Question

IFC attribute reading


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I would like to get the value of a specific attribute of an IFC data (data from BIM software). Whereas I can see this attribute in the "feature information" window in the inspector, I cannot see it in the user attribute tab or in the format attribute tab of the "feature type" window in the workbench.

Thanks for any help.


9 replies

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Hi @chognards, if you want to get the attributes with prefix fme_ or attributes specific formats

In Workbench - Feature Type - Format Attributes, and you choose attributes that you want to extract information:

Thanks

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Hi @danilo_inovacao,

Thank you for your answer, but in fact my problem is that the attribute is not in the "format attribute" list. it is not a fme_ attribute but an attribute create by Archicad.

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Hi @chognards,

The attributes you speak of are apparently not part of the IFC schema. For some typical IFC Classes like IfcBuilding, IfcProject and IfcSite, here's an example of the attributes that are part of the standard schema:

If the attributes you mention are not listed here, it means that FME still reads them, but they need to be exposed first if you want to manipulate the values in a transformer for instance.

You can expose attributes using an AttributeExposer (which gives you more fine-grained control) or you can expose these ArchiCAD attributes when you add the IFC Reader. Scroll to the bottom of the Parameters dialog and you will see this:

Click on the "..." button so you can manually enter the names of the additional attributes.

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You might try reading your IFC file with the REVIT Reader instead and use the 'Building Elements with Hierarchy' option, as in practice for me this exposes and makes a lot of the nested attributes that some BIM packages tuck away a lot more accessible.

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You might try reading your IFC file with the REVIT Reader instead and use the 'Building Elements with Hierarchy' option, as in practice for me this exposes and makes a lot of the nested attributes that some BIM packages tuck away a lot more accessible.

 

This was a "hot tip" given to me direct from Safe and it worked a treat for me... made my workspace a lot less complicated.
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Hi @chognards,

The attributes you speak of are apparently not part of the IFC schema. For some typical IFC Classes like IfcBuilding, IfcProject and IfcSite, here's an example of the attributes that are part of the standard schema:

If the attributes you mention are not listed here, it means that FME still reads them, but they need to be exposed first if you want to manipulate the values in a transformer for instance.

You can expose attributes using an AttributeExposer (which gives you more fine-grained control) or you can expose these ArchiCAD attributes when you add the IFC Reader. Scroll to the bottom of the Parameters dialog and you will see this:

Click on the "..." button so you can manually enter the names of the additional attributes.

Thank you for your answer, however I have already tried the AttributeExposer and I did not see my attribute. That is why I do not understand where the attribute is and how to read it. (I add a print screen in order to explain better. I try to read the feature cirle in red).

 

 

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Thank you for your answer, however I have already tried the AttributeExposer and I did not see my attribute. That is why I do not understand where the attribute is and how to read it. (I add a print screen in order to explain better. I try to read the feature cirle in red).

 

 

Hi @chognards, I'm not sure what your screenshot shows on the left, but this is not an AttributeExposer transformer. Please click on the link to see what I mean. This transformer allows you to manually type in the names of the attributes you wish to expose.

 

Also, at least on my machine with FME 2017, the "Additional Attributes to Expose" button in the Parameters dialog allows for additional attributes to be exposed. Note that you can do this when you add the reader to the workspace or in the Navigator window on the left (at the desired Reader). You can't manually type in attribute names when you use the expose functionality in the Feature Type properties dialog (e.g. by double-clicking on the yellow boxes, for example IfcBuilding).

 

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Hi @chognards, I'm not sure what your screenshot shows on the left, but this is not an AttributeExposer transformer. Please click on the link to see what I mean. This transformer allows you to manually type in the names of the attributes you wish to expose.

 

Also, at least on my machine with FME 2017, the "Additional Attributes to Expose" button in the Parameters dialog allows for additional attributes to be exposed. Note that you can do this when you add the reader to the workspace or in the Navigator window on the left (at the desired Reader). You can't manually type in attribute names when you use the expose functionality in the Feature Type properties dialog (e.g. by double-clicking on the yellow boxes, for example IfcBuilding).

 

Hi @sanders_s, thank you a lot, it works! In fact I used the attibuteExposer but I did not know that you can write your own attribute and not only use the list provided by the tool (on the left in the sreenshot).

 

thank you again

 

 

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Hi @sanders_s, thank you a lot, it works! In fact I used the attibuteExposer but I did not know that you can write your own attribute and not only use the list provided by the tool (on the left in the sreenshot).

 

thank you again

 

 

Great! Glad you figured it out :)

 

 

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