Custom Ribbon Tabs

HogueOne — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 12:18:37 GMT

The Goal: Create a custom ribbon tab in the zero document environment labeled "OP".

The Problem: The tab is being created, but the UI is being reset shortly after - removing the new tab.

The Twist: I've disabled every other addin just to make sure nothing external could be affecting it. I also added diagnostics to check whether the new tab still exists internally, and apparently it does, though I cannot see it. Has anybody else encountered this issue or might be able to offer some insight? Perhaps there's something obvious in the code that I've overlooked.

Imports System.Runtime.InteropServices Imports Inventor ' This GUID must match the ClassId and ClientId in your .addin file. ' The ComVisible(True) attribute makes this class visible to COM, which is how Inventor finds it. <GuidAttribute("33B4722C-392E-4E34-9EA3-2E73DD0F1C13"), ComVisible(True)> Public Class StandardAddInServer Implements ApplicationAddInServer Private m_inventorApplication As Application Private WithEvents m_appEvents As ApplicationEvents Private m_uiCreated As Boolean = False ' Store references to all created tabs to prevent garbage collection. Private m_tabs As New List(Of Inventor.RibbonTab) ' Use the user's local app data folder for the log file to avoid permissions issues. Private ReadOnly m_logFile As String = System.IO.Path.Combine( System.Environment.GetFolderPath(System.Environment.SpecialFolder.LocalApplicationData), "NewTabAddin", "log.txt") Private Sub Log(message As String) ' This function will write a timestamped message to our log file. Try Dim logDirectory As String = System.IO.Path.GetDirectoryName(m_logFile) If Not System.IO.Directory.Exists(logDirectory) Then System.IO.Directory.CreateDirectory(logDirectory) End If Dim logMessage = $"{DateTime.Now:yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss.fff} - {message}{vbCrLf}" System.IO.File.AppendAllText(m_logFile, logMessage) Catch ex As Exception ' If logging fails, we can't do much, but this prevents a crash. End Try End Sub Public Sub Activate(ByVal addInSiteObject As ApplicationAddInSite, ByVal firstTime As Boolean) Implements ApplicationAddInServer.Activate Log("--- Add-in Activate Started ---") m_inventorApplication = addInSiteObject.Application Log("Successfully acquired Inventor Application object.") ' Hook into the OnReady event. This event fires once Inventor is fully loaded and idle. ' This is the most reliable time to create UI elements. m_appEvents = m_inventorApplication.ApplicationEvents Log("ApplicationEvents handler set up. Waiting for OnReady event.") Log("--- Add-in Activate Finished ---") End Sub Private Sub AppEvents_OnReady() Handles m_appEvents.OnReady Log("--- Inventor OnReady event fired. ---") ' The OnReady event can sometimes fire more than once. The flag ensures we only create the UI once. If Not m_uiCreated Then Log("UI not yet created. Proceeding to create UI.") CreateUserInterface() m_uiCreated = True End If End Sub Private Sub CreateUserInterface() Try Log("CreateUserInterface method started.") Dim uiMan As UserInterfaceManager = m_inventorApplication.UserInterfaceManager Log("Successfully acquired UserInterfaceManager.") If uiMan.InterfaceStyle = InterfaceStyleEnum.kRibbonInterface Then Log("Ribbon interface is active. Proceeding to create tabs.") ' Define the list of ribbons where the tab should appear. Dim ribbonNames As String() = {"ZeroDoc", "Part", "Assembly", "Drawing"} For Each ribbonName In ribbonNames Try Dim ribbon As Ribbon = uiMan.Ribbons.Item(ribbonName) Log($"Successfully acquired '{ribbonName}' ribbon.") ' Use a helper function to create the tab to avoid code duplication. AddTabToRibbon(ribbon) Catch ex As Exception Log($"!!! WARNING: Could not access or modify the '{ribbonName}' ribbon. {ex.Message}") End Try Next Else Log("Ribbon interface is not active. Aborting UI creation.") End If Log("--- UI Creation Finished ---") Catch ex As Exception Log($"!!! FATAL ERROR during UI Creation: {ex.ToString()} !!!") End Try End Sub Private Sub AddTabToRibbon(ByVal targetRibbon As Ribbon) Try ' Check if the tab already exists on this specific ribbon. Dim existingTab As Inventor.RibbonTab = Nothing Try existingTab = targetRibbon.RibbonTabs.Item("id_Tab_OP") Catch ' Item throws an error if not found, so we catch it and proceed. End Try If existingTab IsNot Nothing Then Log($"Found existing 'OP' tab on ribbon '{targetRibbon.DisplayName}'. No action needed.") Else Log($"'OP' tab not found on ribbon '{targetRibbon.DisplayName}', attempting to create it now.") Dim newTab As Inventor.RibbonTab = targetRibbon.RibbonTabs.Add( DisplayName:="OP", InternalName:="id_Tab_OP", ClientId:="{33B4722C-392E-4E34-9EA3-2E73DD0F1C13}") ' IMPORTANT: Add the new tab to our class-level list to keep it alive. m_tabs.Add(newTab) Log($"Successfully created 'OP' tab on ribbon '{targetRibbon.DisplayName}'.") End If Catch ex As Exception Log($"!!! ERROR adding tab to ribbon '{targetRibbon.DisplayName}': {ex.Message}") End Try End Sub Public Sub Deactivate() Implements ApplicationAddInServer.Deactivate Log("--- Add-in Deactivate ---") ' Clean up all created tab objects. For Each tab As Inventor.RibbonTab In m_tabs If tab IsNot Nothing Then Try tab.Delete() Marshal.ReleaseComObject(tab) Catch ex As Exception Log($"Error during tab cleanup: {ex.Message}") End Try End If Next m_tabs.Clear() If m_inventorApplication IsNot Nothing Then Marshal.ReleaseComObject(m_inventorApplication) m_appEvents = Nothing m_inventorApplication = Nothing End If GC.Collect() GC.WaitForPendingFinalizers() End Sub Public ReadOnly Property Automation As Object Implements ApplicationAddInServer.Automation Get Return Nothing End Get End Property Public Sub ExecuteCommand(ByVal commandID As Integer) Implements ApplicationAddInServer.ExecuteCommand ' This method is obsolete. End Sub End Class

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <Addin Type="Standard">  <Assembly>NewTab.dll</Assembly>  <ClientId>{33B4722C-392E-4E34-9EA3-2E73DD0F1C13}</ClientId>  <ClassId>{33B4722C-392E-4E34-9EA3-2E73DD0F1C13}</ClassId> <DisplayName>New Tab Add-in</DisplayName> <Description>A simple add-in that creates a new ribbon tab.</Description> <LoadOnStartup>1</LoadOnStartup> <UserUnloadable>1</UserUnloadable> <Hidden>0</Hidden> <SupportedSoftwareVersionGreaterThan>28</SupportedSoftwareVersionGreaterThan> </Addin>

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk"> <PropertyGroup> <TargetFramework>net8.0-windows</TargetFramework> <ImplicitUsings>enable</ImplicitUsings> <Nullable>enable</Nullable> <EnableComHosting>true</EnableComHosting> <AutoGenerateBindingRedirects>true</AutoGenerateBindingRedirects> </PropertyGroup> <ItemGroup> <COMReference Include="Inventor"> <WrapperTool>tlbimp</WrapperTool> <VersionMinor>0</VersionMinor> <VersionMajor>1</VersionMajor> <Guid>d98a091d-3a0f-4c3e-b36e-61f62068d488</Guid> <Lcid>0</Lcid> <Isolated>false</Isolated> <EmbedInteropTypes>False</EmbedInteropTypes> </COMReference> </ItemGroup> <ItemGroup> <Reference Include="AdWindows"> <HintPath>C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Inventor 2026\Bin\AdWindows.dll</HintPath> <Private>False</Private> </Reference> </ItemGroup> <ItemGroup> <None Update="NewTab.addin"> <CopyToOutputDirectory>PreserveNewest</CopyToOutputDirectory> </None> </ItemGroup> <Target Name="PostBuild" AfterTargets="PostBuildEvent"> <Exec Command="xcopy /y /d "$(TargetDir)*.*" "%APPDATA%\Autodesk\Inventor 2026\Addins\"" /> </Target> </Project>

Re: Custom Ribbon Tabs

marcin_otręba — Thu, 02 Oct 2025 08:06:53 GMT

hi, this is happening because you do not have anything on that tab, if it is empty it will be not visible...

try to add panel and some button on it.Before you do keep in mind that internal names must be uniqe for all commands, panels and tabs so you cant add 4 tabs with the same internal name, also ribbons doesn't have property named Displayname...

here is modified sub:

ps. do you use actual addin template file ?

Private WithEvents m_buttonDef As ButtonDefinition Private Sub AddTabToRibbon(ByVal targetRibbon As Ribbon) Try ' Check if the tab already exists on this specific ribbon. Dim existingTab As Inventor.RibbonTab = Nothing Try existingTab = targetRibbon.RibbonTabs.Item("id_Tab_OP_" & targetRibbon.InternalName) Catch ' Item throws an error if not found, so we catch it and proceed. End Try If existingTab IsNot Nothing Then Log($"Found existing 'OP' tab on ribbon '{targetRibbon.InternalName}'. No action needed.") Else Log($"'OP' tab not found on ribbon '{targetRibbon.InternalName}', attempting to create it now.") Dim newTab As Inventor.RibbonTab = Nothing newTab = targetRibbon.RibbonTabs.Add( DisplayName:="OP", InternalName:="id_Tab_OP_" & targetRibbon.InternalName, ClientId:=AddInClientID) Dim opan As RibbonPanel = newTab.RibbonPanels.Add("OP", "id_Panel_OP_" & targetRibbon.InternalName, AddInClientID) opan.Visible = True newTab.Visible = True Dim controlDefs As ControlDefinitions = m_inventorApplication.CommandManager.ControlDefinitions m_buttonDef = controlDefs.AddButtonDefinition("One", "One_" & targetRibbon.InternalName, CommandTypesEnum.kNonShapeEditCmdType, AddInClientID) opan.CommandControls.AddButton(m_buttonDef) ' IMPORTANT: Add the new tab to our class-level list to keep it alive. m_tabs.Add(newTab) Log($"Successfully created 'OP' tab on ribbon '{targetRibbon.InternalName}'.") End If Catch ex As Exception Log($"!!! ERROR adding tab to ribbon '{targetRibbon.InternalName}': {ex.Message}") End Try End Sub

Re: Custom Ribbon Tabs

HogueOne — Thu, 02 Oct 2025 12:10:17 GMT

I should have replied to myself earlier. I tried adding a panel and a button to my original script because I was suspicious that the core software would remove the new tab if it discovered it empty. I tried almost everything I could think of and it wouldn't work. The last thing I tried was doing a clean uninstall, removing all files, data, registry keys, everything, and reinstalling. After that, I never had an issue. I'm not sure what might have been corrupted about my install. But I had all other addins disabled so it couldn't have been some external influence.

Either way, I appreciate you looking into this. Thank you. Also, I found the template file and I'll be using that as my foundation from now on.

topic Custom Ribbon Tabs in Inventor Programming Forum

Custom Ribbon Tabs

Re: Custom Ribbon Tabs

Re: Custom Ribbon Tabs