IFC - Industry Foundation Classes/IFC classes

From Wiki.OSArch
< IFC - Industry Foundation Classes
Revision as of 02:40, 20 March 2020 by Moult (talk | contribs) (Moult moved page IFC objects to IFC classes without leaving a redirect)

All data in IFC belongs to an IFC class. IFC classes can be divided into two categories: rooted and non-rooted classes. Rooted classes inherit attributes from an IFC class called IfcRoot, whereas non-rooted classes do not. This IfcRoot class is special because it provides the following four attributes:

Attribute Required Description
GlobalId Yes A unique identifier of the object, generated by a computer. This is usually created automatically by the BIM authoring tool.
OwnerHistory This special attribute can store names, dates, organisations, software vendor, and contact details of people who are responsible for this object. This is usually created automatically by the BIM authoring tool.
Name This can contain a short text that names the object.
Description A sentence or so to describe the object.

All rooted classes are semantically significant to end-users and created specifically for a project or library. Examples include IfcProject, IfcBuilding, and IfcWall. They are usually annotated in documentation, or named specifically in schedules. These objects are generally useful to end-users, and for this reason can be tracked with a GlobalId and given a Name.

In contrast, non-rooted classes do not have the ability to assign a GlobalId, Name, or otherwise, and are used to store non-project-specific data like XYZ coordinates, RGB colour values, vectors, and so on. One example is IfcCartesianPoint. They are needed from a technical perspective, and are usually automatically generated by the BIM authoring tool, and can usually be safely ignored by end-users. It is important, however, to know that they exist as power users may encounter them when trying to optimise OpenBIM data.