IfcProcess

Semantic definitions at the entity

Entity definition

IfcProcess is defined as one individual activity or event, that is ordered in time, that has sequence relationships with other processes, which transforms input in output, and may connect to other other processes through input output relationships. An IfcProcess can be an activity (or task), or an event. It takes usually place in building construction with the intent of designing, costing, acquiring, constructing, or maintaining products or other and similar tasks or procedures. Figure 118 illustrates process relationships.

NOTE Definition according to ISO9000:
A process is a set of activities that are interrelated or that interact with one another. Processes use resources to transform inputs into outputs. Processes are interconnected because the output from one process becomes the input for another process. In effect, processes are "glued" together by means of such input output relationships.

Figure 118 — Process relationships and the ICON process diagram.

Process information relates to other objects by establishing the following relationships:

Nesting of processes : IfcRelNests - A process can contain sub processes and thereby be nested.
Sequencing of processes : IfcRelSequence - Processes can be placed in sequence (including overlapping for parallel tasks), and have predecessors and successors.
Assigning process to schedules : IfcRelAssignsToControl - Activities such as tasks, and predominately summary tasks, are assigned to a work schedule.
Having a product assigned to the process as input : IfcRelAssignsToProcess - Products can be assigned as input to a process, such as for construction process planning.
Having a product assigned to the process as output : IfcRelAssignsToProduct - Products can be assigned as output to a process, such as for construction process planning.
Having a control assigned to the process as process control : IfcRelAssignsToProcess - Items that act as a control onto the process can be assigned to a process, such as for cost management (a cost item assigned to a work task).
Having a resource assigned to the process as consumed by the process : IfcRelAssignsToProcess - Items that act as a mechanism to a process, such as labor, material and equipment in cost calculations.

HISTORY New entity in IFC1.0.

IFC2x CHANGE The attribute Productivity has been removed.

IFC4 CHANGE The attribute Identification has been promoted from subtypes IfcTask and others.

Attribute definitions

#	Attribute	Type	Cardinality	Description	C
6	Identification	IfcIdentifier	[0:1]	An identifying designation given to a process or activity. It is the identifier at the occurrence level.	X
7	LongDescription	IfcText	[0:1]	An extended description or narrative that may be provided.	X
	IsPredecessorTo	IfcRelSequence @RelatingProcess	S[0:?]	Dependency between two activities, it refers to the subsequent activity for which this activity is the predecessor. The link between two activities can include a link type and a lag time.	X
	IsSuccessorFrom	IfcRelSequence @RelatedProcess	S[0:?]	Dependency between two activities, it refers to the previous activity for which this activity is the successor. The link between two activities can include a link type and a lag time.	X
	OperatesOn	IfcRelAssignsToProcess @RelatingProcess	S[0:?]	Set of relationships to other objects, e.g. products, processes, controls, resources or actors, that are operated on by the process.	X

Inherited definitions from supertypes

Entity inheritance

Attribute inheritance

#	Attribute	Type	Cardinality	Description	C
IfcRoot
1	GlobalId	IfcGloballyUniqueId	[1:1]	Assignment of a globally unique identifier within the entire software world.	X
2	OwnerHistory	IfcOwnerHistory	[0:1]	Assignment of the information about the current ownership of that object, including owning actor, application, local identification and information captured about the recent changes of the object, NOTE only the last modification in stored - either as addition, deletion or modification.	X
3	Name	IfcLabel	[0:1]	Optional name for use by the participating software systems or users. For some subtypes of IfcRoot the insertion of the Name attribute may be required. This would be enforced by a where rule.	X
4	Description	IfcText	[0:1]	Optional description, provided for exchanging informative comments.	X
IfcObjectDefinition
	HasAssignments	IfcRelAssigns @RelatedObjects	S[0:?]	Reference to the relationship objects, that assign (by an association relationship) other subtypes of IfcObject to this object instance. Examples are the association to products, processes, controls, resources or groups.	X
	Nests	IfcRelNests @RelatedObjects	S[0:1]	References to the decomposition relationship being a nesting. It determines that this object definition is a part within an ordered whole/part decomposition relationship. An object occurrence or type can only be part of a single decomposition (to allow hierarchical strutures only).	X
	IsNestedBy	IfcRelNests @RelatingObject	S[0:?]	References to the decomposition relationship being a nesting. It determines that this object definition is the whole within an ordered whole/part decomposition relationship. An object or object type can be nested by several other objects (occurrences or types).	X
	HasContext	IfcRelDeclares @RelatedDefinitions	S[0:1]	References to the context providing context information such as project unit or representation context. It should only be asserted for the uppermost non-spatial object.	X
	IsDecomposedBy	IfcRelAggregates @RelatingObject	S[0:?]	References to the decomposition relationship being an aggregation. It determines that this object definition is whole within an unordered whole/part decomposition relationship. An object definitions can be aggregated by several other objects (occurrences or parts).	X
	Decomposes	IfcRelAggregates @RelatedObjects	S[0:1]	References to the decomposition relationship being an aggregation. It determines that this object definition is a part within an unordered whole/part decomposition relationship. An object definitions can only be part of a single decomposition (to allow hierarchical strutures only).	X
	HasAssociations	IfcRelAssociates @RelatedObjects	S[0:?]	Reference to the relationship objects, that associates external references or other resource definitions to the object.. Examples are the association to library, documentation or classification.	X
IfcObject
5	ObjectType	IfcLabel	[0:1]	The type denotes a particular type that indicates the object further. The use has to be established at the level of instantiable subtypes. In particular it holds the user defined type, if the enumeration of the attribute PredefinedType is set to USERDEFINED.	X
	IsDeclaredBy	IfcRelDefinesByObject @RelatedObjects	S[0:1]	Link to the relationship object pointing to the declaring object that provides the object definitions for this object occurrence. The declaring object has to be part of an object type decomposition. The associated IfcObject, or its subtypes, contains the specific information (as part of a type, or style, definition), that is common to all reflected instances of the declaring IfcObject, or its subtypes.	X
	Declares	IfcRelDefinesByObject @RelatingObject	S[0:?]	Link to the relationship object pointing to the reflected object(s) that receives the object definitions. The reflected object has to be part of an object occurrence decomposition. The associated IfcObject, or its subtypes, provides the specific information (as part of a type, or style, definition), that is common to all reflected instances of the declaring IfcObject, or its subtypes.	X
	IsTypedBy	IfcRelDefinesByType @RelatedObjects	S[0:1]	Set of relationships to the object type that provides the type definitions for this object occurrence. The then associated IfcTypeObject, or its subtypes, contains the specific information (or type, or style), that is common to all instances of IfcObject, or its subtypes, referring to the same type.	X
	IsDefinedBy	IfcRelDefinesByProperties @RelatedObjects	S[0:?]	Set of relationships to property set definitions attached to this object. Those statically or dynamically defined properties contain alphanumeric information content that further defines the object.	X
IfcProcess
6	Identification	IfcIdentifier	[0:1]	An identifying designation given to a process or activity. It is the identifier at the occurrence level.	X
7	LongDescription	IfcText	[0:1]	An extended description or narrative that may be provided.	X
	IsPredecessorTo	IfcRelSequence @RelatingProcess	S[0:?]	Dependency between two activities, it refers to the subsequent activity for which this activity is the predecessor. The link between two activities can include a link type and a lag time.	X
	IsSuccessorFrom	IfcRelSequence @RelatedProcess	S[0:?]	Dependency between two activities, it refers to the previous activity for which this activity is the successor. The link between two activities can include a link type and a lag time.	X
	OperatesOn	IfcRelAssignsToProcess @RelatingProcess	S[0:?]	Set of relationships to other objects, e.g. products, processes, controls, resources or actors, that are operated on by the process.	X

Definitions applying to Common Use Definitions

Instance diagram

Concept usage

Property Sets for Objects

The Property Sets for Objects concept applies to this entity as shown in Table 3.

PredefinedType

Name

Properties

Pset_Risk

Single Value

Name	Value
NatureOfRisk	IfcLabel
SubNatureOfRisk1	IfcLabel
SubNatureOfRisk2	IfcLabel
RiskCause	IfcText
AffectsSurroundings	IfcBoolean

Enumerated Value

Name	Value	Value
RiskType	IfcLabel	IfcLabel
AssessmentOfRisk	IfcLabel	IfcLabel
RiskConsequence	IfcLabel	IfcLabel
RiskRating	IfcLabel	IfcLabel
RiskOwner	IfcLabel	IfcLabel

Table 3 — IfcProcess Property Sets for Objects

Concept inheritance

#	Concept	Model View
IfcRoot
	Software Identity	Common Use Definitions
	Revision Control	Common Use Definitions
IfcObject
	Object Occurrence Predefined Type	Common Use Definitions
IfcProcess
	Property Sets for Objects	Common Use Definitions

Formal representations

XSD Specification

 <xs:element name="IfcProcess" type="ifc:IfcProcess" abstract="true" substitutionGroup="ifc:IfcObject" nillable="true"/>

 <xs:complexType name="IfcProcess" abstract="true">

  <xs:complexContent>

   <xs:extension base="ifc:IfcObject">

    <xs:attribute name="Identification" type="ifc:IfcIdentifier" use="optional"/>

    <xs:attribute name="LongDescription" type="ifc:IfcText" use="optional"/>

   </xs:extension>

  </xs:complexContent>

 </xs:complexType>

EXPRESS Specification


ENTITY IfcProcess

 ABSTRACT SUPERTYPE OF(ONEOF(IfcEvent, IfcProcedure, IfcTask))

 SUBTYPE OF (IfcObject);

  Identification : OPTIONAL IfcIdentifier;

  LongDescription : OPTIONAL IfcText;

 INVERSE

  IsPredecessorTo : SET OF IfcRelSequence FOR RelatingProcess;

  IsSuccessorFrom : SET OF IfcRelSequence FOR RelatedProcess;

  OperatesOn : SET OF IfcRelAssignsToProcess FOR RelatingProcess;

END_ENTITY;

 EXPRESS-G diagram

Link to this page

	Prozess (allgemein)
	Process
	Processus