Pick an element and read its properties

What you'll do

Pick elements in an IFC model and read everything the file says about them: attributes, property sets, type properties and quantities.

Steps

1. Open an IFC model.
2. Click an element, for example a door. Click without dragging: a drag of more than a few pixels orbits instead of picking.
3. Look at the element: it is highlighted in blue.
4. Look at the Properties panel on the right. At the top are the element's kind (such as "Door" or "WallStandardCase") and its name.
5. Read the first block: Name, Type, Object type, Tag, Description, GlobalId and Line.
6. Scroll down to the property sets. The first three are open; click the name of any other set to open it.
7. Click another element to switch to it.
8. Press EscEsc, or click empty background, to clear the selection.

What you should see

• The highlighted element and its data on the right.
• Property sets in alphabetical order. Sets that come from the element's type have " (type)" after their name and the note "Type property: a change here applies to every element of this type."
• Quantity sets (such as lengths, areas and volumes) listed with the other sets. Quantities are read-only.
• Values you can change look like buttons. Change IFC properties and save an edited copy shows how.

Properties panel fields explains each field.

Getting at hidden elements

1. To reach something inside the building, untick the storeys above it in the Storeys list.
2. To reach a wall behind a room volume, turn Spaces off.
3. Click the element.

Common mistakes

• Dragging a little while clicking. BimCraft treats that as an orbit and does not pick. Hold the mouse still.
• Expecting units next to numbers. Values are shown as stored in the file, rounded to four decimals, without a unit symbol. Lengths in a metric export are usually millimeters or meters; check the exporter's settings.
• Looking for a parameter by its familiar name. Exporters rename and regroup parameters into IFC property sets such as Pset_WallCommon. Look through each set; custom parameters often sit in a set named after the exporting program or your company.
• Expecting a selection list or a search box. You pick one element at a time by clicking. The Elements list on the left only counts elements by kind; it is not clickable.
• Picking on a project file card. A file card has no elements to pick: "Element properties need the 3D model. Open an IFC export of this file to see them."