Finder

What does the finder?

The abstract finder class has currently only one implementation, the TemplateFinder. The TemplateFinder is used to find attributes in the IFC which are not placed in an IFC schema specified way, but in a known way (Custom IfcPropertySets). E.g. it is known that ArchiCAD creates an IfcPropertySet named BaseQuantites, with additional information. To get these information, we use templates in form of .json files, which store potential data storage points in the IFC for widly used tools. Currently we support templates for:

  • Revit (BPS)

  • ArchiCAD (BPS)

  • CarF from LuArtX IT (HVAC)

  • TRICAD MS (HVAC)

I have my own tool, or I’m aware of more typical storage points, what to do?

Please feel free to enrich the existing templates. They are stored under bim2sim/assets/finder. Please take the following guidelines into account:

  • every .json file needs to be named with “template_”

  • every .json file should be structured the following way:

{
  "Identification": {
    "tool_names": [<list of possible names>],
    "languages": [<list of languages>]
    
  },
  "<name of bim2sim instance>": {
	"default_ps": {
      "<name bim2sim attribute> 1" : ["<tool Pset name>", "<tool attribute name>"],
      "<name bim2sim attribute> 2" : ["<tool Pset name>", "<tool attribute name>"]
    }
  }
}

Explanation of the example:

  • list of possible names: Here you should add the possible names that can will be stored in IfcApplication: FullName by the corresponding tool. You can also use %v and %lang for version and language if your tool changes the export name depending on version and language. The version must then be stored in IfcApplication: Version to identify. See Revit template for an example.

  • languages: possible languages like “DEU”, “ENG” etc.

  • name of bim2sim instance: have a look at the elements. We defined own names for our bim2sim elements as we have many-to-one as well as one-to-many mappings between IFC and simulation.

  • name bim2sim attribute: you can find these in elements as well. They are added as attributes.

  • tool Pset name: Name of the custom IfcPropertySet that the tool uses.

  • tool attribute name: Name of the attribute of the custom IfcPropertySet

All templates will be validated against the correct json format on startup, so please stick to the .json guidelines. You can use a JSOn validator like this one.