In order to properly use IDS files to validate IFC files, we should make sure, that IDS files are properly formatted.
Just yesterday I heard from someone using IDS since its beginning, that different vendors produce IDS files in different ways. In fact they are so different that interoperability and compatibility with other vendors is not a clear given.
At this point (and in the future) we need to be able to tell whether an IDS file is valid or not. And if it isn’t, we need to understand what the issues are.
Is there a plan to setup an online validator for IDS files?
There is a plan to integrate it with our Validation Service, but for now, there is no official web interface. However, the web app from XBIM has all you need, and is using the same code: https://www.xbim.it/ids.
Many tools implemented the IDS Audit tool and check IDS files automatically, for example IDS Maker from Datacomp, or ACCA’s usBIM.IDS.
There are some issues with vendor-specific IDS implementation right now.
For example, Solibri was not happy when I used both IFC2x3 and IFC4 scopes in the specification
Are you sure your file was valid, according to the IDS Audit tool? Sometimes these versions have conflicting entities. If you have already checked that, let Solibri know, I’m sure they will answer/resolve it.
@RenzoVenuti, no. Those can only verify compliance with the XML schema. The IDS Audit does much more and checks things like correct use of entity depending on IFC version, or correct naming of official property sets. It also detects invalid cardinality configuration etc. The IDS Audit if open source so you can check out all of the checks it performs: IDS-Audit-tool/ids-lib/ErrorCodes.md at main · buildingSMART/IDS-Audit-tool · GitHub
I’ve created the file using ifctester, so I hope it is valid. ACCA and BIMvision IDS editors accept the generated file.
I’ve noticed Solibri on this issue, but it was not on my critical path yet.
