Frequently, different designations are used in the respective programs for the same materials and cross-sections. This makes it necessary to convert the material and cross-section designations so that they are recognized by RFEM 6 after the data exchange.
The conversion tables are available in the menu bar under CAD-BIM. These tables are used when importing DSTV, DXF, IFC, SAF, or SDNF files.
The conversion tables are divided into two separate tables (materials and cross-sections) with two columns each (external material or external cross-section and Dlubal material or Dlubal cross-section)
When importing a file, information about material and cross-section designations is read from the external file and automatically added to the table. For conversion, the corresponding Dlubal names must be assigned in the table to these external material and cross-section designations. The Dlubal names can be selected from the material and cross-section library.
Conversion table
A new table set can be created using the
button. An existing table set can be copied using the
button. The settings made and the selected table set are saved with the 'Apply' button and thus applied for importing files.
Add entry from IFC properties
For some imported IFC files, no read cross-sections are displayed in the conversion table. The table column for the external cross-sections is empty. However, a cross-section designation is visible in the properties of the IFC elements. This means that the information about the cross-section is present in the IFC file, but it cannot be read directly by RFEM because the information is stored in a different location within the IFC.
To subsequently add the storage location of the material or cross-section designation, a new entry from the IFC properties can be added for the conversion table using the
button.
Conversion with regular expressions
By using regular expressions, the conversion of multiple objects - for example, an entire IPE section series - is possible via a single entry.
To create a conversion for the entire section series, the regular expression is structured as follows:
| External cross-section | Dlubal cross-section |
| ^HEA (\d+)$ | HEA $1 | Euronorm 53-62; ... | SZS |
| ^IPE (\d+)$ | IPE $1 | Euronorm 19-57; ... | SZS |
| ^HEB (\d+)$ | HEB $1 | Euronorm 53-62; ... | SZS |
| ^(\d+)x(\d+)$ | R_M1 $1/$2 |
A regular expression in the conversion table always starts with ^ and ends with the $ symbol.
For the expression (\d+), any whole number can be used (IPE200, IPE300,...).
The expression $1 refers to the number used.
If two numbers are used in the external cross-section, $1 refers to the first number and $2 to the second number.
Further examples for defining regular expressions are described in the following FAQ: