ifc-spatial

IFC spatial containment and objectified relationship traversal: project, site, building, storey, element.

Status	Implemented
Latest release	0.3.0 (2026-09-29)
Registries	crates.io ifc-spatial
Via the facade	openbim-ifc feature spatial
API documentation	rustdoc · docs.rs
Source	crates/ifc-spatial/

Overview

ifc-spatial — containment and objectified relationship traversal.

Depends on

• ifc-model
• ifc-schema

Changes

Latest release, 0.3.0 (2026-09-29):

Added

• SpatialDraft::interior_or_exterior: the IFC2X3 IfcSpace. InteriorOrExteriorSpace (IfcInternalOrExternalEnum), which that release requires, so create_spatial_element_with_owner_history can author an IFC2X3 space (#214). IFC4 and IFC4X3 do not declare the attribute: a value there, or on a container other than a space, is refused with AuthoringNotInSchema, a token outside IFC2X3's enumeration with AuthoringValueType, and the plain IFC4/IFC4X3 create_spatial_element refuses it with AuthoringNotInSchema instead of dropping it.
• create_project_with_owner_history takes the project's representation contexts, so an IFC2X3 IfcProject, which requires RepresentationContexts (and UnitsInContext), can be authored (#214). Each context must resolve in the model or on the transaction (MissingReference), be an IfcRepresentationContext (WrongReferenceType), not be an IfcGeometricRepresentationSubContext (IFC2X3 WR32, IFC4 and IFC4X3 CorrectContext), and not repeat (Invalid); an empty slice leaves the attribute $, which IFC2X3 refuses with AuthoringRequired.
• A constructor and builder setters on every draft: SpatialDraft::new(), FacilityDraft::new(), ExternalSpatialDraft::new() and ProjectLibraryDraft::new() start empty; BoundaryDraft::new(space, element, physical_or_virtual, internal_or_external) takes the four attributes the schema requires. Each optional field has a setter of the same name taking the unwrapped value (SpatialDraft::new().name("L1") .composition("ELEMENT")), following ifc-resource's drafts.

Fixed

• A model whose declared release has no bundled table is refused with UnsupportedSchema by the release-bound writers instead of panicking.

Changed (breaking)

• assign_to_actor, assign_to_process, connect_with_realizing_elements and interfere_elements take the &Model and bind its declared release (#213). They wrote records with the wrong number of attributes: seven of IfcRelAssignsToActor's and IfcRelAssignsToProcess's eight, eight of IfcRelConnectsWithRealizingElements's nine, and ten for IfcRelInterferesElements where IFC4 declares nine. Each record is now laid out by attribute name with the release's own arity (the interference has ten attributes in IFC4X3). IFC4 records gain a trailing $ for the first three (ActingRole, QuantityInProcess, ConnectionType) and the IFC4 interference loses its trailing $; IFC4X3 records of the first three gain the same trailing $, and its interference is unchanged. An IFC2X3 model, which requires OwnerHistory (and declares no IfcRelInterferesElements), and a header binding no single verified release are refused; use the *_with_owner_history variants in IFC2X3.
• SpatialDraft, FacilityDraft, BoundaryDraft, ExternalSpatialDraft and ProjectLibraryDraft are #[non_exhaustive]: struct literals and ..Default::default() updates no longer compile outside the crate; build them with new and the setters. Fields stay public for reading and assignment.
• SpatialDraft has a new field, interior_or_exterior.
• create_project_with_owner_history(tx, model, global_id, name, units, representation_contexts, owner_history): the new representation_contexts: &[EntityId] parameter sits before owner_history. Pass &[] for the previous IFC4/IFC4X3 record.
• #[non_exhaustive] on the public read-side and catalogue types a later IFC release could extend: SpaceBoundary, BoundaryPhysicality, BoundaryExposure, Relationship, RelationshipKind, SpatialKind, SpatialNode, BoundaryLevel and Facility. Matches on the enums need a wildcard arm outside the crate, and the structs can no longer be built by literal there.

Changed

• Depends on ifc-schema with its default features named explicitly (every bundled release), now that the workspace dependency turns them off for the facade's per-release features (#112).
• The spatial classifier binds no release for an IFC4X1 or IFC4X2 header (release() is None) and answers from the verified tables.
• A model whose header declares IFC4X1 or IFC4X2 is refused with the existing unsupported-schema error. ifc-schema now bundles both releases, but no layout here is verified against them, so they are never read as IFC4 or IFC4X3.

Full history: crates/ifc-spatial/CHANGELOG.md