Copy Objects

Copy Objects copies building element objects and moves the copies to the given place. You can make one copy or an array of copies.

When the object is copied, a new object of the same object class is created. The new object will get all the same geometry and properties as the original one, and it is placed at the same level in the model tree as the original one.

The copied objects have a connection to the original object. The connection can be used for enriching the copied objects further.

Settings

Objects

Select Object Class, Group, Group Category, Top Most, or Part-level objects. Objects defined here are copied.

Number of Copies

The number of copies created.

Offset Point 1

The offset of the copied object is defined with two points. The objects are offset based on the difference between the Offset Point 1 and Offset Point 2. If multiple copies are created, then the calculated offset is always applied based on the previous copy's placement. 

Offset Point 2

The second point for calculating the offset for the copied objects.

Connection Name

Connection Name defines the Connection property name, where the references between the original and derived objects are assigned to. Make sure you use unique names, if you want to run the tool multiple times on the same model (and don’t want to update or override the existing connections). The Connection Property can be used for example in the Calculate Properties for Connected Objects tool.

Override Connections

Use this option to choose whether you want to override (checked) or update (unchecked) the Connection Property, if it already exists in the model. There are use cases for both. Maybe you want to run the tool multiple times for the same Objects in different offsets and collect all the copies to the same Connection Property. Then you want to update/add to the Connection Property. On the other hand, if you make a mistake, you can override the Connection Property with a rerun.

Create Group

Turn Create Group is on, if you want to create a group for the newly created copied objects. The groups can be either a generic groups or an IFC groups. A generic group can only be used inside Simplebim. IFC groups are exported to IFC.

This is also a convenient way to find the newly created objects from the model, but also you could feed the group to other tools to further enrich the objects. The group can be used for example as a filter for the copy function when you copy the property data from the original object to the copied one. Or in Calculate Properties tools, to further enrich the copied objects with derived properties.

Group Name

Group Name defines the group where the copied objects are assigned to. If you use a group name, which already exists in the model (under the parent group defined below), then the objects are added to this group. If the group doesn't exist yet, then a new one is created.

Parent Group

Groups can be hierarchical. Use Parent Group if you want to assign the groups under a specific parent group.