Using the BIM Manager Editor

You can access and use the BIM attributes and attribute extensions attached to elements in a building and civil project.

Building Information Modeling (BIM) consists in the definition of attributes required to carry out a construction project, for example civil projects. Every element in your building and civil project has BIM attributes. For each object, you can use the BIM Manager Editor to select the entities, attach attribute extensions, and review both the entities and their attributes.

BIM managers can define their models' specifications according to the Levels of Development (LOD) that have to be reached at one point of the project and to check its progression. The clarity and organization of the information allows designers to understand the models' usability, at various stages in the design and construction process.

Before you begin: Open an assembly with building and civil objects.
See Also
Specifying Product Attributes
  1. From the BIM section of the action bar, click BIM Manager Editor .
    The BIM Manager panel contains two tabs. The first tab, Standards, lists the standards to support. The second tab, BIM, displays the attributes expected by type (group of attributes) and LOD.
  2. In the Standards tab, clear or select one or several standards check boxes.

    When you modify the standards for the first time, a message is displayed, explaining that an xml file (AECStandards) has been created in the current collaborative space and you need to link a resource to Data Setup:

    1. Start Data Setup.
    2. Create a new resource table on the Building & Civil Resources entry. For more information, see Resource Tables.
    3. In the created table, choose the assigned resource for the Supported standards entry.
    4. Assign the xml file to the Supported standards entry. A Content Chooser starts.
    5. Enter the AECStandards value and click Search.
    6. Select the file that was created by the Save operation executed previously from the BIM Manager panel.
  3. Click Save and associate your resource table to your Collaborative Space.

    After subsequent changes, when you save the list of the supported standards in the BIM Manager panel, a message informs you that the standards resource is updated.

  4. In the BIM tab, look for a type either by categories or by entering a type value in the Search field.
  5. To display more information on the right side of the panel, click on a type.
    The right pane contains two tabs:
    • Attributes: to specify the availability of base extensions among possible IFC base extensions or you can define other extensions.
    • Geometries: to create semantic geometries.
  6. In the Attributes tab, click to expose an extension as a parameter set when creating a new object.
  7. To change the default base extension, click . Then this button turns blue.
  8. From the LOD list, select the expected value (from 100 to 500 or Inherited) for a given extension.

    When an attribute is not necessary at the beginning of the project, you can assign a large LOD number to it. This choice is not possible for base extensions since they are compulsory at the object creation.

  9. To allow the designer to remove an extension, click to unlock it.
  10. To define minimum, maximum, different or default values for the reference, click .
  11. In the Geometries tab, select a Type from the list (Axis, Curve, Line, Plane, Point, Surface).
  12. Click Save.

    When you modify the BIM package for the first time, a message displays the names of the packages that are not linked to Data Setup:

    1. Start Data Setup.
    2. Create a new resource table on the Building & Civil Resources entry.
    3. In the created table, add a new resource sub-item and choose the assigned resource for the Building Information Modeling Definition entry. The Content Chooser opens.
    4. Enter the AecArchitecturalElement package name for example and click Search.
    5. Select the file created by the Save performed previously from the BIM Manager panel.
  13. Click Save and associate your resource table to your Collaborative Space.

    After subsequent changes, when you save the linked packages in the BIM Manager panel, a message informs you that the packages are updated.

    When you click Product Attributes from the Civil Engineering section of the action bar, the BIM Attributes dialog box opens and reflects the choices made by in BIM Management:

    • In the Select extension to add list, you can select only extensions contained in the xml files.
    • Unwanted extensions are displayed in red.
    • To delete extensions, click .