronny Schneider
------------------------------

I found the issue with the enumerator.

It's an absolute MUST to dispose of the cloud object, otherwise something gets completely messed up internally. It looked as if all enumerating/looping in any kind of list got broken.

Only a TBC restart fixed it.

This works

            boxorigin = Point3DExtensions.ToSde(Point3D(closesttocursor.X - r, closesttocursor.Y - r, closesttocursor.Z - r))            # or build the correct type objects manually, as for instance the vectors below; is probably simpler than finding the assembly the extensions are hidden in            boxfilter = SdeFilterByBox(boxorigin, SdeVector3D(2*r ,0, 0), SdeVector3D(0, 2*r, 0), SdeVector3D(0, 0, 2*r))                        for region in self.visibleclouds:                # visibleclouds contains region objects of type  Trimble.Vce.Data.Scanning.ExposedPointCloudRegion or DefaultExposedPointCloudRegion                # in IronPython the <> need to be []                #cloudId = region.Integration.Provide[SdeCloudId]()                cloud = SdeCloud(region.Integration.Provide[SdeCloudId]())                                      exclusion = clr.StrongBox[SdeCloud]()                filtered = SdeCloud(cloud, boxfilter, SdePointSource.Full, exclusion, None, IntPtr(0))                exclusion.Dispose() # !!!!!! super important                for p in filtered:                    self.overlayBag.AddMarker(Point3D(p.Coordinates.X, p.Coordinates.Y, p.Coordinates.Z), GraphicMarkerTypes.BigDot_IndependentColor, Color.Orange.ToArgb(), "", 0, 0, 1.0)                cloud.Dispose() # !!!!!! super important

Is quite a bit slower than my own Octree approach. That one needs quite some time to create the lookup table but seems much faster for basic box filtering where the box axes are aligned to world.
------------------------------
Ronny Schneider

Original Message:
Sent: 04-02-2026 23:09
From: Ronny Schneider
Subject: built-in way to retrieve certain points from cloud and potential bug in Hoops2dView.PointCloudPick

Hello Bryce,

thanks for the code.

no, I wasn't aware of it and how to use it, and it doesn't seem to be straight forward as the error below shows.

It's not a standard Trimble.Sdk assembly and mostly undocumented in the object browser.

We still haven't got any decent documentation on how the pointcloud database works internally and how everything is intertwined.

The last reasonably decent documentation we received was for IFC objects, and that dates more than 1 year back, https://community.trimble.com/viewdocument/2023-2024-bimifc-schema-update?CommunityKey=8a262af4-a35e-4e9a-9dd3-191cc785899a&tab=librarydocuments

There are database files, guids, the standard serial numbers, several types of integrations???, what does SDE stand for, spatial data engine?? ......

A decent tree-like view would be good for this.

And please keep in mind that you're advertising the macro language to be used with IronPython, no help/samples/documentation/templates are provided to use C#.

A lot of the above code doesn't work straight away in IronPython. I had to rely heavily on a chatbot. I finally got to the point where I do get a filter result, but now I'm stuck on looping over the filtered list. 

So far, I've got to this point

            closesttocursor = self.activeForm.View.PointCloudPick(e.MousePosition.X, e.MousePosition.Y, False)            # for some reason those SDE classes are stored in a separate assembly            clr.AddReference ("SDE.NET")            from Trimble.Sde import Cloud as SdeCloud, FilterByBox as SdeFilterByBox, CloudId as SdeCloudId, SdePointSource            # visibleclouds contains region objects of type  Trimble.Vce.Data.Scanning.ExposedPointCloudRegion or DefaultExposedPointCloudRegion            # in IronPython the <> need to be []            cloudId = self.visibleclouds[0].Integration.Provide[SdeCloudId]()            cloud = SdeCloud(cloudId)            # casting with an extension like ToSde() doesn't work in IronPython            # either import            # from System.Windows.Media.Media3D import Point3D as SdePoint3D, Vector3D as SdeVector3D            # and build the objects manually            # or import Point3DExtensions            # problem with those is that they are spread over multiple assemblies, you need to add the proper reference            # Point3DExtensions.ToSde is in Namespace "Trimble.Vce.Geometry" but inside "Trimble.Vce.Scanning"            # if you reference "Trimble.Vce.Geometry" only you won't have access to the methods in Trimble.Vce.Scanning->Namespace:Trimble.Vce.Geometry.Point3DExtensions            # but once you reference "Trimble.Vce.Scanning" it's enough to import from "Trimble.Vce.Geometry"            clr.AddReference ("Trimble.Vce.Scanning")            from Trimble.Vce.Geometry import Point3DExtensions            # now you can do the following            r = self.captureradius.Distance            boxorigin = Point3DExtensions.ToSde(Point3D(closesttocursor.X - r, closesttocursor.Y - r, closesttocursor.Z - r))            # or build the correct type objects manually, as for instance the vectors below; is probably simpler than finding the assembly the extensions are hidden in            boxfilter = SdeFilterByBox(boxorigin, SdeVector3D(2*r, 0, 0), SdeVector3D(0, 2*r, 0), SdeVector3D(0, 0, 2*r))            exclusion = clr.StrongBox[SdeCloud]()            filtered = SdeCloud(cloud, boxfilter, SdePointSource.Full, exclusion) # and here it fails, it wants more arguments

it fails on the last step with "expected IntPtr, got NoneType".

From the VS object browser

Cloud(Trimble.Sde.Cloud sourceCloud, Trimble.Sde.Filter filter, Trimble.Sde.SdePointSource pointSource,out Trimble.Sde.Cloud filterExclusion, Trimble.Sde.ProgressionDelegate progressionCallback = null, IntPtr userData = null)

it seems to ignore the missing "ProgressionDelegate", but insists to get the "IntPtr"

using

            filtered = SdeCloud(cloud, boxfilter, SdePointSource.Full, exclusion, None, None)

it complains about NoneTypes

using IntPtr with an arbitrary number works, why does it need this pointer? what is this pointer?

            filtered = SdeCloud(cloud, boxfilter, SdePointSource.Full, exclusion, None, IntPtr(0))

But now I'm unable to loop over the filtered list. It says it contains some points, but the enumerator is empty. I have the feeling this is using some extension again.

I tried

filtered.GetEnumerator()

but doesn't work either

------------------------------
Ronny Schneider

Original Message:
Sent: 04-02-2026 10:18
From: Bryce Haire
Subject: built-in way to retrieve certain points from cloud and potential bug in Hoops2dView.PointCloudPick

Hey Ronny, 
Any chance you have played with the FilterByBox in the Sde library?

Something like this. 

// Given: Point3D center, double halfSize, IPointCloudRegion region// 1. Get the SDE CloudId from the region integrationvar integration = region.Integration.Provide<IPointCloudRegionIntegration>();var cloudId = integration.Provide<Sde.CloudId>();if (cloudId == null) return;// 2. Build an axis-aligned box filter around your center pointvar origin = new Point3D(    center.X - halfSize,    center.Y - halfSize,    center.Z - halfSize);var axisX = new Vector3D(2 * halfSize, 0, 0);var axisY = new Vector3D(0, 2 * halfSize, 0);var axisZ = new Vector3D(0, 0, 2 * halfSize);var boxFilter = new Sde.FilterByBox(    origin.ToSde(), axisX.ToSde(), axisY.ToSde(), axisZ.ToSde());// 3. Create a filtered Cloud - SDE handles spatial culling internallyusing (var cloud = new Cloud(cloudId))using (var filtered = new Cloud(cloud, boxFilter, SdePointSource.Full, out var exclusion)){    exclusion?.Dispose();    var results = new List<Point3D>();    foreach (SdePointInfo pt in filtered)    {        results.Add(pt.FromSde());    }}

------------------------------
Bryce Haire

Original Message:
Sent: 04-01-2026 19:49
From: Ronny Schneider
Subject: built-in way to retrieve certain points from cloud and potential bug in Hoops2dView.PointCloudPick

Hi,

what's the most performant way to get a list of Point3D's either within a certain radius or box around a given Point3D (not station), assuming I have list of GUID's of all currently visible cloud regions.

To get that center point I use Hoops3dView.PointCloudPick, that works in 3D. But in planview the Hoops2dView.PointCloudPick always returns NaN. Is this a bug?

I'm currently building my own cloudpoint Octree during macro startup and after a ViewfilterChange. That is time consuming at first but works reasonably well during runtime.

Box filtering is quite a bit faster than circular.

------------------------------
Ronny Schneider
------------------------------