Import vector geometries (GeoShape)

What is imported

GeoShape imports vector geodata — line, polygon, and point features with attribute data — as Revit lines, filled regions, or family instances. Typical sources: ALKIS cadastral boundaries, parcels, house numbers, road centrelines, land-use polygons.

Accepted source formats

• GeoJSON (.geojson, .json) per RFC 7946 or with a custom CRS in crs.properties.name.
• ESRI Shapefile (.shp with companion .dbf, .shx, optional .prj).
• KML / KMZ (.kml, .kmz) — Google Earth and geoportal exports; KMZ is unpacked automatically.
• CSV (.csv) — in two flavours: a WKT geometry column (POINT, LINESTRING, POLYGON and multi variants) or plain coordinate columns (easting/northing).
• GeoPackage (.gpkg) — OGC GeoPackage 1.3 (SQLite-based); reads the feature layers including their attribute tables. (Pro)

Anatomy of a typical file

GeoJSON is a text file with a FeatureCollection root element; each feature carries a geometry (Polygon, LineString, Point or their multi variants) and properties (arbitrary attribute data as key/value pairs).

Shapefile is a multi-file format. Required companion files per layer:

• .shp — the geometries
• .dbf — the attribute data (dBASE table, Windows-1252 encoded for ALKIS)
• .shx — index for fast reading
• .prj — (optional but recommended) the coordinate reference system as WKT text

KML/KMZ carries geometry in <Placemark> elements and attribute data in <ExtendedData> or the description. KMZ is a zipped KML and is unpacked before reading; KML is always in WGS84 (longitude/latitude).

CSV is recognised from its header row: either a column holding WKT geometry (e.g. WKT / geometry) or two coordinate columns (easting/northing). All other columns are carried over as attribute data.

GeoPackage is a SQLite database with one or more feature tables; GeoBridge reads the geometries (WKB) and the attribute columns directly from the tables. (Pro feature — blocked at the file filter in Free.)

GeoBridge reads from the source files: all geometries (2D or with Z values), all attribute columns from the .dbf table, and the CRS from .prj or crs.properties.name. The attribute data is mapped to identically-named shared parameters in the Revit project — the ALKIS columns therefore appear directly in the schedule view of the imported elements.

Two modes: detail or model

The GeoShape dialog asks at the start which style the geometry should follow:

Detail mode (plan layout)

Geometries are created as detail lines and filled regions in the active view. They are 2D-only, fit plans and layouts, and follow the view's plot layout (line type, line weight, hatching).

• Line features → DetailLines with assigned LineStyle.
• Polygon features → FilledRegions with assigned hatching.
• Point features → optionally family instances of a 2D annotation family.

Model mode (3D)

Geometries are created as model lines and family instances in 3D space. Visible in all views, measurable, connectable.

• Line features → ModelLines.
• Polygon features → ModelLines (outline) — Revit cannot represent a 3D polygon area directly, so the outline is drawn.
• Point features → family instances of a 3D family.

The detail/model choice is per-import; a layout sheet can carry both styles in parallel (parcels in 2D detail mode + trees in 3D model mode from separate imports).

Workflow

1. Preparation — vector file from an ALKIS source, OSM export, or GIS export.
2. Click "GeoShape" in the ribbon.
3. Select file.
4. Georeferencing dialog — see Before the first import. GeoShape can reproject foreign CRS on request.
5. Polygon filter (optional) — as with CityGML and DGM, the import can be clipped to an area: no polygon (default), bounding box, Revit model curve, line style, or GeoJSON file. See Set a polygon filter.
6. Choose mode — detail or model.
7. Mapping — assign a LineStyle or a family per feature class (layer, geometry type). Attribute data is mapped to shared parameters.
8. Result — geometries created; the TaskDialog reports feature counts.

ALKIS house numbers (Pro, ribbon button "HK Addresses")

A prepared variant specifically for AdV house coordinates (HK) is available as a separate ribbon button HK Addresses. It accepts an HK file in the AdV data format HK-DE V5.2 and places each house number as a 3D family instance with an upright address label in the model.

Expected sources: AdV-conformant house coordinates from the state geoportals, usually as a CSV/TXT list with the columns OI, KAN, RW, HW (UTM East/North in zone 32 or 33), STN (street name), HNR (house number), and additions per the AdV data format specification.

Free has this button disabled.

ALKIS cadastral parcels (Pro, new in 0.20)

When a GeoShape import targets an ALKIS parcel file (Shapefile from a state geoportal — currently tested with Thuringia), GeoBridge detects the canonical parcel fields automatically and maps them to four Shared Parameters: GSPB_FlurstueckZaehler (numerator before the slash), GSPB_FlurstueckNenner (denominator after, for fractions like 283/3), GSPB_FlurstueckKennzeichen (the full official ID), and GSPB_Gemarkung (cadastral district name).

Field names differ per state (Thuringia: flstnrzae / flstnrnen / flstkennz / gemarkung; Saxony: zaehler / nenner / flurstueckskennzeichen / gemarkungsbezeichnung); GeoBridge maintains an alias table and maps automatically.

In Pro, an annotation family instance (GSPB_FlurstLabel) is additionally placed at each parcel centroid, showing numerator and denominator visibly in the plan view (e.g. 283/3 or just 283 when the denominator is empty). The family is shipped with the plugin and loaded into the project on demand.

Revit filters and schedules can drive off the four Shared Parameters — filtering parcels by cadastral district or pulling out a list of all IDs is then standard Revit functionality.

Export (Pro, ribbon button "GeoShape Export")

The reverse of the import path: visible detail elements in the active plan view are written to a vector format — for round-trips with partner firms and direct display in GIS viewers (QGIS, ArcGIS, Mapbox). The target format can be GeoJSON, KML, ESRI Shapefile or GeoPackage; the format follows the file extension chosen in the save dialog.

What's exported

Model elements (ModelLine, 3D families), linked models and adaptive components are intentionally skipped. If you need to export 3D geometry, use IFC.

Preconditions

• Project is georeferenced (Survey Point set — otherwise there's no anchor for the inverse transform).
• Active view is a plan view (ViewPlan). Sections and 3D views are excluded.

Flow

1. Ribbon click "GeoShape Export".
2. Save-As dialog — default filename derived from the view name; the target format (GeoJSON/KML/Shapefile/GeoPackage) follows the chosen file extension.
3. Options dialog:
   • Target CRS: Project CRS (default, identical to the import side — round-trip compatible) / WGS84 (longitude/latitude, RFC-7946 default, works in every GIS viewer) / Other EPSG (UTM zone, performed as a round-trip via WGS84 as the intermediate).
   • Z value (optional): constant Z value for every feature (metres). Empty = 2D export.
   • Limit to view's crop region (optional): when the view has an active crop, only elements whose centroid lies inside the crop are exported — also works with non-rectangular polygon crops.
4. Success summary — feature counts per geometry type + skip counters (no location / degenerate / outside crop).

Notes

• Properties: the exported feature carries name (type-specific — FilledRegionType name / LineStyle name / FamilySymbol name), category (English BuiltInCategory name), mark, comments and, where present, the GeoBridge import IDs for round-trip identification.
• Read-only operation: no write to the project, no transaction — the export is non-destructive and can be triggered at any time.
• Progress dialog appears automatically from 1,000 detail elements upwards; Cancel aborts cleanly without leaving a partial file behind.
• Donut polygons: the inner rings (holes) are preserved as additional LinearRings under coordinates; RFC 7946 mandates outer CCW and holes CW, which we enforce deterministically on write.

Free has this button disabled.

Pro vs. Free for GeoShape

Notes

• GeoJSON CRS convention: RFC 7946 mandates WGS84 (lon/lat), but German geoportal exports often write the working CRS instead (commonly UTM-32). GeoShape reads the crs.properties.name declaration if present, otherwise it asks for the source CRS.
• Shapefile encoding: ALKIS shapefiles store attribute data in .dbf tables with Windows-1252 encoding. GeoShape reads this automatically — umlauts and special characters come through correctly.
• MultiPatch (3D mesh shapefile): not currently supported. Available on request for specific use cases.
• Duplicate boundaries in ALKIS polygon layers: in many ALKIS exports, adjacent parcels share their common boundary as two separate lines. GeoShape detects this and removes the duplicate so polygon picking and re-import behaviour remain consistent.