Upgrade IFC (beta)

This tool is in beta. Check the resulting model carefully before you use it in production work.

The Upgrade IFC tool upgrades the current model to a newer IFC version. It can upgrade an IFC2x3 model to IFC4, and an IFC2x3 or IFC4 model to IFC4.3.

Use the tool when the model needs to be in a newer IFC version than the one it was imported from, for example, when the application that will use the model requires IFC4.3. When you export the upgraded model with the Export IFC tool, the file is written in the new IFC version.

If you only need the IFC versions to match when merging models, you can use the Match IFC version setting of the Merge Model tool. It does the same conversion for the merged models, and converts them to the IFC version of the current model.

What the upgrade changes

The upgrade changes the data structures of the model to match the new IFC version. Objects in classes that the new version does not have move to the class that replaces them. They keep their geometry, properties, quantities, group memberships and colors, and the relationships between the objects are updated, so that, for example, the openings of a wall are still connected to the wall.

The properties and quantities stay in their own property sets, also when the new object class does not normally have them. An excluded property stays excluded. The report lists the property columns that were added to the new object classes.

When upgrading from IFC2x3 to IFC4:

• Objects in classes that were removed from IFC4 move to the replacing class. For example, an Electrical Element becomes a Distribution Element, and an Electrical Circuit becomes a Distribution Circuit.
• The values of attributes that were renamed in IFC4 are carried over to the new attribute. For example, the interior or exterior value of a space and the shape type of a stair are available as the Predefined Type.
• If the Object Type of an object is a Predefined Type value that IFC4 added for its class, the Predefined Type is filled from it.
• Values that were removed from IFC4 are replaced with the closest value, or with NOTDEFINED if there is none. For example, the air terminal type EYEBALL becomes DIFFUSER.
• Door and window styles stay as they are, because they are still valid in IFC4.

When upgrading from IFC4 to IFC4.3:

• Objects in classes that were removed from IFC4.3 move to the replacing class. For example, a Proxy becomes a Building Element Proxy, a door style becomes a door type, a window style becomes a window type and a Beam Standard Case becomes a Beam.

An IFC2x3 model that is upgraded to IFC4.3 goes through both of these steps.

What is not carried over

A newer IFC version cannot always hold everything in the same way as the older one, so check what the tool reports after the upgrade.

• Attribute values that have no place in the new object class are lost. The report lists them as values not supported by the target IFC version. For example, the construction type of a door style has no place in a door type, and the specific attributes of the IFC2x3 material properties have no place in IFC4.
• Content that has no replacement in the new version, such as Bezier curves when upgrading to IFC4, stays in the model but it is not exported. The report tells how many of these objects are left in each class.

Models that were downgraded earlier

The Downgrade IFC tool replaces objects that the older IFC version cannot express, and writes the name of the original class to the Object Type of the object (for type objects, to the Element Type). The Upgrade IFC tool converts these objects back to the original class. For example, a Building Element Proxy with the Object Type Course becomes a Course again.

If the object had its own Object Type before the downgrade, the text is restored from the 01_Original object type property in the Simplebim property set, and the property is removed from the object. This also works when the downgraded model was exported to an IFC file and then imported again.

The properties and quantities of the object move back with it. The Predefined Type that the object had before the downgrade usually does not come back.

The objects are recognized only from the text in the Object Type. A Building Element Proxy with the Object Type Kerb or IfcKerb becomes a Kerb in IFC4.3, even if the object was never downgraded.

When there is nothing to upgrade

If the model already has the selected IFC version or a newer one, the tool does not change the model. The tool never lowers the IFC version of a model; use the Downgrade IFC tool for that.

This situation is reported as information and not as an error, so you can keep the tool in a dataflow that processes models of different IFC versions.

If the model has no IFC version or no IFC data, the tool reports an error and does not change the model.

Settings

Upgrade To

Defines the IFC version to which the model is upgraded.

IFC4

Upgrade an IFC2x3 model to IFC4. This is the default.

IFC4.3

Upgrade an IFC2x3 or IFC4 model to IFC4.3.

Release Notes

This tool was added in Simplebim 12.0 SR1