ifc — IFC Importer

Import models using the IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) open standard.

Overview

The xeokit SDK provides support for loading IFC STEP files, the industry-standard exchange format for Building Information Modeling (BIM) in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) domain.

IFC represents both geometry and rich semantic structure, enabling querying, classification, and analysis workflows after import.

Importing IFC

Use IFCLoader to load an IFC file into:

• a SceneModel for geometry and materials
• a DataModel for IFC semantics and relationships

Shape

classDiagram
    direction TB
    class IFCLoader {
      +format / versions / fileDataType
      +load(params, options?) Promise~void~
    }
    class ifctypes_4_0_2_1 {
      <<sub-module>>
      IFC4 ObjectType / RelationshipType id constants
    }
    class ModelLoader {
      <<formats>>
    }
    ModelLoader <|-- IFCLoader
    IFCLoader ..> ifctypes_4_0_2_1 : uses

Features

• IFC2x3 + IFC4 + IFC4x3 — multi-version parser; auto-detects the schema from the FILE_SCHEMA(...) header.
• Geometry + semantics — fills a SceneModel with implicit geometry (extrusions, sweeps, profiles) tessellated into triangle meshes, and a DataModel with the IFC entity graph (IfcProject → IfcSite → IfcBuilding → IfcBuildingStorey → …).
• Stable type ids — IFC type constants are exported from ifctypes_* sub-modules so application code references them by symbol instead of magic strings.
• Property-set passthrough — every IfcPropertySet attached to an IfcObject becomes a PropertySet on the matching DataObject.

Installation

npm install @xeokit/sdk
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Example: loading an IFC model (with error checking)

import { Scene } from "@xeokit/sdk/model/scene";
import { Data } from "@xeokit/sdk/model/data";
import { Viewer } from "@xeokit/sdk/viewing/viewer";
import { WebGLRenderer } from "@xeokit/sdk/viewing/webGLRenderer";
import { ViewController } from "@xeokit/sdk/viewing/viewController";
import { IFCLoader } from "@xeokit/sdk/formats/ifc";

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

// 2) Create Viewer + renderer
const viewer = new Viewer({ scene });
new WebGLRenderer({ viewer });

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

if (viewResult.ok === false) {
  throw new Error(viewResult.error);
}

const view = viewResult.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];

new ViewController(view, {});

// 5) Create target models
const sceneModelResult = scene.createModel({ id: "myModel" });

if (sceneModelResult.ok === false) {
  throw new Error(sceneModelResult.error);
}

const dataModelResult = data.createModel({ id: "myModel" });

if (dataModelResult.ok === false) {
  throw new Error(dataModelResult.error);
}

const sceneModel = sceneModelResult.value;
const dataModel  = dataModelResult.value;

// 6) Create the IFC loader
const ifcLoader = new IFCLoader();

// 7) Load the IFC STEP file
ifcLoader.load({
  filePath: "model.ifc",
  sceneModel,
  dataModel
})
.then(() => {
  // Model successfully loaded and visible
})
.catch(err => {
  sceneModel.destroy();
  dataModel.destroy();
  console.error(String(err));
});
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Notes

• Always check result.ok === false when calling xeokit factory methods.
• Clean up partially-created models on failure to avoid leaking state.
• The resulting DataModel exposes full IFC entities and relationships for querying and analysis.