~ Model View Definition
A complete BIM dataset contains all information about a specific building. For certain applications it is not necessary to have all the information, for other applications one would like to have a little more (and often it is a combination). A designer, for example, could just do with the load bearing objects, and the energy adviser just the spaces but would like to have some extra information about those spaces.
In order to simplify the exchange of data between these parties, the so-called Model View Definitions have been developed. A ‘model view’ is the way in which a particular user (or software application) used the IFC agreements. So this can be seen as a kind of filter on the IFC standard with extensions and limitations. Originally, MVDs have been developed to make it possible for software vendors to support only a (defined) part of the full IFC standard (See mvdXML for more details).
Every IFC dataset that is exported from a BIM Authoring tool is according to a Model View definition. A number of common filters of this kind are registered in a formal (and official) definition: an MVD. At the moment, not many of these MVDs exist. In IFC 2×3, the MVD ‘Coordination view’ is the most used. For IFC4, the Reference View and Design Transfer View are most common.