IFC Tester icon

IFC Tester

Validate IFC files against IDS specifications, for documentation see Ifcopenshell.

Overview

The IFC Tester node validates IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) files against IDS (Information Delivery Specification) specifications. This validation ensures that the IFC file complies with a given IDS specification, which is crucial in building information modeling (BIM) workflows to maintain data quality and interoperability.

Common scenarios for this node include:

  • Automated quality control of IFC models before sharing or publishing.
  • Ensuring compliance with project-specific or industry-standard IDS requirements.
  • Generating validation reports in various formats for documentation or further analysis.

For example, a user can input an IFC model filename and an IDS specification filename, then run the validation to produce a report indicating any discrepancies or compliance issues.

Properties

Name Meaning
IFC Filename The name of the IFC file to validate.
IDS Filename The name of the IDS specification file used as the validation standard.
Output Filename The desired name for the output report file generated after validation.
Report Type The format of the validation report. Options: JSON, HTML, Excel (XLSX).

Output

The node outputs a JSON array containing the validation results returned from the external validation service. Each item corresponds to the validation response for one input item.

  • The json output field contains the detailed validation report data structured according to the chosen report type.
  • If an error occurs during validation, the output will contain an object with an error property describing the issue.
  • The node does not output binary data; all results are provided as JSON objects.

Dependencies

  • Requires access to an external API service (referred to generically here as "the IFC pipeline API") that performs the actual validation.
  • The node requires an API authentication token or credential configured in n8n to authorize requests to this external service.
  • No other external dependencies are indicated in the source code.

Troubleshooting

  • Common Issues:

    • Incorrect filenames or paths for the IFC or IDS files may cause the validation request to fail.
    • Network or authentication errors when connecting to the external validation API.
    • Unsupported report type values could lead to unexpected responses.

  • Error Messages:

    • Errors returned by the external API will be captured and included in the output under an error property.
    • If the node is set to continue on failure, it will output the error message instead of stopping execution.
    • To resolve errors, verify the correctness of input filenames, ensure the API credentials are valid, and check network connectivity.

Links and References

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