What are some good examples of exporter software that are capable of consuming mvdxml files to export IFC accordingly? Are there any?
2 Likes
@claimred time to create one? 
In addition, are there any good examples of software that is capable of authoring mvdxml, apart from IfcDoc? Preferably cross platform.
I believe I’ve seen two SAAS products that use MVDs a framework for describing valid data in a model for the purpose of auditing model quality. But I can’t remember the names of either of them. Maybe plannerly.com was one of them, the other was a German product with a Q in the name.
time to create one?
I think it is, yeah.
I guess I’m looking for the answers to the question, is mvdxml supposed to be used to configure exporter software as well as auditing the model from the other end. Is it safe to say that mvdxml should be an input of exporter software?
That’s the one. Thanks. I think they mentioned it uses MVDs to describe valid content. I remember asking them as I was looking into it as a computer friendly way to describe some of the standards we have in Denmark for valid contents of specific parameters.
Thanks Marcus for pointing to BIMQ!
It is correct that we are able to export mvdXML for checking Exchange Information Requirements. More information about the whole workflow is shown in this webinar using mvdXML with SimpleBIM for final model checking: (https://youtu.be/amrW4qrhM4A, export to mvdXML is shown at 25:50).
Some additional words about the use of mvdXML as there is a lot of confusion around compatibility and tools. There are three main use cases today:
- use for documentation purposes (mainly to create section 4 -> “Fundamental concepts and assumptions” in the HTML documentation),
- define a subset of IFC that is needed to support a set of ERs, also known as MVD being the basis for software implementation and certification and
- define Exchange Information Requirements to check if all required data is included in an IFC model.
(1) and (2) are typically combined and in focus of ifcDoc. Results are the HTML documentation and related specifications like the IFC subset schema definition as EXPRESS or XSD. mvdXML generated for these use cases are not usable with checking tools like xBIM or SimpleBIM. Exports are slightly different than needed for checking ERs, also due to historical reasons.
Today, model checking is typically testing that some IFC Property is given for some Entity, maybe with checking allowed values like for FireRating to be F30, F60 or F90. This kind of check requires to configure one ConceptTemplate only (out of many more coming with the IFC specification). BIMQ essentially follows the idea of mvdXML, which means to select a configurable ConceptTemplate (e.g. check of an IFC Property) and then provide the checking configuration by populating its parameters (e.g. PsetName = “Pset_DoorCommon”, PropertyName = “FireRating”). I can provide more information if needed.
FZKViewer now supports mvdXML 
2 Likes