ExploringAniModel.md

Exploring an iModel

This section uses the iModel Console to execute queries against the Bay Town Process Plant sample iModel.

Open an iModel in the iModel Console

1. Go to https://imodelconsole.bentley.com
2. Select a project, then select an iModel then select a changeset
3. Wait until the green button in the lower right says Run

Basic Queries

1. Query for Elements

   SELECT * FROM Bis.Element

2. Count the number of elements in the iModel

   SELECT COUNT(*) FROM Bis.Element

3. Show the classes which are used in the current iModel

   SELECT ECClassId, COUNT(*) FROM bis.Element GROUP BY ECClassId ORDER BY COUNT(*) DESC

   NOTE 1: GROUP BY, ORDER BY [ASC|DESC] are standard parts of the SQLite syntax

   NOTE 2: ECClassId is stored as a 64 bit integer but are converted to a more readable format of <SchemaName>.<ClassName> for display. Queries use the internal 64 bit representation which enables very efficient matching.

4. Select all ProcessPhysical Pipe elements

   SELECT * FROM ProcessPhysical.PIPE

   NOTE: There are a lot more properties shown when querying for PIPE then for bis.Element. ECSql is polymorphic but only selects the properties defined by the FROM class.

5. Select all ElementRefersToElements relationships

   SELECT * FROM Bis.ElementRefersToElements

   NOTE 1: Every row (Element, Model, Link Table Relationship) has an ECInstanceId, this is a unique 64 bit integer for that type of instance (e.g. an ECInstanceId is unique for all Elements but there may be a Model with the same Id)

   NOTE 2: Each Row has a SourceECInstanceId and a TargetECInstanceId, these are the Ids of the Elements on either end of the relationship.

6. Find Elements which are related to ProcessPhysical.PIPE

   SELECT ere.ECClassId, s.ECClassId, t.ECClassId, COUNT(*) FROM Bis.ElementRefersToElements ere 
     JOIN bis.Element s ON s.ECInstanceId = ere.SourceECInstanceId 
     JOIN bis.Element t ON t.ECInstanceId = ere.TargetECInstanceId 
     WHERE s.ECClassId IS (ProcessPhysical.PIPE) OR t.ECClassId IS (ProcessPhysical.PIPE)
     GROUP BY s.ECClassId, t.ECClassId

   NOTE 1: This is an INNER JOIN, if you want an OUTER JOIN use LEFT JOIN

   NOTE 2: This query uses the IS keyword to limit classes. See this tutorial on Type Filtering for more details.

7. Select weight and length of pipes

   SELECT p.LineNumber, p.Length, p.Weight FROM ProcessPhysical.PIPE

8. Sum up the length and weight of pipe by Line Number

   SELECT p.LineNumber, SUM(p.Length) Length, SUM(p.Weight) Weight, COUNT(*) num_Pipes 
     FROM ProcessPhysical.PIPE p GROUP BY p.LineNumber

9. Add a grouping by component name

   SELECT p.LineNumber, p.Component_Name, SUM(p.Length) Length, SUM(p.Weight) Weight, COUNT(*) num_Pipes 
     FROM ProcessPhysical.PIPE p GROUP BY p.LineNumber, p.Component_Name

Next: Exploring Schemas in the Schema Explorer