Opening IFC Files vs Linking to IFC Files

Some applications can treat IFC files as referenced data and use a link method to access geometry and attributes. This is done instead of opening a file and processing all content which might seriously affect performance.

Determine which methods are available in the receiving system and choose whichever provides better performance, access to attributes and update capabilities.

Linking should be the method of choice, as it usually allows a more effective management of imported data and therefore can help in achieving acceptable performance from the receiving application.