IFC Type Product

An IFC Type Product is an IFC Entity that defines a particular style/type of other entities by relating to them with common IFC Attributes and Properties. For example, IfcWindowStyle is an IFC Type Product, to which many windows (IfcWindow) refer.

ArchiCAD automatically generates IFC Type Product entities for all ArchiCAD element types. The following table shows some naming examples of the automatically generated IFC types.

ArchiCAD element (IFC Entity)

IFC Type Product

Name Attribute of Type Product derived from

Column (IfcColumn)

IfcColumnType

Profile name + profile size

Beam (IfcBeam)

IfcBeamType

Profile name + profile size

Wall (IfcWall)

IfcWallType

Name of Building Material or Composite + thickness

Slab (IfcSlab)

IfcSlabType

Name of Building Material or Composite + thickness

Curtain Wall (IfcCurtainWall)

IfcCurtainWallType

“Curtain Wall Type” fix name

Curtain Wall Panel part (IfcPlate)

IfcPlateType

Panel type (“Main” or “Distinct”) + panel size

Curtain Wall Frame part (IfcMember)

IfcMemberType

Frame type (“Boundary”, “Mullion” or “Transom”) + profile size

Door (IfcDoor)

IfcDoorStyle

Name of the Library Part without .gsm extension

Window (IfcWindow)

IfcWindowStyle

Name of the Library Part without .gsm extension

GDL-based Objects

e.g. IfcFurnitureType

Name of the Library Part without .gsm extension

Of course, the default name values, together with all IFC data (Attributes, Properties and Classification Reference), can be edited manually. The list and full management of the IFC Type Product entities can be managed only with the IFC Manager (in “Type Products” mode, see the illustration below).

See IFC Manager.

IFCTypeProduct.png