Send clashes to BCF and read an issue list back

Goal: hand clash results to a BCF tool such as BIMcollab, Konekt, Revizto or Autodesk Construction Cloud, and read a BCF file from someone else back into Navisworks.

Before you start

• To export clash results, use Navisworks Manage: Simulate does not include Clash Detective. Run the clash tests first. Importing a BCF file does not need Clash Detective.
• Open a model and the CamelGraph editor.
• BCF is the vendor-neutral issue format: a .bcfzip file of topics, each with a title, status, comments, a camera and the elements involved.

Part A: export

Download the graph

1. Add Clash.Tests (Navisworks ▸ Clash ▸ Tests) for the list of tests.
2. Add List.GetItemAtIndex (List). Wire tests into list and type 0 into index for the first test. A negative index counts from the end.
3. Add ClashTest.Results (Navisworks ▸ Clash ▸ Tests). Wire item into its test.
4. Add BCF.ExportIssues (Navisworks ▸ Export). Wire results into results. Type a full path into filePath, for example C:\Reports\clash-issues.bcfzip.
5. Add a Watch (Display) on topicCount, rename it Topics exported, and press F5.

The BCF export graph: Clash.Tests, List.GetItemAtIndex, ClashTest.Results and BCF.ExportIssues.

Each result becomes a topic with a markup, a camera viewpoint, the GUIDs of its elements and a snapshot picture. Switch includeSnapshots off to go faster on long result lists. statusMap is optional: without it New and Active become Open, Reviewed becomes In Progress, and Approved and Resolved become Closed.

Part B: import

Download the graph

1. Add BCF.ImportIssues (Navisworks ▸ Export). Type the full path of a .bcfzip (BCF 2.0 or 2.1) into filePath, for example the file from Part A.
2. Add an Integer node (Input), rename it Topic number and leave it at 0.
3. Add List.GetItemAtIndex and rename it Topic. Wire topics into list and Topic number into index.
4. Add Dictionary.ValueOrDefault (Dictionary). Wire item into dictionary and type title into key. Wire value into a Watch and rename it Topic title.
5. Add a second List.GetItemAtIndex and rename it Items of the topic. Wire modelItems into list and Topic number into index. modelItems holds one list of items for each topic, in the same order as topics.
6. Add Selection.SetCurrent (Navisworks ▸ Selection). Wire the item output of the second List.GetItemAtIndex into its items. The elements named in that topic are selected.
7. Press F5, then change Topic number to look at the next topic.

The BCF import graph: BCF.ImportIssues, two List.GetItemAtIndex nodes picking one topic, Dictionary.ValueOrDefault for its title and Selection.SetCurrent.

To list all the titles, skip the first List.GetItemAtIndex and wire topics straight into Dictionary.ValueOrDefault. The wire turns dashed and you get one title for each topic. Each topic is a dictionary with the keys guid, title, status, type, description, creationAuthor, creationDate, comments, commentAuthors, commentDates, componentGuids, camera and hasSnapshot.

To jump the view to one issue, set applyCameraTopicIndex to its position, counting from 0. The default, -1, leaves the view alone. A topic without a camera, or an index past the last topic, makes the node report an error.

What you get

• A BCF file that other tools open, with one topic for each clash result.
• A selection of the elements from a BCF file, and a list of what it says.

Elements are matched by GUID

Elements are identified by their IFC GlobalId when the item has one, and by its InstanceGuid otherwise. For models that did not come from IFC this can be lossy: another tool may not find the same element. On import, elements are matched by IFC GlobalId first, then InstanceGuid. Cameras are written in metres, as the BCF convention says, whatever units the model uses.

If it does not work

• Fewer elements are selected than topics name: some GUIDs matched no item in this model.
• A clash node is red: you may be in a product without Clash Detective. See Make a clash report.
• A file node fails: use a full path (why).

Next

• ClashResult.SetStatus (Navisworks ▸ Clash ▸ Results) can update clash statuses from the topic statuses. ClashResult.ByGuid finds the live results again from the topic GUIDs (the guid output of BCF.ImportIssues), and a result group can be set in one step too.
• IFC, BCF, Excel and CSV describes every BCF input.
• Export items to IFC.