DipTrace Forum

I've just briefly tried to create my own plug-in. No luck. DipTrace can't run it.
My underlying issue is probably my IT department (surprise surprise), who have limited my ability to create executables. I can create them in a specific "trusted" folder but it's not lucky to then copy them elsewhere, e.g. to DipTrace's Plugin folder. DipTrace (PCB) shows it under Tools/Plugins but gives an error when I try to activate it.
When I modify settings.xml so that ExeFile="drive:\My\Dev\Path\Debug\my_plugin.exe", DipTrace doesn't even show it under Tools/Plugins.
Is that the expected behaviour?

Also, what's going on with ExpMode? DipTrace_Plugins.pdf describes the "Partial" option, which is used by DashDotLine. But OpenMaskForTraces uses "Edit" which the PDF only describes in the context of ImpMode, although with the same description as "Partial"...

grahamm wrote: 25 Sep 2025, 03:16 I've just briefly tried to create my own plug-in. No luck. DipTrace can't run it.
My underlying issue is probably my IT department (surprise surprise), who have limited my ability to create executables. I can create them in a specific "trusted" folder but it's not lucky to then copy them elsewhere, e.g. to DipTrace's Plugin folder. DipTrace (PCB) shows it under Tools/Plugins but gives an error when I try to activate it.
When I modify settings.xml so that ExeFile="drive:\My\Dev\Path\Debug\my_plugin.exe", DipTrace doesn't even show it under Tools/Plugins.
Is that the expected behaviour?

Yes, this is the expected behavior of the program. Executable files for plugins must be located in the program's folder, for example at:
C:\Program Files\DipTrace\Plugins
If the plugin files are placed elsewhere, the program will not see them and will not load them.

grahamm wrote: 25 Sep 2025, 03:16 Also, what's going on with ExpMode? DipTrace_Plugins.pdf describes the "Partial" option, which is used by DashDotLine. But OpenMaskForTraces uses "Edit" which the PDF only describes in the context of ImpMode, although with the same description as "Partial"...

Thank you for your report and for your interest in developing plugins! We have investigated this issue. To ensure consistency between the documentation and the plugin, we have made changes to the settings of the "Open Solder Mask for Selected Traces" plugin — replacing "Edit" with "Partial." The changes will be available in the next program release.