Downloading models

Downloading models from a BIMserver is a two-step process.

Step 1, initiate the download

The method you call is "ServiceInterface.download". This method returns a TopicId (Long). This TopicId can be passed to ServiceInterface.getDownloadData to get the actual data (see step 2). This process has been split over 2 methods because the process potentially takes a long time and could produce errors along the way. The TopicId can also be used to get information about the progress.

The typical order of methods you would call are

project = ServiceInterface.getProjectsByName("project name")[0];
serializer = ServiceInterface.getSerializerByContentType("application/ifc");
roid = project.getLastRevisionId;
long topicId = ServiceInterface.download([roid], query, serializer.oid, false);

Alternative methods of getting hold of a project are

ServiceInterface.getProjectByPoid(poid);
ServiceInterface.getTopLevelProjectByName(name);
ServiceInterface.getAllProjects(Boolean onlyTopLevel, Boolean onlyActive);
ServiceInterface.getAllReadableProjects();
ServiceInterface.getAllWritableProjects();

Step 2, downloading the data

Using JSON/SOAP/Protocol Buffers

This is the most consistent way, because all other communications with BIMserver happens in the same way.

ServiceInterface.getDownloadData(topicId);

Using the download servlet (direct HTTP)

There are two reasons why this alternative method exists:

• To allow the models to be downloaded by browsers, in a way that the downloaded file does not have to be "extracted" from another file (for example JSON).
• For efficiency reasons (for example JSON would have to encode binary data in base64)

The way to use this method is to send a HTTP GET to [yourbimserver]/download. The required parameters:

Name	Description	Required
token	Your BIMserver auth token	Yes
topicId	The TopicId returned by either the download method	Yes
serializerOid	The serializer you want to use	Yes
zip	Whether to download the content in a ZIP file. Even if this argument is not "on" or not supplied, the content might still be compressed, this depends on the HTTP headers sent/received	No