web-ifc

ifc.js | demo | discord | usage examples | npm package | contributing

web-ifc

web-ifc is a javascript library to read and write ifc files, at native speeds. web-ifc is part of the ifc.js project, which aims to lower the threshold for developing open BIM applications.

Status

Although it is quite stable and fast already, web-ifc is in pre-alpha status until ifc support matures. The list of currently supported ifc elements, or level of support for different ifc types, is an undocumented work in progress.

Depending on your models, web-ifc may be quick and correct, or slow and broken, please share any problematic models so I can take a look :)

Install

npm install web-ifc

Quick setup

const WebIFC = require("web-ifc/web-ifc-api.js");

// initialize the API
const ifcApi = new WebIFC.IfcAPI();

// initialize the library
await ifcApi.Init();

// open a model from data
let modelID = ifcApi.OpenModel(/* IFC data as a string or UInt8Array */, /* optional settings object */, );

// the model is now loaded! use modelID to fetch geometry or properties
// checkout examples/usage for some details on how to read/write IFC

// close the model, all memory is freed
ifcApi.CloseModel(modelID);

See examples for more details on how to use web-ifc.

Building WASM module

Setting up emscripten

The WASM library is built through emscripten, please see the emscripten installation guide for information on how to set up emscripten. Afterwards both setup-env and em++ need to be in your path.

WASM library

Run npm install to install all dependencies.

Run npm run setup-env whenever you open a new terminal, this will set up the required emscripten environment variables for you to compile code.

Run npm run build-release-all to build a release version of the wasm binary and the accompanying web-ifc api. It will be placed in ./dist.

Run npm run dev to launch a development server with a basic ifc file viewer.

Stand alone C++

Although the primary focus of the library is to be used through WebAssembly in the browser/nodejs, the project can be used stand-alone as a c++ library or executable. See here for a simple entry point to get started.

Contributing

Want to help out? Great!

Please checkout our contribution suggestsions.