File Formats
IFC defines multiple file formats that may be used, supporting various encodings of the same underlying data.
- IFC-SPF is a text format defined by ISO 10303-21 ("STEP-File"), where each line typically consists of a single object record, and having file extension ".ifc". This is the most widely used IFC format, having the advantage of compact size yet readable text.
- IFC-XML is an XML format defined by ISO 10303-28 ("STEP-XML"), having file extension ".ifcXML". This format is suitable for interoperability with XML tools and exchanging partial building models. Due to the large size of typical building models, this format is less common in practice.
- IFC-ZIP is a ZIP compressed format consisting of an embedded IFC-SPF file and having file extension ".ifcZIP".
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