Namespace dotbim

dotbim — .BIM Importer and Exporter

Import and export the open, free, and simple .BIM model format.

Overview

The xeokit SDK provides first-class support for the .BIM format: a lightweight, JSON-based 3D model format designed for:

easy sharing
human readability
minimal parsing overhead

A .bim file contains:

triangulated geometry
materials
a compact dictionary of semantic metadata

This makes it well suited for streamlined BIM and conversion workflows where simplicity and transparency are important.

Importing .BIM

Use DotBIMLoader to load .bim file data into xeokit:

a SceneModel receives geometry and materials
a DataModel receives semantic metadata

The loader is data-driven: you provide already-parsed JSON, along with target models, and the loader populates them.

Exporting .BIM

Use DotBIMExporter to serialize xeokit models back into .bim data.

You can export:

a SceneModel
a DataModel

into a single .bim JSON structure suitable for storage or transfer.

Installation

npm install @xeokit/sdk

Example: loading a .BIM model

The following example shows the full flow for loading and displaying a .bim model in a Viewer.

import { Scene } from "@xeokit/sdk/scene";
import { Data } from "@xeokit/sdk/data";
import { Viewer } from "@xeokit/sdk/viewer";
import { WebGLRenderer } from "@xeokit/sdk/webglrenderer";
import { CameraControl } from "@xeokit/sdk/cameracontrol";
import { DotBIMLoader } from "@xeokit/sdk/formats/dotbim";

// 1) Create core containers for geometry and metadata
const scene = new Scene();
const data  = new Data();

// 2) Create a Viewer to render the Scene
const viewer = new Viewer({ scene });
new WebGLRenderer({ viewer });

// 3) Create a View bound to a canvas element
const view = viewer.createView({
  id: "myView",
  elementId: "myCanvas"
}).value;

// 4) Position the camera
view.camera.eye  = [1841982.93, 10.03, -5173286.74];
view.camera.look = [1842009.49, 9.68, -5173295.85];
view.camera.up   = [0, 1, 0];

// 5) Enable interactive camera control
new CameraControl(view, {});

// 6) Create target models for the loader
const sceneModel = scene.createModel({ id: "myModel" }).value;
const dataModel  = data.createModel({ id: "myModel" }).value;

// 7) Create the .BIM loader
const dotBIMLoader = new DotBIMLoader();

// 8) Fetch and parse the .BIM JSON
fetch("model.bim")
  .then(r => r.json())
  .then(fileData => {

    // 9) Load geometry + metadata into the models
    return dotBIMLoader.load({
      fileData,
      sceneModel,
      dataModel
    });
  })
  .then(() => {
    // Model successfully loaded and visible
  })
  .catch(err => {
    // Clean up on failure
    sceneModel.destroy();
    dataModel.destroy();
    console.error("Error loading .BIM:", err);
  });

Example: exporting to .BIM

import { DotBIMExporter } from "@xeokit/sdk/formats/dotbim";

const exporter = new DotBIMExporter();

// 1) Serialize models to .BIM JSON
exporter.write({
  sceneModel,
  dataModel,
  version: "1.1.0" // Optional; defaults to latest supported version
})
.then(fileData => {
  // fileData is a plain JS object ready for JSON.stringify(...)
})
.catch(err => {
  console.error("Error exporting .BIM:", err);
});

Notes

.bim is intentionally minimal; xeokit does not attempt to infer missing BIM semantics beyond what the format provides.
Import and export are symmetric: loading a .bim and exporting it again will preserve structure where possible.

Classes

DotBIMExporter
DotBIMLoader