CST Studio Suite VBA Script Not Exporting FarField Images

[embedded_n00b]

Hello everyone,

I'm currently working on a project that involves automating the generation and export of far-field images using CST Studio Suite. I followed this video the get the patch antenna. I’ve written a VBA script intended to scale the patch length and width of an antenna, rebuild the project, run the solver, and then export the resulting far-field plots as PNG images. Unfortunately, although the script runs without errors, it doesn't seem to be exporting any images.

Here’s a simplified version of the code I’m using:

'Language "WWB-COM"

Option Explicit

Sub Main()
    ' Define and initialize variables
    Dim i As Integer
    Dim scalingFactor As Double
    Dim project As Object
    Dim exportPath As String
    Dim fileName As String
    Dim SL, SW, SH, Mt, PL, PW, ML, MW, InL, InW, k As Double

    ' Initialize the CST project
    Set project = CreateObject("CSTStudio.Application")

    ' Path to save the exported images
    exportPath = "C:\Path\To\Export\Directory\" ' Change this to your desired path

    ' Initialize the base values from your parameter list
    SL = 59
    SW = 76
    SH = 1.5
    Mt = 0.035
    PL = 29.5
    PW = 38
    ML = 14.75 ' This is typically calculated as SL/2 - PL/2
    MW = 2.86
    InL = 9
    InW = 0.74
    k = 5.62

    ' Reset before each execution of this script
    Call StoreParameter("PL", PL)
    Call StoreParameter("PW", PW)

    ' Loop to generate images for different sizes
    For scalingFactor = 0.30 To 0.6 Step 0.10
        ' Calculate new parameters only for the patch length and width
        PL = 29.5 * scalingFactor
        PW = 38 * scalingFactor

        ' Update CST with new parameters
        Call StoreParameter("PL", PL)
        Call StoreParameter("PW", PW)

        ' Rebuild and solve the project
        Call Rebuild
        Call RunSolver()

        ' Export the farfield plot
        fileName = exportPath & "Antenna_Size_" & scalingFactor & ".png" ' Adjusted to export as .png
        With FarfieldPlot
            .Reset
            .Plottype "3d"
            .SetThetaStart 0
            .SetThetaEnd 180
            .SetPhiStart 0
            .SetPhiEnd 360
            .Step 1
            .Step2 1
            .SetPlotMode "directivity"
            .SetScaleLinear True
            .SetLogRange 40
            .EnablePhaseCenterCalculation True
            .SetPhaseCenterComponent "Theta"
            .SetPhaseCenterPlane "both"
            .SetPhaseCenterAngularLimit 30
            Call SelectTreeItem("Farfields")
            .Plot
            .ASCIIExportAsSource fileName
        End With

    Next scalingFactor

    ' Notify completion
    MsgBox "Generation of far-field images completed."
End Sub

Despite the script running without errors, it doesn’t seem to produce any exported images in the specified directory. I’ve double-checked the paths and filenames, but no images are saved. Is there something that I'm missing here or is there another way to do this?

 

[BradtheRad]

In times past I asked some program to create a new file while I specified a concatenated name of the target directory, and it failed to do so. There was no error message, no reason for the failure. I decided I needed to streamline the process. I commanded some short default name for the file. I let the program save it at the root level. I let it choose a default disk. Afterward I did a search for the file which was a minute old. I made sure my commands opened the file and device, then closed the file.

To verify proper file I/O, it's important to get numerous verbose messages from the program, step-by-step before perfoming a step, and after completing a step.