Tutorials BimCraft help Reference
What BimCraft reads from each format
Exactly what BimCraft reads from IFC, project and family files, DWG and DXF, and what it leaves alone.
Written for BimCraft 0.3. The same help is inside the app: press F1.
IFC
| Read | Details |
|---|---|
| Geometry | Every element with a shape, colored as the file says. Rooms and spaces are drawn see-through and hidden at first |
| Storeys | Building storeys in elevation order, and which elements sit on each. Elements on no storey are grouped as "Not on a storey" |
| Element counts | How many elements of each kind (walls, doors, slabs…), shown in Elements |
| Project facts | Project name, long name and phase; schema; the exporting program, author and export date from the file header |
| Element data | Name, type, object type, tag, description, GlobalId; every property set and quantity set on the element and on its type |
Editable: name, object type, tag, description, and single property values. Saved as a new IFC file. Schemas IFC2X3 and IFC4 open. The model is moved to the origin when it opens, so a model placed far from it still shows in the middle of the screen. .ifczip and .ifcxml do not open.
Project and family files
.rvt projects, .rte project templates, .rfa families and .rft family templates.
| Read | Details |
|---|---|
| File information | Release and build, worksharing, central model path, last saved path, user name, locale, document GUID |
| Project information | The project's own fields (name, number, client, address, status…), without new-project defaults |
| Family information | Family name, category, release, last update, and its parameters by group |
| Links | The list of linked models, CAD links, images and keynote tables the file points to |
| Preview picture | The thumbnail saved in the file |
Not read: the 3D model, elements, views, sheets and schedules. They are stored in an undocumented format. BimCraft reads only a few tens of kilobytes from each file, so file size barely matters.
DWG and DXF
| Read | Details |
|---|---|
| Spaces | Model space and every sheet (layout), in tab order |
| Viewports | Each sheet's viewports, with their scale, twist and frozen layers |
| Layers | Name, color, on/off, frozen, plot flag and line weight |
| Objects | Lines, polylines, arcs, circles, ellipses, splines, hatches and solids, text and multiline text, blocks and attributes, dimensions, leaders and multileaders, tables, points, images |
| Linked drawings | Drawn where they are inserted, when their files are found |
| Images | Drawn from the picture files when found (PNG, JPEG, GIF, BMP, WebP; not TIFF) |
| Equipment tags | Foodservice item tags (KCL-ITEM attributes), for the equipment schedule |
Anything else is counted under Not drawn yet, never guessed. DWG formats from AutoCAD 2000 to 2018 are the ones checked (R13 and R14 files are accepted too, but none were in the test set; older DWGs do not open); the Drawing panel shows the format code (such as AC1032). DXF files of every version open, R12 included. Both are read by BimCraft's own readers, in this tab. Nothing is saved back to DWG or DXF.
In a folder
| Kind | Extensions | In the report |
|---|---|---|
| Models | .rvt .rfa .rte .rft | Grouped with numbered backups, health-checked, card read, links checked |
| IFC | .ifc | Listed; opens in 3D |
| CAD | .dwg .dxf .dgn | Listed with the models that link them; DWG and DXF open in 2D, DGN does not |
| Leftovers | .dwl .dwl2 .bak .err .log .tmp .sv$ .ac$ .lck .slog | Listed under Set aside |
| Housekeeping folders | *_backup, *_log, Revit_temp, hidden folders | Listed under Set aside, not read |