# How do I paste rules from a sheet?

Copy rows in Excel or Google Sheets and press Ctrl V in the IDS editor's table. A check opens first and matches the columns by their headers, in Latvian or English, and says what each row comes to. Nothing is added until you choose Add, and Undo takes it back in one step.

Updated 1 November 2026

## Paste rules from a sheet

1. In Excel or Google Sheets, copy the rows you want, with the header row.
2. In the IDS editor, point at the table and press Ctrl V. A check opens first.
3. Read what each row comes to. A row is a new rule, a rule the table has already (left out), a rule the table has that the row changes (its old and new value or need side by side), or something to fix, such as a class name that is not an IFC class, with the nearest classes to take.
4. Change what a column is read as with the choice under its heading, if the match is wrong. Leave out a row you do not want changed.
5. Choose Add. The rules join the table. A row goes to the end of its property set's rules, and a sheet with no property set column adds its rows below the row you pointed at. Choose **Undo** to take it all back in one step.

## What it reads

The columns it reads are **Applies to**, **Property set**, **Property**, **Data type**, **Value**, **Need**, Instructions and Only those with. It matches them by their headers, in Latvian or English. A cell you leave empty never changes a rule. Two rows of the sheet that ask for another value or need of the same rule are both marked, and neither is added until you leave one out or change one.

## From the editor to a sheet and back

Copying rules in the editor (Ctrl C or Ctrl X) also puts them on the clipboard as such text, with a header row. Paste them into a sheet, change them there, and paste them back: the conditions, a predefined type, patterns and lists come back as they were. A pattern is written ~"like this" in a cell.

## Keep reading

Next: [How do I see how my rules do on a model?](https://ifcchecker.com/help/ids-live-counts/)

Related:

- [How do I write and change rules?](https://ifcchecker.com/help/ids-rules/)
- [How do I change several rules at once?](https://ifcchecker.com/help/ids-several-rules/)
- [How do I write an IDS in the IDS editor?](https://ifcchecker.com/help/write-an-ids/)

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