> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://bimwhale.gitbook.io/bim-whale/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://bimwhale.gitbook.io/bim-whale/introduction/additional-notes/faq.md).

# FAQ

## What does The BIM Whale do?

Parse so-called `User Defined IFC Property Sets` from an IFC file.

## What does The BIM Whale NOT do?

* Parse entity attributes
* Parse geometry
* Follow the EXPRESS standard
*  etc. etc.

## What is an IFC file?

Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) is a standardized, digital description of a BIM model.

See [IFC](/bim-whale/ifc/what-is-ifc.md) for more information.

## What is a STEP file?

A STEP-File is the file format that IFC uses.

Again, see [IFC](/bim-whale/ifc/what-is-ifc.md) for more information.

## Is this code "hand made"?

Yes, the code is hand made. The parsing is not derived from an EXPRESS definition.

## Is the code ready for production?

No, not yet. See open [issues](https://github.com/andrewisen/bim-whale/issues) for more info