topic Custom ribbon button doesn't execute VBA sub in Inventor Programming Forum

Custom ribbon button doesn't execute VBA sub

sv.lucht — Fri, 29 Aug 2025 11:54:02 GMT

I try to create custom ribbon tabs that get called when different criteria are met. The VBA code resides in StampMaker.ivb library in the UIManager module and everything works fine. I can create and destroy tabs,panel,buttons, but I cannot make the buttons work. The functions get never called. I tried to simplify the code, as seen below. I tried to get help from Gemini. But nothing works. So I would be very grateful for any suggestions. Here is a simplified version of the code just for troubleshooting. I checked all the names. I counted the ControlDefinitions and the count increases when the object is created, so the object exists. I can delete and recreate it just fine. But I cannot make the link to the Sub working. I tried to call a function in the default library, but this doesn't work either. I tried MacroButtons, but the same problem. The AI suggest that I should alter the security settings, but I cannot find it in Inv 2025 Pro.

Thank you very much in advance.

Public Sub RunCleanButtonTest() ' --- Phase 1: Aggressive Cleanup --- 'Const TEST_MACRO_NAME As String = "Default.Module1.testio" Const TEST_MACRO_NAME As String = "StampMaker.UIManager.testprompt" Const TEST_TAB_NAME As String = "MyTestTab" Const TEST_PANEL_NAME As String = "MyTestPanel" ' Delete the Control Definition On Error Resume Next ThisApplication.CommandManager.ControlDefinitions.item(TEST_MACRO_NAME).delete Debug.Print "Old Control Definition deleted (if it existed)." On Error GoTo 0 ' Delete the Ribbon Tab Dim zeroRibbon As Inventor.Ribbon Set zeroRibbon = ThisApplication.UserInterfaceManager.Ribbons.item("ZeroDoc") On Error Resume Next zeroRibbon.RibbonTabs.item(TEST_TAB_NAME).delete Debug.Print "Old Ribbon Tab deleted (if it existed)." On Error GoTo 0 ' --- Phase 2: Create a single, simple button --- Debug.Print "Creating new UI..." ' Create Tab and Panel Dim newTab As RibbonTab Set newTab = zeroRibbon.RibbonTabs.Add("My Test", TEST_TAB_NAME, "ClientID_TestTab") Dim newPanel As RibbonPanel Set newPanel = newTab.RibbonPanels.Add("My Panel", TEST_PANEL_NAME, "ClientID_TestPanel") ' Create Button Definition Dim buttonDef As ButtonDefinition Set buttonDef = ThisApplication.CommandManager.ControlDefinitions.AddButtonDefinition( _ "Click Me", _ TEST_MACRO_NAME, _ CommandTypesEnum.kNonShapeEditCmdType) ' Add button to panel Call newPanel.CommandControls.AddButton(buttonDef, True) Debug.Print "--- Test UI created. Please click the 'Click Me' button on the 'My Test' tab. ---" End Sub Public Sub testprompt() Debug.Print ("HEUREKA! it works") Debug.Print ("HEUREKA! it works") Debug.Print ("HEUREKA! it works") End Sub

Re: Custom ribbon button doesn't execute VBA sub

sv.lucht — Fri, 29 Aug 2025 13:02:36 GMT

This code works and executed the ControlDefinition. It seems that you need a MacroControlDefinition and a called function that resides inside the default.ivb, which sucks because I wanted to keep my code portable in an external ivb.

Public Sub CreateMinimalMacroButton() ' --- 1. Define the names for the macro and UI elements --- Const MACRO_FULL_NAME As String = "Module1.MyTargetSubroutine" Const TAB_ID As String = "StampMaker_MinimalTab_1" Const PANEL_ID As String = "StampMaker_MinimalPanel_1" Dim uiMgr As UserInterfaceManager Set uiMgr = ThisApplication.UserInterfaceManager ' --- 2. Clean up any old versions of these UI elements --- ' Using "On Error Resume Next" is a simple way to delete items ' without causing an error if they don't exist yet. On Error Resume Next ' Delete the Ribbon Tab (this also removes the panel and the button on it) uiMgr.Ribbons.item("ZeroDoc").RibbonTabs.item(TAB_ID).delete ' Delete the Control Definition (the "brain" of the button) ThisApplication.CommandManager.ControlDefinitions.item(MACRO_FULL_NAME).delete ' Return to normal error handling On Error GoTo 0 ' --- 3. Create the new UI --- ' Get the ribbon that's visible when no document is open Dim zeroRibbon As Ribbon Set zeroRibbon = uiMgr.Ribbons.item("ZeroDoc") ' Create the new tab Dim myTab As RibbonTab Set myTab = zeroRibbon.RibbonTabs.Add("Minimal Test", TAB_ID, "ClientID_MinimalTab") ' Create a panel on the tab Dim myPanel As RibbonPanel Set myPanel = myTab.RibbonPanels.Add("Test Panel", PANEL_ID, "ClientID_MinimalPanel") ' Create the Macro Definition - this links the button to your code Dim macroDef As MacroControlDefinition Set macroDef = ThisApplication.CommandManager.ControlDefinitions.AddMacroControlDefinition(MACRO_FULL_NAME) ' Add the actual button to the panel Call myPanel.CommandControls.AddMacro(macroDef) ' --- 4. Notify the user --- MsgBox "Minimal macro button has been created." & vbCrLf & _ "Look for the 'Minimal Test' tab in your ribbon.", vbInformation End Sub

Re: Custom ribbon button doesn't execute VBA sub

YuhanZhang — Wed, 03 Sep 2025 07:01:01 GMT

Hi @sv.lucht ,

This is a limitation that the macro should be in the Application project for the ribbon button to call, see documentation below:

Inventor 2025 Help | ControlDefinitions.AddMacroControlDefinition Method | Autodesk

But you may find a workaround from below post:

Solved: Ribbon Macro button to call macro in second ivb project - Autodesk Community

You can call a macro in Application project using your ribbon button, and in your macro it can run another macro in a custom .ivb file.

Hope this helps.