Architecture
IFC defines an EXPRESS based entity-relationship model consisting of several hundred entities organized into an object-based inheritance hierarchy. Examples of entities include building elements such as IfcWall, geometry such as IfcExtrudedAreaSolid, and basic constructs such as IfcCartesianPoint.
At the most abstract level, IFC divides all entities into rooted and non-rooted entities. Rooted entities derive from IfcRoot and have a concept of identity (having a GUID), along with attributes for name, description, and revision control. Non-rooted entities do not have identity and instances only exist if referenced from a rooted instance directly or indirectly. IfcRoot is subdivided into three abstract concepts: object definitions, relationships, and property sets:
- IfcObjectDefinition captures tangible object occurrences and types
- IfcRelationship captures relationships among objects
- IfcPropertyDefinition captures dynamically extensible properties about objects
Read more about this topic: Industry Foundation Classes
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