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Delete, cut, copy and paste building elements

Pick walls, doors, furniture or anything else in an IFC model; delete them, cut them, or copy and paste them where you click, in place, or on another storey.

Written for BimCraft 0.4. The same help is inside the app: press F1.

What you'll do

Change what is in an IFC model: take out elements you do not want, copy a wall or a set of furniture to another place, or move elements by cutting and pasting them. Every change is one step you can undo, and saving writes a new file, so your original stays as it was.

Steps

  1. Open an IFC model. See Open an IFC model and look around in 3D.
  2. Pick what you want to change: click an element, hold ⌘Ctrl or ⇧Shift and click to pick more, or press ⌘ACtrl+A (More, Select all) to pick every element shown.
  3. Then:
    • Delete: press fn DeleteDelete, or More, Delete.
    • Copy: press ⌘CCtrl+C or click Copy.
    • Cut: press ⌘XCtrl+X, or More, Cut. The elements go, and you can paste them.
  4. To paste, press ⌘VCtrl+V or click Paste. A see-through box the size of what you copied follows the pointer on the storey chosen in the placing bar. Press RR to turn it 90°, then click where it goes. Each click places another copy; press EscEsc to stop.
  5. Or press ⇧⌘VCtrl+Shift+V (More, Paste in place): after a cut the elements go back exactly where they were; after a copy the copy goes right beside the originals.
  6. Click Save as IFC to download the edited model.

What goes with an element

  • Parts: a stair takes its flights, a curtain wall its panels, anything made of parts takes them all.
  • Openings: a wall takes the openings cut in it. Deleting a door or window also takes the opening it filled, so the wall closes, as it does in an authoring program. Deleting a wall leaves its doors and windows where they were.
  • Data: a copy has the same type, materials, property sets and quantities as the original, and a new GlobalId. Changing a value on the copy later leaves the original alone.
  • Library items keep their library data; a copy gets the next free item number, and a cut item pasted back keeps its own.

What you should see

  • "Deleted: …" or "Pasted: …" in the Changes list. ⌘ZCtrl+Z takes the last change back; ⌘YCtrl+Y puts it back again.
  • After a delete, the status line says how many parts and openings went too.
  • Pasted elements are picked, so you can paste in place again to make a row, or delete them.

Good to know

  • Copies use the same geometry as the original (IFC lets elements share it), so the file grows very little.
  • Building elements paste into the model they were copied from, in the same tab. To use placed library items in another model, copy one item at a time: see Copy, paste and duplicate library items.
  • Storeys, spaces, buildings and the site cannot be deleted or copied. Pick the elements in them instead.
  • Copy also puts the names and properties of what you copied on your clipboard as text, to paste into a spreadsheet or an e-mail.

Common mistakes

  • Delete is greyed out. Nothing is picked, or only storeys or spaces are. Point at it to read why.
  • Paste says the elements came from another model. You opened another model since you copied them. Open the first model again and copy them there.
  • The pasted copy is on another floor. The placing bar's Storey decides where it goes; pick the storey before you click.