TBC Macros and Extensions

I'm having tons of issue following the tutorial (no TbcMacros, no WPF Window element, cant add Trimble.Vce.UI.Control.dll elements, etc etc)

So I'd like to replicate exactly a working environment, therefore I'd like to know which versions offer maximum compatibility/less problems of:

• Windows
• Visual Studio
• IronPython
• Timble Macros SDK

Hi Giuseppe, 
Welcome to TBC Macros development. 

If you are struggling with the provided tutorials, I would suggest you check out this post by Ronny about the setup and getting going with Macros for TBC.

https://community.trimble.com/question/june-2024-installation-for-macros

This is probably the best resource for getting started and we very much appreciate Ronny for putting this together. 

Welcome aboard!

Hello Giuseppe,

just to answer your list.

• Windows 10 or 11 doesn't matter (beside the fact that I personally hate 11 :-))
• you must/should stick with VS2019 (i.e. post #10 here https://community.trimble.com/discussion/how-can-i-use-trimble-macro-sdk-in-visual-studio-2019)
  • and even there is IronPython not really supported anymore

• the IronPython version depends on your TBC version
  • everything prior to 5.90 requires Ironpython 2.7
  • from TBC V5.90 onwards it uses Ironpython 3.4
  • that's also the reason for the folder change from "C:\ProgramData\Trimble\MacroCommands" to "C:\ProgramData\Trimble\MacroCommands3"
  • BUT, that enabled us to keep different TBC versions that use different python versions, there are slight language differences, I personally didn't have to change too much code
• you should always use the MacroSDK that fits your TBC version
  • the developers, unfortunately, move classes and methods around in the namespace
  • extremely rare, but I had it once, that the type of input values changed Some changes coming for macros in version 5.90 | TBC Macros and Extensions (trimble.com)
  • the easiest way to find the new location or new usage of a method is to search for and look it up in the correct SDK
  • they SDK's are unfortunately spread all over the place, and sometimes we didn't get one for a new TBC version at all (lately that has gotten better)
    • SDK 5.4 was in the Library https://community.trimble.com/viewdocument/trimble-macros-sdkmsi-updated-for?CommunityKey=8a262af4-a35e-4e9a-9dd3-191cc785899a&tab=librarydocuments
    • SDK 5.50 and (5.70) was in the Blog Updated TBC Macro SDK for version 5.70 (trimble.com)
    • there was no release for 5.6 or 5.8 as far as I remember
    • SDK V5.90 is in the Blog https://community.trimble.com/blogs/gary-lantaff1/2023/06/23/updated-tbc-macro-sdk-for-version-590?CommunityKey=8a262af4-a35e-4e9a-9dd3-191cc785899a
    • SDK's for 5.70, 23.10 and 24.00 can be found on the Macro Community front page (https://community.trimble.com/communities/community-homepage?communitykey=8a262af4-a35e-4e9a-9dd3-191cc785899a)
  • if you want your macro to be usable in multiple versions (if they both have the classes available) you may have to cover multiple locations during the assembly import at the start of a macro
    • one of the worst examples below, "CursorStyle" or "MousePosition" have been in 4 different locations so far

    • # later version of TBC moved these to a different assembly. If not found in new location, look at old
      try:
          #2023.10
          #clr.AddReference("Trimble.Sdk.UI")
          from Trimble.Sdk.UI import MousePosition, InputMethod, CursorStyle, UIEventArgs, I2DProjection, DistanceType
          from Trimble.Sdk.Interfaces.UI import ControlBoolean
      except:
          try:
          	#5.50
              from Trimble.Sdk.Interfaces.UI import InputMethod, MousePosition, CursorStyle, ControlBoolean, UIEventArgs, I2DProjection, DistanceType
          except:
              try:
          		#5.40 or so
                  from Trimble.Vce.UI.UIManager import UIEventArgs
                  from Trimble.CustomControl.Interfaces import MousePosition, ControlBoolean, I2DProjection
                  from Trimble.CustomControl.Interfaces.Enums import CursorStyle, InputMethod
              except:
          		# even older
                  from Trimble.Vce.UI.Controls import MousePosition, CursorStyle, ControlBoolean, TrimbleColor