BIM Publisher

Not version-specific

Tekla Structures

Environment

Not environment-specific

The BIM Publisher is a desktop application performing a batch export of multiple models and their drawings in a variety of formats. Add as many models as you need, choose which filters to use and export them with any installed Tekla Structures version. You can do this automatically during the night so that everyone in the team will have fresh models in the morning.

For example, you can create a selection filter in Tekla Structures based on a UDA and then set up this tool to publish these parts as an IFC model to a network folder every Friday.

Use for

Set up the exports with the ‘BIM Publisher Settings’ application. From this interface you can then start the exports directly or schedule them to run later.

When creating exports, the BIM Publisher combines information from several places. The settings interface automatically detects available export presets and filters based on the chosen model, the Tekla Structures version and the environment (which is defined in the chosen startup dialog bypass file). Any additions or modifications to the presets and filters should be done from within the appropriate dialogs in Tekla Structures, and if needed you must edit the Tekla Structures startup dialog bypass files manually as well.

Before you start

Install and launch the extension:

1. Run the installer.
2. Launch ‘BIM Publisher Settings’ from your start menu

Note: There are two main executables in the install folder: ‘BIMPublisher.Settings.exe’ which lets you set up the exports and ‘BIMPublisher.exe’ which is the actual exporter.

When the BIM Publisher runs

When the BIM Publisher is triggered, it opens a window that shows the status.

First the export settings are read in. Exports are then grouped by Tekla Structures version and model to improve performance.

The BIM Publisher will launch the needed Tekla Structures versions one at a time and execute the exports.

A log in the BIM Publisher dialog will show which stage the export process currently is at. These logs are saved to the file system, and the log folder can be accessed from the user interfaces if needed.

Exports tab

On the "Export" tab, create and set up export.

Option	Description
1	Side menu with the list of exports. In the list of exports, you can uncheck exports you don’t want to run when the export is triggered.
	Image	Add new export.
	Image	Remove selected export.
2	General information defined for each export
	Used settings	Used settings from XML file - select if the settings are stored in the XML file Used settings from CSV file - select if the settings are stored in the CSV file
	Export name	Enter any name for the export.
	Model folder	The Tekla Structures model to export. The same model can appear in several exports.
	Export folder	The folder in which the exported files will appear. This folder gets created if it doesn’t exist.
	Tekla Structures version	The Tekla Structures version and bypass file to use for this export. Only the versions that are defined on the ‘General Settings’ tab will appear in the list.
3	Type of exports: Model exports Drawing exports Macros
4	Action buttons
	Image	Save your settings. These settings will now be used in all future exports. In the ‘Save’ drop down menu are following options: Export settings - export all settings. Based on the 'Used settings' (2) option, they will be exported to either an XML or CSV file. Import settings - import all settings. Based on the 'Used settings' (2) option, they will be imported to either an XML or CSV file.
	Image	Execute the export immediately (Otherwise exports will be triggered as defined on the ‘Scheduling’ tab or triggered by an external scheduler). In the ‘Export now’ drop down menu, the following option is available: View Log Files
	Image	Close BIM Publisher.

The export preset and filter combo boxes will automatically be populated with the available values based on the picked model, the Tekla Structures version and the bypass file. Note that you can type a custom value into the preset and filter combo boxes if your desired value is not found but you are sure it will be present when the export is triggered.

1. Models

Model export formats

Enabled model export formats and a preset for each enabled format.

Presets can be added or edited in the corresponding export dialog in Tekla Structures.

Change what formats are visible here on the ‘General Settings’ tab.

Object filters

These are the selection filters defined in Tekla Structures.

For each filter row, a new model with only the objects matching the filter will be exported, in each of the enabled export formats.

Select a filter from the filter name drop-down.

Add multiple filters on the same row by hovering an already inserted filter name and clicking the ‘add’ button that appears. Using multiple filters will export the objects that matche any or all of the filters. Toggle between any and all by clicking the orange box between the filter names. The box shows ‘and’ (match both) or ‘or’ (match any).

Use filters from any folder on your computer by adding the folder to the ‘Additional filter folders’ text field on the ‘General Settings’ tab. Use this to show e.g. the filters in your FIRM folder, which aren’t available otherwise. The filters found in the folders will show up first in the filter selection drop-downs.
If the filter or filter combination doesn’t match any objects in the model, nothing will get exported.

Custom output filenames

If you click the ‘Custom filenames’ check box you can override the default filenames of the exported files. Text boxes will appear that let you modify the filenames.

You can use certain tags that will get converted during export, for example, if you type “[modelname]” the string will get converted to the name of the model in the exported file (e.g. “New model 1”). Whenever you click a text box the tags are available for insertion from a popup dialog.

2. Drawings

Drawing export folder

Leave this field empty to use the same folder as for models.

Drawing export formats

Enable drawing export formats and a preset for each enabled format.

Since DWG and DXF presets cannot be created in Tekla Structures, new presets can be added and edited by clicking the ‘Edit DWG/DXF presets…’ button.

PDF export will use the currently saved settings for that model unless you specify the path to another preset file.

Drawing filters

For each filter, set the drawing type(s) to be exported and, if desired, a subfolder to export to. By default, all drawings of the selected type(s) will be exported.

If needed, you can filter drawings based on report property or UDA values. Whenever you edit a property name in the table you get a list of pre-defined properties to use, but other properties can be entered as well (UDA names must be prefixed with “USERDEFINED.”). The property values can contain wildcards (‘*’ or ‘?’).

3. Macros

Define macros that will be executed before or after an export. This opens a lot of possibilities, e.g. set the work plane before export or do a model sharing read in.

You can enter the name of a macro that’s found in the macros folder (i.e. the ones that are visible inside Tekla Structures) or enter an absolute path to any macro file (*.cs) on the drive.

General Settings tab

On the "General Settings" tab, set up the bypass file paths for the Tekla Structures versions.

Enabled Tekla Structures versions and Bypass.ini paths

Set up the bypass file paths for the Tekla Structures versions you wish to use. The version combo box is populated with the installed Tekla Structures versions that are found in registry.

The bypass files define the environment, role and license that will be used when Tekla Structures launches.

In order to modify the bypass.ini files you need to open them in a text editor. The settings XS_DEFAULT_ENVIRONMENT, XS_DEFAULT_ROLE and XS_DEFAULT_LICENSE (if there are several available) must be set or uncommented in each file.

In the BIM Publisher Settings dialog, you can have several rows with the same Tekla Structures version and different bypass files.

[Advanced] You can also specify the user or company ini file to use on startup by adding the switch -i followed by the .ini path to the bypass file path. So, the syntax is [BYPASS INI PATH] -i [USER/COMPANY INI PATH].

Additional filter folders

Add the folder from your computer from which the filters will be used.

Use this to show e.g. the filters in your FIRM folder, which aren’t available otherwise. The filters found in the folders will show up first in the filter selection drop-downs.

Additional options

Enable or disable the following options:

Export only if model or export settings have been updated
Skip any models locked by another user
Close exporter after export is finished

Wait time (minutes) on Tekla startup

Decide how long the BIM Publisher should wait during Tekla Structures startup.

Visible export formats

Decide, which formats will be visible.

Available formats are IFC, 3D DWG, DGN, Unitechnik, BVBS, CIS/2 Analysis, CIS/2 Design, Revit*, Aveva E3D*, Smart3D (8.7 or newer for TS 2019i+)*, PDMS* and CPIxml* for models, and PDF, DWG and DXF for drawings.

* Available once the corresponding exporting extensions are installed from Tekla Warehouse.

Scheduling tab

On the "Scheduling" tab, enable scheduling and set up times and weekdays when the export will be triggered.

The schedule is applied when you save the settings.

The scheduler requires the user to be logged in when the export is triggered.

If more flexibility is needed, you can add the BIM Publisher executable path (visible on the scheduling tab as well) to e.g. Windows Task Scheduler and set up the scheduling there. This might also be needed if you are going to run the exports from a server or if you wish to use an external export settings file (see next section).

CSV file

To make mass editing of exported settings more convenient, it is possible to use for Export and Import all settings also CSV file. In the installation zip file of this tool on the Tekla Warehouse, you can find simple CSV file example. Each line represents one export, and all the settings are written in a human-readable format for easy editing directly in the configuration CSV file

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