Model elements¶

This section summarises how to control the states of model elements in the viewer component, such as selection, visibility, appearance, etc. If you want to retrieve element data from bimU.io server, such as element properties, database query, etc., please refer to the next section BIM Database.

Every BIM authoring tool has its own mechanism to track and manage model element identifiers, such as element ID, unique ID, object ID, instance GUID, GUID, etc. To avoid confusion, bimU.io uses element index which is an integer value for sorting model elements internally. Every model element in bimU.io has a unique element index and therefore serves as an identifier for manipulating model elements.

Selection¶

To know what model elements are currently selected by user, call the getElementIndicesBySelection function. You can use the anyElementSelected function to check if there's any selected model element beforehand. To clear current selection, call the unselectAllElements function.

Visibility¶

The hideSelectedElements function and the isolateSelectedElements function are useful to control visibility of currently selected model elements. The former can make them invisible, while the latter can make them visible but hide all other model elements. If you need to hide or unhide specific model elements, call the setVisibility function. The invertOthers argument can set all other model elements to an opposite value. For example, to isolate element indices from 0 to 4:

// Make element indices 0 to 4 visible and hide all the rest
viewer.setVisibility([0, 1, 2, 3, 4], true, true);

There are two functions that can restore a model to its original state, i.e., all model elements are visible. The unhideAllElements function is self-explanatory. The resetVisibility function will not only unhide all elements but also clear current section box.

Color Override¶

Occasionally you might need to change color for some model elements. For example, highlighting a clash, categorising by disciplines, etc. The setColor function allows to override original color of model elements. Below example highlights element indices from 0 to 4 in red. Calling the clearAllColorOverrides function will restore original colors for all model elements.

// Element indices 0 to 4 will become red
viewer.setColor([0, 1, 2, 3, 4], new THREE.Color(0xff0000));

Geometry¶

To duplicate geometry of a model element, the getGeometry function returns primitive geometry as a Three.js BufferGeometry object. Some relevant functions are also based on geometric conditions of model elements, such as getLocation, getBoundingBox, getBoundingBoxBySelection, toggleWireframeMode, etc.