Meraby Block Exchanger v3.2.3

Works with local Space Engineers blueprint (.sbc) files. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Keen Software House. Space Engineers is a trademark of Keen Software House.

v3.2.3 (2026-09-29)

Conversion copies keep Space Engineers block identity. Only the mapped subtype text changes. scale_grid_size swaps a leading Large/Small prefix and leaves Large or Small later in the name alone. A locked bp.sbcB5 fails closed (BinaryCacheError; the CLI exits non-zero) so a stale binary cache is not reported as a successful write.

SE2 export writes an honesty label and translation_status unverified_internal_placeholders. Unmapped blocks pass through the original SE1 subtype. The export does not fabricate VR3_Legacy_* ids.

File → Create desktop shortcut and create_desktop_shortcut.ps1 prefer Meraby_Block_Exchanger*.exe. Matching for SE_Tactical_Command*.exe is dropped.

Settings and user profiles stay in %APPDATA%\SEBlockExchanger (or ~/.se_block_exchanger when AppData is not set). The .sebx-profile extension is unchanged.

Works with local Space Engineers blueprint (.sbc) files. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Keen Software House. Space Engineers is a trademark of Keen Software House.

Meraby Block Exchanger v3.2.2

Works with local Space Engineers blueprint (.sbc) files. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Keen Software House. Space Engineers is a trademark of Keen Software House.

v3.2.2 (2026-09-29)

Rebuilt portable with Meraby Block Exchanger product chrome (window title, About/changelog titles). Same toolkit as 3.2.1. Rename from SE Tactical Command / SEBX branding.

Works with local Space Engineers blueprint (.sbc) files. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Keen Software House. Space Engineers is a trademark of Keen Software House.

Meraby Block Exchanger v3.2.1

Meraby Block Exchanger v3.2.1

Renamed from SE Tactical Command / former SEBX title branding; same toolkit. No Keen marks in title.

Works with local Space Engineers blueprint (.sbc) files. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Keen Software House. Space Engineers is a trademark of Keen Software House.

Portable build

• Meraby_Block_Exchanger_v3.2.1.exe
• Meraby_Block_Exchanger_v3.2.1.exe.sha256
• SHA256SUMS.txt

Notes from v3.2.1 patch

Patch for the portable Windows build. v3.2.0.exe crashes if you open it from a desktop shortcut (or any launch whose working directory is not the folder that contains data/). Download this build instead.

Fixes

• Packaged exe resolves data/block_costs.json, bundled profiles, changelog, and icons from the PyInstaller bundle (_MEIPASS), not the process working directory.
• Missing cost database no longer aborts startup; analytics runs with an empty catalog.
• File → Create desktop shortcut targets the running .exe when frozen (prefers Meraby_Block_Exchanger*.exe, still finds legacy SE_Tactical_Command*.exe).
• Frozen profile edits write to %APPDATA%\SEBlockExchanger\profiles so they survive updates; bundled profiles still load.
• 64-bit Windows drag-and-drop no longer overflows WPARAM/LPARAM.
• Selective Exchange no longer crashes on the missing FONT_CODE_BOLD theme font.

v3.2.0

v3.2.0 (2026-08-29)

Space Engineers Block Exchanger (Tactical Command) for Windows. Convert and analyse .sbc blueprints. In the GUI, Convert writes a new copy; the original ship is not overwritten.

A Meraby Labs product. Free for personal, non-commercial use. Commercial use requires a license. See LICENSE. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Keen Software House.

Desktop converter

• Converter window is a product flow: pick a ship, see a live before/after, then convert a copy. Sentence-case labels, readable 15–17pt type, grouped category names, and a Convert button that states how many blocks will change.
• Selecting a blueprint opens the live preview automatically.
• Armor before/after counts only use armor conversions. Enabling thrusters, DLC substitution, or other categories no longer inflates or goes negative on the armor totals.
• Convert stays disabled and the “Will convert” chip clears as soon as you change categories or direction, then comes back from a fresh dry-run so you cannot convert against stale scanner counts.
• Clearing the selection no longer leaves Convert stuck on “Updating conversion counts…”.
• Empty toast overlay no longer paints a solid box over Profiles, Changelog, Rescan, and the control panel. The overlay shows only while a toast is visible.
• Stays on CustomTkinter 5.x.

Subgrids map

• Subgrids tab lists CubeGrid hierarchy as a clickable tree and draws a 2D voxel map from Min coordinates, including TopGridId parent/child links.
• Clicking a rotor, turret, or other subgrid isolates that grid; redraw and Fit use that grid’s bounds so it is not left off-center and tiny.
• The map refreshes after the tab is shown, including single-grid ships (no empty black panel). Reopening the tab does not rebuild the map if the ship has not changed.
• The main hull is chosen by block count, not XML order.
• Hierarchy painting no longer collides with CustomTkinter’s internal redraw (the Subgrids tab crashed on startup when that happened).

Window, tabs, and Windows desktop

• XML, analytics, SE2, and map painting wait until those tabs are shown so switching ships stays responsive.
• Preview work runs on a worker thread; results are applied on the UI thread through a queue (no Tk calls from background threads).
• Each inspect parses the blueprint XML once and reuses it for dry-run conversion, analytics, and the subgrid map.
• Failed XML loads set the XML tab status to the error instead of a normal “Source:” label.
• File → Exit. The Windows title-bar close button quits (drag-and-drop no longer swallows WM_CLOSE). The process exits after destroy so python.exe does not hang around.
• File → Create desktop shortcut (shortcut targets launch.bat). Launchers: launch.bat / main.py and launch_gui.bat / gui_standalone.py.
• Native Windows drag-and-drop: Explorer still gets a successful ack if a drop callback fails; the traceback is printed to stderr.

Import and tools

• File → Import Workshop / Mod.io blueprint — paste a Steam Workshop URL or ID, or a Mod.io URL, and copy the ship into %APPDATA%\SpaceEngineers\Blueprints\local.
• Workshop folders that only have a fallback *.sbc (no bp.sbc) still import: the chosen file is copied to bp.sbc so the GUI scanner lists the ship. If several .sbc files exist, the first name in sorted order is used.
• Import refuses symlink/junction item roots, nested reparse points, and zip members with C:/, UNC, or absolute paths. An existing local folder is replaced only when it is a real directory inside the local blueprints root (rmtree will not follow a junction out of that folder).
• Tools → Selective block exchange — pick individual subtype swaps instead of a whole category.
• Tools → PB Doctor — inspect and fix programmable-block C# against the Space Engineers whitelist. Allowed using directives (System, VRage, and similar) are kept. Forbidden namespaces are stripped, including using static, aliases (using IO = System.IO), and global::. Brace/#region balance and forbidden-token scans ignore comments and string literals.
• Tools → Split into projector subgrids — writes projector-friendly copies of connected subgrids. Generated SBC uses a real xsi:type XML namespace. A successful single-grid skip is not reported as an error.
• Tools → Survival Sanity — Prototech → vanilla copy for survival crafting.
• Tools → Upgrade to Prototech — vanilla → Prototech copy.
• Tools → Harden armor around cores and Lightweight outer hull.
• Tools → Export Space Engineers 2 JSON.
• Armor skin / HSV palette engine: primary hex paints armor (or every matching block if secondary is omitted); secondary hex paints non-armor accents, or heavy armor when both colors are set with armor-only.

Mappings and CLI

• Built-in categories: armor (70 light ↔ heavy pairs), thrusters, weapons, functional, DLC substitution (96 premium DLC → base-game pairs).
• Opt-in Prototech (23 vanilla ↔ Factorum Prototech pairs). Off by default; not included in --all-categories (it overlaps thrusters/functional/weapons).
• --all-categories enables built-in mappings only. Bundled WeaponCore and Assertive Armaments profiles stay opt-in so they cannot crash the CLI with duplicate sources.
• CLI accepts any .sbc path (not only a folder named with bp.sbc). Nested search prefers bp.sbc, then a sorted *.sbc.
• Binary cache cleanup looks for bp.sbcB5.
• Scanner tracks reverse-mode convertible blocks so Convert matches --reverse.
• Grid rescale (large ↔ small) multiplies/divides Min coordinates by the 5:1 ratio. Small → large truncates toward zero so negative coordinates are not shifted by floor division.
• Profile export can write to an existing extensionless file path instead of treating it as a directory.
• Bundled profiles: WeaponCore, Assertive Armaments, Build Vision.

Reliability

• Production blueprint writes go through safe_xml.safe_write (unique temp names, replace). An interrupted conversion cannot leave a truncated bp.sbc.
• XML parse path uses defusedxml (XXE / entity expansion).
• Pillow >= 12.3.0 for the header logo. Tagged Windows builds embed logo.png, app_icon.ico, README.md, LICENSE, RELEASE_NOTES.md, profiles/, and data/.
• Official README is the 3.2.0 user guide. The public GitHub tree is the runtime app (test suite and internal planning notes are not published). GitHub Releases use this version’s notes as the release body and publish SHA256SUMS.txt.

v3.1.2

Release Notes

v3.1.2 (2026-05-24)

Fixes

• Fix mypy [type-arg] failures on xml.etree.ElementTree annotations that broke CI for every Dependabot PR.
• Drop end-of-life Python 3.8 from the CI matrix; supported versions are now Python 3.11 and 3.12.

Security

• XML parsing hardened with defusedxml via new safe_xml.py wrapper (XXE / billion-laughs protection).
• GitHub Actions pinned to commit SHAs with least-privilege permissions: blocks.
• Release workflow now publishes SHA256SUMS.txt alongside binaries.
• Added Dependabot config for github-actions and pip ecosystems.
• UpdateChecker now validates the owner/repo identifier before issuing HTTP requests.

Project / Licensing

• Project ownership consolidated under Meraby Labs.
• License re-issued as a proprietary EULA: free for personal non-commercial use; commercial use requires a separate license. The project is not open source.
• README rewritten to reflect ownership and licensing.
• Removed CONTRIBUTING.md and CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md (external contributions are not solicited).

v3.0.0 (2026-02-07)

Major Architecture

• Added version.py as single source of truth for version/build/channel.
• Added app_settings.py and update_checker.py to centralize config and updates.
• Introduced modular mapping registry (mappings/) with validation:
  • duplicate targets
  • circular swaps
  • category registration and merge checks
• Refactored conversion engine to support multi-category conversion in a single pass.
• Preserved legacy armor constants and default behavior for CLI backward compatibility.

Mapping Expansion

• Added built-in categories:
  • armor (existing 70 pairs)
  • thrusters
  • weapons
  • functional
• Added profile loading system (mapping_profiles.py) and profiles/ auto-discovery.
• Shipped built-in mod profiles:
  • WeaponCore
  • Assertive Armaments
  • Build Vision

Analytics Dashboard

• Added block cost database: data/block_costs.json.
• Implemented analytics engine (blueprint_analytics.py):
  • component totals
  • ingot and ore back-calculation
  • PCU and mass totals
  • category distribution
  • conversion delta comparison
  • CSV/TXT report export
• Added blueprint health audit:
  • missing control/power checks
  • thruster balance warnings
  • unknown block subtype detection
  • fix actions for missing control/power blocks

UI Overhaul

• Fully migrated runtime UI to modular CustomTkinter app (ui/app.py).
• Replaced legacy monolithic gui_standalone.py with compatibility launcher.
• Added:
  • category toggles
  • animated progress ring
  • before/after diff preview
  • analytics visualization tab
  • profile editor dialog (create/edit/duplicate/import/export/share/test)
  • keyboard shortcuts (Ctrl+O, Ctrl+R, Ctrl+Z)
  • recent directories/blueprints
  • native Windows drag-and-drop blueprint loading
  • appearance mode selector (Light/Dark/System)
  • in-app changelog window
  • update notification checks

Distribution and Community

• Added CI workflow (.github/workflows/ci.yml) with lint, mypy, tests.
• Added release workflow (.github/workflows/release.yml) for tagged builds.
• Updated packaging scripts/spec to embed data/profiles and versioned executable names.
• Added icon/logo generation tooling (generate_icon.py, convert_icon.py) and app icon assets.
• Updated documentation: README.md, INSTALL.md, DEVELOPMENT_PLAN.md.
• Added community files:
  • CONTRIBUTING.md
  • CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
  • issue templates for bug, feature, mapping request

Test Coverage

• Kept existing 19 compatibility tests passing.
• Added new tests for:
  • mapping registry
  • profile management
  • analytics engine/report export
  • update checker cache behavior

v2.0.0

• Expanded armor mappings to 70 pairs.
• Added dry-run preview and batch conversion.
• Added custom directory browsing and improved branding.

v3.1.1

Release Notes

v3.0.0 (2026-02-07)

Major Architecture

• Added version.py as single source of truth for version/build/channel.
• Added app_settings.py and update_checker.py to centralize config and updates.
• Introduced modular mapping registry (mappings/) with validation:
  • duplicate targets
  • circular swaps
  • category registration and merge checks
• Refactored conversion engine to support multi-category conversion in a single pass.
• Preserved legacy armor constants and default behavior for CLI backward compatibility.

Mapping Expansion

• Added built-in categories:
  • armor (existing 70 pairs)
  • thrusters
  • weapons
  • functional
• Added profile loading system (mapping_profiles.py) and profiles/ auto-discovery.
• Shipped built-in mod profiles:
  • WeaponCore
  • Assertive Armaments
  • Build Vision

Analytics Dashboard

• Added block cost database: data/block_costs.json.
• Implemented analytics engine (blueprint_analytics.py):
  • component totals
  • ingot and ore back-calculation
  • PCU and mass totals
  • category distribution
  • conversion delta comparison
  • CSV/TXT report export
• Added blueprint health audit:
  • missing control/power checks
  • thruster balance warnings
  • unknown block subtype detection
  • fix actions for missing control/power blocks

UI Overhaul

• Fully migrated runtime UI to modular CustomTkinter app (ui/app.py).
• Replaced legacy monolithic gui_standalone.py with compatibility launcher.
• Added:
  • category toggles
  • animated progress ring
  • before/after diff preview
  • analytics visualization tab
  • profile editor dialog (create/edit/duplicate/import/export/share/test)
  • keyboard shortcuts (Ctrl+O, Ctrl+R, Ctrl+Z)
  • recent directories/blueprints
  • native Windows drag-and-drop blueprint loading
  • appearance mode selector (Light/Dark/System)
  • in-app changelog window
  • update notification checks

Distribution and Community

• Added CI workflow (.github/workflows/ci.yml) with lint, mypy, tests.
• Added release workflow (.github/workflows/release.yml) for tagged builds.
• Updated packaging scripts/spec to embed data/profiles and versioned executable names.
• Added icon/logo generation tooling (generate_icon.py, convert_icon.py) and app icon assets.
• Updated documentation: README.md, INSTALL.md, DEVELOPMENT_PLAN.md.
• Added community files:
  • CONTRIBUTING.md
  • CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
  • issue templates for bug, feature, mapping request

Test Coverage

• Kept existing 19 compatibility tests passing.
• Added new tests for:
  • mapping registry
  • profile management
  • analytics engine/report export
  • update checker cache behavior

v2.0.0

• Expanded armor mappings to 70 pairs.
• Added dry-run preview and batch conversion.
• Added custom directory browsing and improved branding.

v3.0.0

v3.0.0 (2026-02-07)

Major Architecture

• Added version.py as single source of truth for version/build/channel.
• Added app_settings.py and update_checker.py to centralize config and updates.
• Introduced modular mapping registry (mappings/) with validation:
  • duplicate targets
  • circular swaps
  • category registration and merge checks
• Refactored conversion engine to support multi-category conversion in a single pass.
• Preserved legacy armor constants and default behavior for CLI backward compatibility.

Mapping Expansion

• Added built-in categories:
  • armor (existing 70 pairs)
  • thrusters
  • weapons
  • functional
• Added profile loading system (mapping_profiles.py) and profiles/ auto-discovery.
• Shipped built-in mod profiles:
  • WeaponCore
  • Assertive Armaments
  • Build Vision

Analytics Dashboard

• Added block cost database: data/block_costs.json.
• Implemented analytics engine (blueprint_analytics.py):
  • component totals
  • ingot and ore back-calculation
  • PCU and mass totals
  • category distribution
  • conversion delta comparison
  • CSV/TXT report export
• Added blueprint health audit:
  • missing control/power checks
  • thruster balance warnings
  • unknown block subtype detection
  • fix actions for missing control/power blocks

UI Overhaul

• Fully migrated runtime UI to modular CustomTkinter app (ui/app.py).
• Replaced legacy monolithic gui_standalone.py with compatibility launcher.
• Added:
  • category toggles
  • animated progress ring
  • before/after diff preview
  • analytics visualization tab
  • profile editor dialog (create/edit/duplicate/import/export/share/test)
  • keyboard shortcuts (Ctrl+O, Ctrl+R, Ctrl+Z)
  • recent directories/blueprints
  • native Windows drag-and-drop blueprint loading
  • appearance mode selector (Light/Dark/System)
  • in-app changelog window
  • update notification checks

Distribution and Community

• Added CI workflow (.github/workflows/ci.yml) with lint, mypy, tests.
• Added release workflow (.github/workflows/release.yml) for tagged builds.
• Updated packaging scripts/spec to embed data/profiles and versioned executable names.
• Added icon/logo generation tooling (generate_icon.py, convert_icon.py) and app icon assets.
• Updated documentation: README.md, INSTALL.md, DEVELOPMENT_PLAN.md.
• Added community files:
  • CONTRIBUTING.md
  • CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
  • issue templates for bug, feature, mapping request

Test Coverage

• Kept existing 19 compatibility tests passing.
• Added new tests for:
  • mapping registry
  • profile management
  • analytics engine/report export
  • update checker cache behavior

Meraby Block Exchanger

Release Notes

v1.0.0 - Initial Release (November 2025)

🎉 Welcome to SE Block Exchanger!

The Space Engineers Block Exchanger is a powerful Python tool designed to automate armor block conversions in Space Engineers blueprints. Save hours of tedious manual work by converting entire blueprints in seconds!

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✨ New Features

🔄 Bidirectional Armor Conversion

• Light → Heavy: Convert light armor blocks to heavy armor variants for increased durability
• Heavy → Light: Convert heavy armor blocks to light armor variants to save resources
• Toggle conversion direction with a single click in the GUI or --reverse flag in CLI

🖥️ Standalone Desktop Application

• Native Windows desktop application using tkinter
• Tactical Hologram Interface with military-grade styling:
  • Gunmetal grey and neon cyan/orange color scheme
  • Tech-glass panel effects
  • Corner bracket targeting system aesthetic
• Blueprint Database Panel with search and scrollable list
• Real-time Block Analysis showing light/heavy armor counts
• Exchange Visualization with before/after block display
• Threaded operations for responsive UI during scanning/conversion

💻 Command Line Interface

• Full-featured CLI for automation and scripting
• Process single blueprints or entire directories
• Verbose output mode for detailed logging
• List all supported block mappings with --list-mappings

🛡️ Safe & Non-Destructive

• Automatic Backup Creation - Creates .sbc.backup files before modification (CLI)
• Prefix-Based Copies - GUI creates new blueprints with HEAVYARMOR_ or LIGHTARMOR_ prefixes
• Original Preservation - Source blueprints are never modified

📦 Comprehensive Block Support

• 60+ armor block types supported
• Large Grid Blocks:
  • Standard blocks (cube, slope, corner, inverted corner)
  • Round armor variants
  • 2x1 slopes and corners (base and tip)
  • Half blocks and slopes
  • Armor panels
  • Sloped corners
• Small Grid Blocks:
  • All corresponding small grid variants

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🔧 Technical Details

Dependencies

• Python 3.7+ required
• No external packages - Uses Python standard library only
• GUI uses built-in tkinter module

File Structure

File	Description
se_armor_replacer.py	Core armor replacement logic and CLI
gui_standalone.py	Standalone desktop GUI application
blueprint_scanner.py	Blueprint directory scanner and metadata extractor
blueprint_converter.py	Safe blueprint copying and conversion
launch_gui.bat	Windows launcher for GUI
test_armor_replacer.py	Comprehensive unit test suite

Supported Platforms

• Windows - Full support (native paths, GUI, CLI)
• Linux/Mac - CLI support (GUI may require tkinter installation)

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📋 Usage Quick Start

GUI (Recommended)

# Windows - Double-click launch_gui.bat or run:
python gui_standalone.py

Command Line

# Light to Heavy conversion
python se_armor_replacer.py path/to/blueprint/bp.sbc

# Heavy to Light conversion
python se_armor_replacer.py path/to/blueprint/bp.sbc --reverse

# List all supported block mappings
python se_armor_replacer.py --list-mappings

---

🧪 Testing

The project includes a comprehensive test suite with 11 unit tests covering:

• Light to heavy block replacement
• Heavy to light block replacement (reverse mode)
• Mixed block processing
• Backup file creation
• Output file generation
• All armor type mappings validation

Run tests with:

python -m unittest test_armor_replacer -v

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📍 Blueprint Locations

Windows Local Blueprints:

%APPDATA%\SpaceEngineers\Blueprints\local\<BlueprintName>\bp.sbc

Steam Workshop:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\workshop\content\244850\<WorkshopID>\bp.sbc

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⚠️ Known Limitations

• Only processes blueprint files (bp.sbc), not world saves
• Does not modify paint colors or skin settings
• Does not adjust component costs (handled by Space Engineers)
• Requires manual reload in Space Engineers to see changes

---

🚀 Perfect For

• 🛡️ Converting survival blueprints to combat-ready heavy armor
• 🏗️ Upgrading old designs without rebuilding from scratch
• ⚔️ Preparing fleet ships for PvP battles
• 💰 Downgrading expensive heavy armor ships to save resources
• 🔄 Testing designs with different armor types quickly
• 📦 Batch processing entire blueprint libraries

---

📜 License

Copyright © 2025. All Rights Reserved.

This software is provided for personal use only. See the LICENSE file for complete terms.

---

🙏 Credits

Created for the Space Engineers community to simplify blueprint modifications.

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For feature requests, bug reports, or contributions, please open an issue or pull request on the project repository.