How do I write an IDS in the IDS editor?

Write an IDS, step by step

1. Open IDS editor in the top bar. An IDS is a file of requirements (What is IDS?). The top is one field with Undo and Download IDS beside it, a line under it that says what the IDS is, and the table of rules below.
2. Click the field, or press Ctrl K. A palette opens in two columns. Start from is on the right, This IDS on the left.
3. Choose a start: Public IDS, IDS file or IFC model. Or skip this and write the first rule in the top row of the table (How do I write and change rules?).
4. In This IDS, type the IDS's name, a description and its IFC versions. They are typed in place.
5. Add and change rules in the table. Load a reference model to see live counts on every rule.
6. Read the line under the field. It counts the problems to fix and names the first. Choose Go to it to go to its cell. Fix them until the line says IDS 1.0 valid.
7. Choose Download IDS and keep the .ids file. It is the file you check models against and the one you send.

The starts

• Public IDS lists IFC Checker's predefined tests with their market and public body. Choose a stage key to start from that stage.
• IDS file opens an IDS 1.0 file of your own.
• IFC model loads a model. It fills the lists and the counts and, on an empty sheet, opens a checklist of the rules most elements carry, and one click makes them. You tighten them. A list of sets and properties starts from an Excel or CSV file in the same way (How do I start an IDS from a list?).
• Drop an IDS file, an IFC model or a list anywhere on the page: it does what the same line of the palette does.
• Start from nothing: write the first rule in the top row of the table.
• From the results: mark a value in Extended data as an issue or a failure as not an issue, and the test is changed on Results. Download the changed IDS there, and the IDS file line opens it here to go on (How do I turn a wrong value into a rule?).

Type in the palette and it narrows to what matches: a test by its name, market or public body, a detail by its name.

Why Download IDS stays disabled

The editor writes only an IDS that passes IFC Checker's IDS checks. Until it does, the line under the field counts the problems to fix and says the first one, the Download IDS line of the palette lists every problem and warning, and Download IDS stays disabled. A cell with a problem is marked. When the line says IDS 1.0 valid, the file is ready. The same checks refuse a file you drop on Check, so a file you download here is accepted there.

A predefined test with stages

For a predefined test that comes in stages, the Phase column (Check calls the same thing a stage) says in which stage each rule is first asked for, and Download IDS writes the file of the stage you started from. A later stage includes every earlier one (which stage to pick).

Large models

A model is optional: it fills the lists and the counts, and you can write an IDS without one. A check of a model over 500 MB may run out of memory. The editor warns about a large model in the same way, and the model is still read.