Update history​

CYPE Architecture

Notifications on the project status

The status information bar of the BIMserver.center project is located at the top right of the window of the programs included in the Open BIM workflow. This bar has been available in the applications since version 2022.e and shows a warning icon when there is a problem with the connection to the project, as well as other things. Now, in version 2024.b, users can obtain more information about the warning by hovering the mouse cursor over the icon.

Creating BIMserver.center Corporate projects

As of version 2024.b, users can create projects associated with a "BIMserver.center Corporate" account from all CYPE applications included in the Open BIM workflow. To do this, the "Owner" field has been added to the window for creating a new project. This is a drop-down menu that includes, as one of the available options, the logged-in BIMserver.center user name along with the "BIMserver.center Corporate" accounts to which it has access. When selecting the user name as the owner, the project will be associated with this personal account, as was the case in previous versions. On the other hand, if a BIMserver.center Corporate account is selected, the project will be associated with that account.

Clear cache

The "Clear cache" button has been added to the CYPE applications included in the Open BIM workflow in the "Configuration" dialogue box that opens with the following sequence of commands: Select any of the options in the "BIMserver.center" tool group > "Configuration" option in the dialogue box that appears. When clicking on "Clear cache", the following options are displayed:

  • Projects
    Deletes projects, contributions and documents downloaded from the platform that are in the "File directory stored in local cache".

  • Sessions
    Deletes the data of any active sessions. This action will require applications to be re-authorised to access BIMserver.center.

  • Log files
    Deletes transaction logging from applications with BIMserver.center.

Long access paths

In previous versions, file paths used by applications were limited to a maximum length of 256 characters. This restriction is not specific to CYPE tools but is set by default in the Windows file system. As of version 2024.b, CYPE applications can bypass the restriction and allow the use of an extended path length for a maximum total path length of 10,000 characters. This eliminates the problems caused by the default limit and allows users to work with long access paths.

This improvement is particularly useful when working on projects with a complex directory structure or with long file names. By allowing longer paths, CYPE applications offer greater flexibility in file organisation.

Applications available in Japanese

As of version 2024.a, the following applications are also available in Japanese:

  • CYPE Architecture
  • IFC Uploader
  • Open BIM Analytical Model
  • Open BIM Layout
  • Open BIM Model Checker
  • Open BIM Site
  • Plugin Open BIM - Revit

Applications available in Russian

As of version 2024.a, the following applications are also available in Russian:

  • CYPE 3D
  • CYPE Architecture
  • CYPE Connect
  • CYPECAD
  • IFC Uploader
  • Open BIM Layout
  • Open BIM Model Checker
  • Open BIM Site
  • Plugin Open BIM - Revit
  • StruBIM Steel

New example job

In version 2024.a of CYPE Architecture, the "Town houses" example job has been included. This is a residential development consisting of 12 two-storey houses with a private garden. The building also has commercial units, a garden, a swimming pool, a gym and an underground car park for 14 vehicles.

New method for connecting applications to the BIMserver.center platform

The mode of communication between Open BIM applications and the BIMserver.center collaborative work platform has changed. In previous versions, the applications used the "BIMserver.center Sync" tool to upload and download the files of the contributions associated with the project from the platform. This tool was downloaded from the BIMserver.center platform or installed together with the installation of the platform applications if users so desired.

From version 2024.a onwards, applications are now able to work directly with BIMserver.center without an intermediary. That is, without the need for the "BIMserver.center Sync" tool.

This modification will improve the performance and efficiency of Open BIM applications significantly. By removing this dependency, the applications have more autonomy and the waiting times for communication between BIMserver.center Sync and the program have been considerably reduced. The process of downloading contributions has also been optimised, as users no longer need to obtain the entire content of a project from BIMserver.center in order to work, but only the contributions to be read.

The way of authenticating a BIMserver.center user in the applications has also been modified. Now, this process is carried out within the BIMserver.center web platform. To do this, the application with which the user is working will run the user's default browser when the "Login" button is pressed. When the credentials are entered, or after opening the browser if the user is already connected to the platform, an authorisation page will be displayed. This page details the resources the application is requesting access to and two buttons for granting or denying this access.

The authorisation must be carried out for each application. Once access has been granted, it is saved for the next time the program is run and there is no need to perform this process again for that application.

As well as performance improvements, changes have been made to the user interface of the Open BIM applications regarding the connection to BIMserver.center.

  • The "Connect to BIMserver.center" window now includes a "Configuration" button. Clicking it launches a menu from which you can edit the "File directory stored in local cache". This is the path where the files that make up the contributions will be downloaded when working with them from the applications. In previous versions, this location could be selected from the BIMserver.center Sync tool.
  • The appearance of the "Project selection" window has been modified.
  • In the "Select project" list, the "View only my projects" option has been added to show only the projects where the connected BIMserver.center user is the owner. Icons have also been included for the "Type of project" column in order to make it easier to identify them. The detailed data of a project now shows the image of each contribution, the description and the tags.
  • The "Review new contributions" and "Review updated contributions" options have been added to the "Create new project" window.
  • The list for selecting contributions ("Import BIM models") now includes the images of the contributions and the tags. The name of the contribution will be displayed in blue to indicate that the owner is the logged-in user.
  • When sharing a contribution or selecting contributions during the process of linking to a BIMserver.center project, a progress window will appear during the upload or download process.

To work in BIMserver.center with versions of Open BIM applications prior to 2024.a, users must continue to use the BIMserver.center Sync tool. This is still available for download from the platform and was included in the installation packages of the CYPE Open BIM applications prior to 2024.a.

Improved "By surface area" sketch entry mode for glazed surfaces

The "By surface" sketch entry mode of the "Glazed surfaces" tool allows for the multiple selection of sketch surfaces (by dragging).

Entering railings, ridges and valleys using a sketch line

The "Railing" and "Ridge/Valley" tools have a new entry mode: "Using a sketch line". This entry mode allows users to select one or more sketch lines to enter these elements.

Sketch objects

In the "Sketch" tab, the program has new features to create objects from drawing elements. These features can be accessed from the "Sketch" tab in the "Objects" section.

Sketch objects allow us to group lines, surface areas and groups, isolating them from the rest of the elements, with the aim of making it easier to handle sets of drawing elements (move, copy, rotate, symmetries, etc.). The objects also isolate the elements they contain from the rest of the drawing, thus preventing them from overlapping with each other.

When an object is created it is added to a local library, unlike sketch groups that do not have a library.
The library allows users to export and import objects for reuse.

Sketch objects are related to each other, so modifying one object will affect the copies of that object.
To modify an object, users must explode it, make the necessary modifications, and finally recreate the object with the same reference as the one they want to modify. This will overwrite the object in the library and therefore also all its copies.

The "Objects" section of the "Sketch" tab has the following features:

  • Library
    Allows objects to be imported and exported, and access to the object's colours.
  • New
    Creates a new object from lines, surface areas and groups.
  • Insert
    Allows an object from the library to be inserted.
  • Explode
    Allows an object to be broken down into lines, surface areas and groups.
  • Isolate
    Creates a new object from an existing object that will no longer be related to the source object.
  • Add
    Allows lines, surface areas or groups to be added to an existing object. The drawing elements will be added to all copied objects.

Objects interact with the Move, Copy, Delete, Rotate, Symmetry and Scale tools, but do not allow the surface areas' properties to be modified or extruded. To do so, the object must be exploded and then created again.

Sketch groups

The program has two new features for grouping or ungrouping drawing elements in the "Sketch" tab. These features can be accessed from the "Sketch" tab in the "Drawing elements" section.

Sketch groups allow us to group lines and surface areas, isolating them from the rest of the elements, with the aim of making it easier to handle sets of drawing elements (move, copy, rotate, symmetries, etc.). The groups also isolate the elements they contain from the rest of the drawing, thus preventing them from overlapping with each other.

The “Sketch” tools interact in the following way with the groups:

  • Move, Copy, Rotate, Scale and Symmetry will affect the whole group.
  • Extrude will affect the surface areas by adding extruded elements to the group.
  • Invert, Edit, Assign colour and Assign label will affect the surface areas, adding the properties to the group.
  • Offset will affect the surface areas but will not add the new offset elements to the group.

Each generated group is unique, modifying an element of a group will not affect copies of the same group. To learn how to create matching sets, see the new feature: "Sketch objects".