Search CAD or BIM Object Properties

Search is one of the most powerful features in Project Center. You can directly search the object propertiesSome CAD and BIM software tools create intelligent objects with embedded properties. For example, window objects might have embedded properties such as Material and Glazing, stairs might have embedded properties such as Rise/Run and Tread Thickness, and so on. Properties are not generally visible when viewing the drawing. However, when viewing the drawing in its native application, properties associated with an object can typically be queried by selecting the object. The Newforma Viewer provides object property support for certain CAD and BIM file types, including .DWG files created using Autodesk AutoCAD for Architecture (ACA), and .DWF files created using Autodesk Revit or ACA. Additionally, the Find feature in the Newforma Viewer now highlights objects with matching property values. of .DWG files that were created in Autodesk AutoCAD for Architecture (ACA). While you cannot directly search BIM file formats like .RVT from Revit, you can search object properties of .DWF files that are exported from Revit.

For example, if a .DWF file from Revit contains a door with a Fire Rating property of “90 minutes,” search on “90 minutes” to return this .DWF file as a match. Then when you open the .DWF file in the Newforma Viewer, all of the matches on “90 minutes” are listed. Click on a match to zoom to its location in the drawing. If it is an object property match rather than a text object match, all of the object’s properties are listed in the Properties panel.

Project Center does not search .RVT (Revit) files.

To search for CAD or BIM object properties

1.     From any activity center in Project Center, simply enter the text you are looking for in the Search field (located in the Toolbar at the top of Project Center).

2.     Click the drop-down arrow next to the Search button and choose the search option to use, then click Search, as shown here:

All files and project items containing the text string in are listed in the Search Results window.  

For information on how Search handles external references, see Search Overview.

3.     Apply search filters to narrow the results list to make it easier to locate the particular file you are looking for. From the Filter By list, select the filter you want to apply to the results list. In this case, select either the Drawings filter to list .DWGs, or the Published Documents filter to list .DWFs. The files that meet the filter conditions remain in the list. Files that do not are removed. You can also filter by column headers to use as many filters as necessary to narrow the list of results until you find the file you are looking for.

4.     When you find the file you want, you can select it from the list, and a preview of it appears at the bottom for many supported file types. For example, if you're looking for a file with a .DWF extension, you can filter on that file type, select the file from the list, and preview it in the Preview tab. Select the file, then click Open with Newforma Viewer from the File Tasks panel to open it in the Newforma Viewer.