Running dataflows from the command line

Gio Siradze

Simplebim 11 supports running dataflows directly from the command line. This makes it easier to automate tasks and process models without opening the user interface, especially when using the close parameter.

The basic syntax looks like this:

Simplebim11.exe <import file> <dataflow file>
Simplebim11.exe <import file> <dataflow file> close
Simplebim11.exe <import file> <dataflow file> <export file>
Simplebim11.exe <import file> <dataflow file> <export file> close

Parameters explained:

  • <import file> – The path to the model you want to process.
  • <dataflow file> – The path to the dataflow you want to run on the model.
  • <export file> – (Optional) The path where you want to save the resulting model.
  • close – (Optional) Opens Simplebim with a minimal user interface and closes it automatically after processing.

Examples:

  1. Apply a dataflow to a model and leave Simplebim open.
    "C:\Program Files\Datacubist\Simplebim 11\Simplebim11.exe" "C:\Models\MyModel.ifc" “C:\Dataflows\UpdateProperties.sbdf”
  2. Apply a dataflow with a minimal user interface and automatically close Simplebim after processing.
    Note that the result is not saved if the dataflow does not contain any "Save" or "Export" steps.
    "C:\Program Files\Datacubist\Simplebim 11\Simplebim11.exe" "C:\Models\MyModel.ifc" "C:\Dataflows\UpdateProperties.sbdf" close
  3. Apply a dataflow and save the result to a new IFC file.
    "C:\Program Files\Datacubist\Simplebim 11\Simplebim11.exe" "C:\Models\MyModel.ifc" "C:\Dataflows\UpdateProperties.sbdf" “C:\Models\MyNewModel.ifc”
  4. Open Simplebim with a minimal user interface, apply a dataflow, save the result, and close Simplebim automatically.
    "C:\Program Files\Datacubist\Simplebim 11\Simplebim11.exe" "C:\Models\MyModel.ifc" "C:\Dataflows\UpdateProperties.sbdf" “C:\Models\MyNewModel.ifc" close 

Comments

6 comments

Date Votes
  • Comment author
    Rogério Suzuki

    Hello Gio Siradze !

    How could we proceed if we have several .ifc files in the same folder? Would it be possible to give each of them a specific suffix on a unique command line?

    Thanks in advance,

    Rogerio

    1
  • Comment author
    Gio Siradze

    Hi Rogério Suzuki,

    This can be done with a batch script. Here is an example:

    @echo off
setlocal

SET "SB11=C:\Program Files\Datacubist\Simplebim 11\Simplebim11.exe"
SET "DATAFLOW=C:\Dataflows\myDataflow.sbdf"
SET "IFC=C:\IFC files"
SET "OUTPUT=C:\Processed IFC"
SET "SUFFIX=_processed"

IF NOT EXIST "%OUTPUT%" mkdir "%OUTPUT%"

FOR /R "%IFC%" %%G IN (*.ifc) DO (
    "%SB11%" "%%G" "%DATAFLOW%" "%OUTPUT%\%%~nG%SUFFIX%.ifc" close
)

pause
    1
  • Comment author
    Razieh Yar

    Hello Gio Siradze ,

    I have a question related to this batch script. I would like to have something similar to example number 4. At the same time, I have many IFCs and like to run the same dataflow for each of them.

    However, I noticed that what you wrote to Rogério Suzuki seems different from what you explained earlier. As I understand it, if there is only one IFC file, we write it like:

    "..." "..." "..."

    But if we want to run it for multiple IFC files, it should be written using:

    SET "..."

    Could you please explain this in a bit more detail? I'm finding it somewhat confusing and would appreciate some clarification.

    Thanks!

    0
  • Comment author
    Gio Siradze

    Hi,

    Example 4 in my original post is a command line command that you can run in Windows Command Prompt. It follows the standard Windows pattern:

    "path\to\program.exe" argument1 argument2 argument3 flag

    Simplebim is designed to accept these specific arguments (input file, dataflow, output file, and the close flag) so it can run without ever touching the GUI.

    That single command works for one file at a time. If you want to process multiple files, you need a batch script (.bat) that loops the same command over all files in a folder. This was the example:

    @echo off
setlocal

SET "SB11=C:\Program Files\Datacubist\Simplebim 11\Simplebim11.exe"
SET "DATAFLOW=C:\Dataflows\myDataflow.sbdf"
SET "IFC=C:\IFC files"
SET "OUTPUT=C:\Processed IFC"
SET "SUFFIX=_processed"

IF NOT EXIST "%OUTPUT%" mkdir "%OUTPUT%"

FOR /R "%IFC%" %%G IN (*.ifc) DO (
    "%SB11%" "%%G" "%DATAFLOW%" "%OUTPUT%\%%~nG%SUFFIX%.ifc" close
)

pause

    And here is what it does:

    • Defines paths to Simplebim, your dataflow, input folder, and output folder as variables at the top, so they are easy to adjust without touching the rest of the script
    • Creates the output folder automatically if it doesn't exist yet
    • Loops through all .ifc files in the input folder and runs Simplebim on each one
    • Appends "_processed" to each output filename so it's easy to see which files were processed
    • Pauses at the end so you can see if anything went wrong before the window closes
    1
  • Comment author
    Razieh Yar

    Gio Siradze Thank you! I'm not very familiar with command line command, so it was confusing for me.

    I've now tried what you explained, and it worked! Everything related to the automation was working fine, which is wondeful. However, I still couldn't get the correct result.

    Part of my data flow is trying to delete a property set that is read-only (it is locked). So now I'm not sure whether I can exclude this property set from the model :(

    0
  • Comment author
    Jiri Hietanen

    Hi Razieh, when a property is locked (shows a lock icon in the Properties palette) the property can't be deleted like other properties. These properties are 'derived' properties' and get their value from somewhere else. An easy example is the Building Storey Name, which is the name of the building storey that contains the object. The way to ‘delete’ this property would be to move the object to a building and then it is not contained by any building storey. Another would be to clear the name of the building storey. If you can tell which locked properties you need to delete I can give instructions how to do it.

    1

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