Fix failed SOLIDWORKS VSTA (C# or VB.NET) macro

Edit Article

Symptoms

SOLIDWORKS VSTA macro (C# or VB.NET) cannot be run and the Cannot Open error is displayed

Unlike VBA macros VSTA macros are compiled in-process applications based on .NET Framework.

The main difference is source code and binaries (deliverables) are separate elements.

In order to run the macro it is required to compile it. .NET applications are using interops to communicate with COM objects (such as SOLIDWORKS).

Which means that it is required to have interops copied locally to run the macro.

Copy all files in the output (bin) directory as the deliverables. You may exclude .pdb and .xml files as those are used for debugging and documentation purposes

If the macro was supplied without this files try to create new VSTA macro and copy missing files
If macro (or zip archive) was downloaded from web. Make sure that files are not blocked as it might cause the issue.