A query is a way to load objects from parts of models in Catenda Hub without loading the whole model.
IFC files tend to be light weight versions of the model in the authoring program it was exported from and are often light enough to view in the browser if they do not contain objects with a lot of geometry.
This article contains information about the following topics:
When to create a query?
Even so, the situation could arise where you find your performance to be limited.
This could be caused by a number of factors such as large geometry as mentioned before but also attempting to load many models at once (100+) and reaching the limit of what your device can handle. When it comes to loading models it is often memory that is required. Especially on mobile devices with limited memory this can be the case but even average systems with 16GB of ram can run out of memory when many models are loaded.
Creating a query
Queries can either be made from the 2D viewer or from a property library.
With the 2D viewer you can easily select an area in the project that you would like to load.
With a property library you can easily select objects with a specific property that you would like to load.
2D viewer query
To create a query from the 2D viewer, open the 2D view of a model:
This will help you understand from what location in the project your objects will be selected.
There are three different ways to make queries in the 2D viewer.
If you right click in the 2D viewer, the 2D viewer interactions menu will open up.
Here you will be able to either select the following queries:
The third query can be made with the 2D viewer selection dropdown menu
Here you will be able to choose select: rectangular selection which lets you create the following query:
Intersecting space query
Right click on a space
Select Intersecting space
This will load all geometry intersecting the axis aligned bounding box of the space.
Intersecting storey query
Right click in the viewer
Select Intersecting storey
This will load all geometry inside the top and bottom planes of the storey.
Rectangle selection
Click the query rectangle button.
Click, drag and release to draw a rectangle.
Specify the models you want to load in the query popover.
Query popover
Select current Storey or Full height.
Select Any, External or Internal.
Toggle all models on or off.
Select which models to include in the query.
Create query.
Property library query
When you have synchronized your property value library you will be able to click on the object count next to the property value and select from which model(s) you would like to make a query of objects with that property value.
Editing a query
Queries can be edited by selecting the query menu in the revision selector.
Here you will see the different queries you have loaded in this session.
To edit a query, click the edit button to the right of your query.
Since queries only load a limited set of objects it is not possible to work with models from the models tab and queries at the same time.
If you would like to work with models from the models tab, click on restore 3D.
This will unload the query and load the entire model instead.
Saving queries
To save your query to continue working with it later, create a 3D snapshot in the comment section of a topic or create a bookmark.
If you would like to continue working with your query in your next Catenda session, you can play the bookmark or snapshot.