ODA Releases IFC Validation Engine

Open Design Alliance

October 29, 2021

Advanced validation and healing of IFC models

 

Scottsdale, AZ: November 2nd, 2021 – Open Design Alliance (ODA), provider of complete interoperability for CAD and BIM, announced today the release of a sophisticated new validation engine for IFC (Industry Foundation Classes). The engine is included in ODA’s industry-leading IFC SDK (Software Development Kit) and can be integrated into any application on any platform.

The engine performs multi-level validation on IFC models and is customizable for a wide range of tasks. It supports simple low-level syntax checking, custom validation defined in the IFC file itself in the form of “where rules,” and higher-level checking specified by the IDS (Information Delivery Specification) and MVD (Model View Definition) standards from buildingSMART International (bSI).

“Errors are all too common in real-world IFC models,” said Neil Peterson, ODA President. “Our new validation engine provides an advanced tool for detecting and fixing a wide range of IFC errors. Software developers can access the technology in our IFC SDK, and it’s also available for end users in our free Open IFC Viewer.”

IFC validation

IFC validation performed by Open IFC Viewer

“The new validation engine is supported by our own natively developed EXPRESS interpreter, which allows us to evaluate even the most complex validation rules,” said Sergey Vishnevetsky, ODA Director of Development. “In addition, the EXPRESS interpreter can read and write new IFC versions based on the schema description files provided by bSI, without writing any explicit code. It’s a key part of our commitment to provide fast access to new IFC versions.

“As a bonus, the EXPRESS interpreter can be used with any EXPRESS-based format. It has allowed us to hit the ground running with our new STEP project, and will support our rapid development of additional EXPRESS-based formats in the future.”

Availability and Pricing
The new validation engine is available in IFC SDK version 22.9, accessible to all ODA members at opendesign.com. Pricing for ODA memberships can be found at oopendesign.com/pricing.

Open IFC Viewer version 22.9, which makes the new validation engine available to end users, is available at no cost for personal and professional use at openifcviewer.com.

About Open Design Alliance
ODA develops complete interoperability for CAD and BIM. Our SDKs provide data access, creation, visualization, web collaboration and publishing for a wide range of engineering file formats. ODA is supported by more than 1,200 member companies worldwide, including software developers, manufacturers, government agencies, AEC firms, major retailers and other organizations. Learn more at opendesign.com.

Contact Information
Open Design Alliance
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Tel: +1 602 263 7666
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