ifc-to-excel

IFC to Excel Conversion

Business Case

Problem Statement

IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) is the open BIM standard, but:

• Reading IFC requires specialized software
• Property extraction needs programming knowledge
• Batch processing is manual and time-consuming
• Integration with analytics tools is complex

Solution

IfcExporter.exe converts IFC files to structured Excel databases, making BIM data accessible for analysis, validation, and reporting.

Business Value

• Open standard - Process any IFC file (2x3, 4x, 4.3)
• No licenses - Works offline without BIM software
• Data extraction - All properties, quantities, materials
• 3D geometry - Export to Collada DAE format
• Pipeline ready - Integrate with ETL workflows

Technical Implementation

CLI Syntax

IfcExporter.exe <input_ifc> [options]

Supported IFC Versions

| Version | Schema | Description | |---------|--------|-------------| | IFC2x3 | MVD | Most common exchange format | | IFC4 | ADD1 | Enhanced properties | | IFC4x1 | Alignment | Infrastructure support | | IFC4x3 | Latest | Full infrastructure |

Output Formats

| Output | Description | |--------|-------------| | .xlsx | Excel database with elements and properties | | .dae | Collada 3D geometry with matching IDs |

Options

| Option | Description | |--------|-------------| | bbox | Include element bounding boxes | | -no-xlsx | Skip Excel export | | -no-collada | Skip 3D geometry export |

Examples

# Basic conversion (XLSX + DAE)
IfcExporter.exe "C:\Models\Building.ifc"

# With bounding boxes
IfcExporter.exe "C:\Models\Building.ifc" bbox

# Excel only (no 3D geometry)
IfcExporter.exe "C:\Models\Building.ifc" -no-collada

# Batch processing
for /R "C:\IFC_Models" %f in (*.ifc) do IfcExporter.exe "%f" bbox

Python Integration

import subprocess
import pandas as pd
from pathlib import Path
from typing import List, Optional, Dict, Any, Set
from dataclasses import dataclass, field
from enum import Enum
import json


class IFCVersion(Enum):
    """IFC schema versions."""
    IFC2X3 = "IFC2X3"
    IFC4 = "IFC4"
    IFC4X1 = "IFC4X1"
    IFC4X3 = "IFC4X3"


class IFCEntityType(Enum):
    """Common IFC entity types."""
    IFCWALL = "IfcWall"
    IFCWALLSTANDARDCASE = "IfcWallStandardCase"
    IFCSLAB = "IfcSlab"
    IFCCOLUMN = "IfcColumn"
    IFCBEAM = "IfcBeam"
    IFCDOOR = "IfcDoor"
    IFCWINDOW = "IfcWindow"
    IFCROOF = "IfcRoof"
    IFCSTAIR = "IfcStair"
    IFCRAILING = "IfcRailing"
    IFCFURNISHINGELEMENT = "IfcFurnishingElement"
    IFCSPACE = "IfcSpace"
    IFCBUILDINGSTOREY = "IfcBuildingStorey"
    IFCBUILDING = "IfcBuilding"
    IFCSITE = "IfcSite"


@dataclass
class IFCElement:
    """Represents an IFC element."""
    global_id: str
    ifc_type: str
    name: str
    description: Optional[str]
    object_type: Optional[str]
    level: Optional[str]

    # Quantities
    area: Optional[float] = None
    volume: Optional[float] = None
    length: Optional[float] = None
    height: Optional[float] = None
    width: Optional[float] = None

    # Bounding box (if exported)
    bbox_min_x: Optional[float] = None
    bbox_min_y: Optional[float] = None
    bbox_min_z: Optional[float] = None
    bbox_max_x: Optional[float] = None
    bbox_max_y: Optional[float] = None
    bbox_max_z: Optional[float] = None

    # Properties
    properties: Dict[str, Any] = field(default_factory=dict)
    materials: List[str] = field(default_factory=list)


@dataclass
class IFCProperty:
    """Represents an IFC property."""
    pset_name: str
    property_name: str
    value: Any
    value_type: str


@dataclass
class IFCMaterial:
    """Represents an IFC material."""
    name: str
    category: Optional[str]
    thickness: Optional[float]
    layer_position: Optional[int]


class IFCExporter:
    """IFC to Excel converter using DDC IfcExporter CLI."""

    def __init__(self, exporter_path: str = "IfcExporter.exe"):
        self.exporter = Path(exporter_path)
        if not self.exporter.exists():
            raise FileNotFoundError(f"IfcExporter not found: {exporter_path}")

    def convert(self, ifc_file: str,
                include_bbox: bool = True,
                export_xlsx: bool = True,
                export_collada: bool = True) -> Path:
        """Convert IFC file to Excel."""
        ifc_path = Path(ifc_file)
        if not ifc_path.exists():
            raise FileNotFoundError(f"IFC file not found: {ifc_file}")

        cmd = [str(self.exporter), str(ifc_path)]

        if include_bbox:
            cmd.append("bbox")
        if not export_xlsx:
            cmd.append("-no-xlsx")
        if not export_collada:
            cmd.append("-no-collada")

        result = subprocess.run(cmd, capture_output=True, text=True)

        if result.returncode != 0:
            raise RuntimeError(f"Export failed: {result.stderr}")

        return ifc_path.with_suffix('.xlsx')

    def batch_convert(self, folder: str,
                      include_subfolders: bool = True,
                      include_bbox: bool = True) -> List[Dict[str, Any]]:
        """Convert all IFC files in folder."""
        folder_path = Path(folder)
        pattern = "**/*.ifc" if include_subfolders else "*.ifc"

        results = []
        for ifc_file in folder_path.glob(pattern):
            try:
                output = self.convert(str(ifc_file), include_bbox)
                results.append({
                    'input': str(ifc_file),
                    'output': str(output),
                    'status': 'success'
                })
                print(f"✓ Converted: {ifc_file.name}")
            except Exception as e:
                results.append({
                    'input': str(ifc_file),
                    'output': None,
                    'status': 'failed',
                    'error': str(e)
                })
                print(f"✗ Failed: {ifc_file.name} - {e}")

        return results

    def read_elements(self, xlsx_file: str) -> pd.DataFrame:
        """Read converted Excel as DataFrame."""
        return pd.read_excel(xlsx_file, sheet_name="Elements")

    def get_element_types(self, xlsx_file: str) -> pd.DataFrame:
        """Get element type summary."""
        df = self.read_elements(xlsx_file)

        if 'IfcType' not in df.columns:
            raise ValueError("IfcType column not found")

        summary = df.groupby('IfcType').agg({
            'GlobalId': 'count',
            'Volume': 'sum' if 'Volume' in df.columns else 'count',
            'Area': 'sum' if 'Area' in df.columns else 'count'
        }).reset_index()

        summary.columns = ['IFC_Type', 'Count', 'Total_Volume', 'Total_Area']
        return summary.sort_values('Count', ascending=False)

    def get_levels(self, xlsx_file: str) -> pd.DataFrame:
        """Get building level summary."""
        df = self.read_elements(xlsx_file)

        level_col = None
        for col in ['Level', 'BuildingStorey', 'IfcBuildingStorey']:
            if col in df.columns:
                level_col = col
                break

        if level_col is None:
            return pd.DataFrame(columns=['Level', 'Element_Count'])

        summary = df.groupby(level_col).agg({
            'GlobalId': 'count'
        }).reset_index()
        summary.columns = ['Level', 'Element_Count']
        return summary

    def get_materials(self, xlsx_file: str) -> pd.DataFrame:
        """Get material summary."""
        df = self.read_elements(xlsx_file)

        if 'Material' not in df.columns:
            return pd.DataFrame(columns=['Material', 'Count'])

        summary = df.groupby('Material').agg({
            'GlobalId': 'count'
        }).reset_index()
        summary.columns = ['Material', 'Element_Count']
        return summary.sort_values('Element_Count', ascending=False)

    def get_quantities(self, xlsx_file: str,
                       group_by: str = 'IfcType') -> pd.DataFrame:
        ""