From configurator to Tekla Structures and Revit: how model export works
Published · Yotec Configurators
A configurator pays off when its model continues into detailing instead of being redrawn. How that handover works decides whether engineers trust it.
Why the export matters
A configurator that stops at a price and a picture still leaves engineering to start from scratch. The value appears when the same model moves into Tekla Structures or Revit, where detailers add connections, reinforcement and shop drawings.
Three routes
File exchange. The configurator writes IFC, DXF or another neutral format, and the engineer imports it. IFC is an open standard that both tools read. It is the simplest route, but the result is often a reference model: objects may come in as generic geometry rather than native beams, columns and panels.
Native API. Tekla Structures offers the Tekla Open API and Revit offers the Revit API. Both are .NET APIs, so code written in C# can create native objects directly: profiles from the catalogue, materials, assemblies and parameters. The engineer receives a model that behaves as if it had been built by hand.
Plugin inside the tool. The same logic runs as a plugin or extension inside Tekla or Revit. Engineers can regenerate or adjust the configured part without leaving their environment.
What should be transferred
- Geometry with the correct coordinate system and units.
- Profiles and materials mapped to the names in your Tekla or Revit catalogues.
- Assemblies, part marks and numbering prefixes your shop already uses.
- Parameters that drove the design, for example span, loads or design code, stored on the objects.
- A link back to the configuration, so the model can be updated instead of re-created.
The details that break exports
Catalogue names. A profile called SHS 80×80×4 in the configurator may be P80*80*4 in your Tekla environment. Without an explicit mapping, objects fall back to defaults or fail.
Updates. The first export is easy. The hard part is the second one, after the customer changes the span. A good integration updates existing objects and keeps the engineer's manual work where possible.
Environment settings. Tekla and Revit projects differ by company and country: templates, families, catalogues. The export has to be configured for your environment, not a generic one.
Our approach
Because our configurators are written in C#, export uses the native APIs where it matters and IFC or DXF where a neutral file is enough. In a pilot we agree on the catalogue mapping and the update rules with your engineers before writing the export. See the demo configurators.