Here you will find an explanation and best practices for solving Missing Data related synchronization errors.  

Category: Missing Data

Missing data errors are a common issue in Synchronization. Understanding the missing data errors requires a knowledge of what data is being synchronized into the Model. This highly depends on the file format being synchronized. 

This data can be synchronized into the Model along with the main design file:

• Reference
• xRef (layer, Drawing Model)
• Raster
• Point Cloud
• Model
• Sheet model
• 3D view
• Alignment
• Material (Texture, Mapping (e.g. Cubic, Planar, etc.))
• Text style
• Font
• Schema (element class)
• Properties
• Accompanying file, specific to data format

 

Missing References

Error: DgnV8_0132

 Error message: "Reference attachment (.dgn) is missing from reference or master model .dgn"

Issue:
Reference attachments cannot be found in the defined location and can not be synchronized. As a result, the iTwin doesn't show all the input files (Master or References) in iModel Index or visibility tree in Desing Review. 

 

Cause:

• The reference file was deleted, renamed, or moved to another location.
• Reference hierarchies have changed (for example nesting depth changed).
• Scan References in ProjectWise Explorer were not run on the master file after the data import, move, and rename operation was completed in the DataSource.
• If this file is an i.dgn, then the references were not included correctly and need to be updated in the design application.

Solution:

• Run Scan References on the master file from ProjectWise Explorer. Read more about why reference scanning is important and how to run ScanRef.
• In the design application used for the master file creation, go to the References dialog and fix any attachments that are missing. Items that need to be fixed are indicated in red. Read more about attachment fixing in design applications. Reference Manager dialog can be launched using Ribbon: Modeling > Home > Primary > Attach Tools split buttoning MicroStation application.
• If there are references in sheet models, they need to be fixed also. Run Scan References on the master file from ProjectWise Explorer. You can also open the sheet model to check for unresolved references marked in the i.dgn.
• When using the Infrastructure cloud portal, make sure references are linked to a master using a relative path. References can be linked to the master as relative path using as shown in Image 1:

Image 1

Warning: DgnV8_0133

 Warning message: "Reference model <File_Name> is ignored because its display is turned off in the master model."

Setting the reference file's display off in the master file is a common practice in various software applications, especially in computer-aided design (CAD) and 3D modeling environments. This is often done to simplify the view, optimize performance and file size, and reduce visual distractions. The synchronization logs this information and provides it for any potential issues analysis in the synchronization report. 

Issue:
Reference files are missing in the iModel. 

Cause:
The reference file's display is turned off in the master model.

Solution:
Open the source file in the Power Platform application where the source file was created (MicroStation, OpenBuildings Designer, or other). Go to Home -> References. In the opened References dialog notice that some references do not have a checkbox selected in the Reference Display column. (Highlighted in green in the below image.) This means that the display is turned off. 

If you need these references to be synchronized to the iModel, update the display setting in the source file, save the changes, and reprocess them to the iModel.

If you do not want to process the disabled references to the iModel, please ignore this warning.  

Missing Materials

Materials in drawing files are the digital representations of real-world materials that can be assigned to objects within your models. For example, you can apply a wood material to a model of a table to make it look like it's made of wood. So materials can contain information about the texture, color, reflectivity, transparency, and other visual properties of a surface. They can be custom-made or delivered with material libraries. 

There can be multiple reasons why material information is not visible in iModel Viewer, for example, Design Review.  

One of the reasons is that iModel Connector continues to increase the support for additional materials. However due to current limitations, this new material information will not be processed into existing iModels, but they are with newly created iModels.

• To work around this limitation, we recommend unmapping the source file and mapping it back to initiate full iModel reprocessing. Read more about the unmap procedure here https://bentleysystems.service-now.com/community?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=KB0098456.
• Note that if you are using a Version Compare with the contents of the model to be unmapped, all elements in the file will appear as new elements when doing version compare on change sets from before the unmap to after the re-import.

Please find more reasons why material information is not visible and how to solve this below. 

Warning: Revit_0002

Warning message: "Missing image file: <File name>. Please place the texture file next to the source Revit file. If you run publishing locally, you may also install the recent Autodesk Material Library for standard textures.

Issue:
Visual fidelity issues in iModel such as missing textures in elements.   

Cause:
The design model has defined Autodesk materials, but materials files are not provided in a way that synchronization can access them.

Solution:

• Autodesk material files need to be provided manually for synchronization to be able to use them during the synchronization process. 
• To fix the missing materials issue, please copy the material files from the Autodesk installation location C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\Autodesk Shared\Materials\{year of release} to the design file location. 
• In case the Autodesk material library is not installed with the Autodesk product, or you do not have the materials files, use the Autodesk guidelines to install the materials library from the Autodesk 
• Once the material library is installed, copy the material files to the same folder as the design file and start the synchronization to the iModel.

 

Missing Fonts

Non-default fonts using in iModels

While working with connectors a user might want to choose a non-default font for drawings but font iModel embedding is working differently between various integrations. This will help them to place fonts correctly, make that fonts would be embedded properly and avoid errors related to missing fonts. In this article, we will see where to place font files that they would be visible in iModels.

Fonts using in Connect Portal Files Share or iTwin Desktop Synchronizer documents synchronization

 Non default font file can be simply placed to the same directory as design file, and it will be embedded to the iModel.

 

Fonts using in Connect Portal and Bentley Infrastructure Cloud Portal ProjectWise documents synchronization  

When a non-default font file cannot be found in iModel, placing font file to the same directory as a design file or trying to Scan References in ProjectWise would not help.  Font file should be supplied via WorkSpace, it should be placed to directory, where used workspace variable MS_FONTPATH is pointing. Configuration variable MS_FONTPATH specifies a list of directories that are searched to locate fonts. Usually default font location is: C:\Program Files\Bentley\MicroStation CONNECT Edition\MicroStation\Default\Fonts. Configure variable by additionally inserting another location where non default font is placed, and connector will use that font for iModel.

You can access Configuration Variables dialog in MicroStation from the following:

Ribbon: File>Settings>Configuration>Configuration Variables

MicroStation CONNECT EDITION documentation about using fonts: https://docs.bentley.com/LiveContent/web/MicroStation%20Help-v19/en/GUID-EA4472D6-C3D4-F8CB-1D63-517F1E3B7575.html

 

Warning: Revit_0025, NWD_0012

 Warning message: "Missing font: <Font name>. Please place missing font file(s) next to the source Revit file."

Issue:
Visual fidelity issues in iModel such as wrong font, missing font characters, and incorrect font display size. 

Cause:
The synchronization environment contains only a limited amount of Windows default fonts, that can be used during synchronization to Model. In case a unique, non-standard Windows font is used, a default system font will be used instead. 

Solution:
All non-default Windows fonts need to be provided to Synchronization manually for those fonts to be used. If fonts are placed in the same location as the design file, they will be picked up by synchronization and the missing fonts messages will no longer be reported. Fonts can be copied from C:\Windows\Fonts.  

 

Error: Dgn_0000

Error message: "Could not locate font Courier New. Please place the font file(s) in the same directory as the design file."

Issue:
Visual fidelity issues in iModel such as wrong font, missing font characters, and incorrect font display size. 

Cause:
The synchronization environment contains only a limited amount of Windows default fonts, that can be used during synchronization to Model. In case a unique, non-standard Windows font is used, a default system font will be used instead. 

Solution:
All non-default Windows fonts need to be provided to Synchronization manually in order for those fonts to be used. If fonts are placed in the same location as the design file, they will be picked up by synchronization and the missing fonts messages will no longer be reported. Fonts can be copied from C:\Windows\Fonts.  

 

Element

Warning: Dgn_0188

 Warning message: "X Element(s) are skipped as these elements are invisible."

Issue:
Elements are made as invisible in the main model, so the connector does not process these elements.

Cause:
Due to better performance some elements can be made invisible in the model and since the user has chosen to make this not visible in the model, the iModel connector does not import these into the iModel.

Solution:
If you are expecting to do not see the invisible elements in the iModel, then please ignore this warning message.

If you would like to make elements visible, you need to find those elements in the model and change the hidden property value.

How to check if there are hidden elements on a particular level:

• Open the source file in the Power Platform application where the source file was created such as MicroStation.
• Check if there are invisible elements on the selected level: select all elements and check how many elements are reported in the status bar.

Status bar:

• Check in the Level Manager what is reported there. Open Level Manager, right click on the level and go to Properties -> Usage. In the opened Element count table notice that there are more elements than the amount that was shown in the status bar after selecting all elements.

In this example there are one level and total 8 elements. After comparing the status bar and Level Manager results we can see that 4 of them are not visible.

• Change some parameters for the element (all elements) which you would like to make visible. 

• Save the changes and resynchronize them to the iModel.

 

Warning: Dgn_0211

Warning message: Element(s) are skipped due to failure of geometry creation

Issue:

Element(s) are skipped due to failure of geometry creation.

Cause:

• Corrupt Geometry: The element's underlying geometric data is damaged.
• Self-Intersecting Surfaces: Solids or surfaces that fold back and intersect themselves.
• Invalid Solid Definitions: Geometry that is not "watertight" or has non-manifold edges (where more than two faces meet at a single edge).
• Large Coordinates: Elements located extremely far from the design file's origin can suffer from floating-point precision issues, making their geometry invalid.

Solution:

To resolve this issue, you must identify the problematic elements in the source authoring application (e.g., MicroStation, OpenBuildings Designer) and repair their geometry.

1. Identify the Problematic Elements

The synchronization report will list the Element IDs of the skipped elements. You can use these IDs to find the elements in your source design file.

2. Inspect and Repair the Geometry

Once you have located an element, you need to inspect it and fix the underlying geometric issue.

1. 1. Visually Inspect: Zoom in on the element and look for any obvious problems.
   2. Run Geometry Checks: Use the authoring application's built-in tools to check for geometric integrity.
   3. Recreate the Element: Often, the simplest and most reliable solution is to delete the problematic element and recreate it from scratch  This ensures the new element has clean geometry.

4.  Save and Re-synchronize

After you have repaired or recreated the problematic elements, save the source DGN file. Run the synchronization process again. The connector should now be able to process the elements, and they will appear in the iModel.

 

Warning: Dgn_0212

Warning message: Element(s) are skipped due to failure of geometry creation.

Issue:
Element(s) are skipped due to failure of geometry creation.

Cause:

This warning indicates that an element could not be synchronized because it references a shared piece of geometry (a "part") that is invalid. The most common example is a cell from a cell library.

Common causes for invalid part geometry include:

Invalid Cell Definitions: The geometry within a cell definition in a .cel library file is corrupt (e.g., a self-intersecting solid, non-manifold geometry).

Corrupt Parametric Geometry: A parametric cell has an invalid definition or contains features with unsolvable constraints.

Solution:

The solution is to find the source definition of the invalid part (the cell) and repair its geometry in the authoring application (e.g., MicroStation, OpenBuildings Designer).

Identify the Problematic Element (Instance)

The synchronization report will list the Element ID of a skipped element. This is an instance of the bad part.

Identify the Part Definition.

Run Geometry Checks: Use the application's geometry verification tools.

Visually Inspect: Look for strange or overly complex geometry.

Recreate the Geometry: The most reliable solution is to delete the problematic geometry within the cell and recreate it using clean, simple methods.

Save and Re-synchronize.

After repairing the geometry in the cell library, save the file.

Run the iModel synchronization again. The connector should now be able to process the part and all elements that use it.

 

Warning: Dgn_0213

Warning message: Element(s) are skipped as these elements are non-graphical.

Issue:

Element(s) are skipped as these elements are non-graphical.

Cause:

• This warning is reported when the connector encounters elements in the source DGN file that are flagged as "non-graphical." These are elements that exist in the file's database but do not have a geometric representation intended for display. The connector correctly skips these elements, as they would not be visible in the final iModel.
• Common examples of non-graphical elements include:
  • Elements that store data or metadata but have no visual component.
  • Control elements that define settings but are not themselves drawn.

Solution:

• In most cases, this warning is informational and can be safely ignored. It confirms that the synchronization process is correctly filtering out elements that are not meant to be displayed.
• If you believe a skipped element should be visible, it may indicate that the element's properties are incorrect in the source file.

If you believe that these elements should be visible:

Identify the Element: Use the Element ID from the synchronization report to locate the element in your authoring application (e.g., MicroStation).

Analyze the Element: Use the Analyze Element or Properties tool to inspect the element. You can confirm if it is classified as non-graphical.

Take Action:

• • If the element is correctly non-graphical: No action is needed. The warning is expected.
  • If the element should be graphical: This is unusual and may indicate corruption. The most reliable solution is to delete the element and recreate it using standard graphical modeling tools.

 

Warning: Dgn_0214

Warning message: Element(s) skipped as failed to get scan range for element or range is empty.

Issue:

Element(s) skipped as failed to get scan range for element or range is empty.

Cause:

This warning occurs when the connector cannot determine the size or location of an element because its "range" (its 3D bounding box) is invalid or empty. An element without a valid range cannot be processed into the iModel.

This typically happens if the element's geometry is degenerated, meaning it has no physical size. Common causes include:

• A line or curve with the same start and end point (zero length).
• A shape or surface with no area.
• A point element, which has a location but no dimensions.
• A corrupt element whose range information cannot be read.

Solution:

Elements with an empty range are not visible and do not contribute to the design. The recommended solution is to find and remove them from the source file.

Identify the Element: Use the Element ID from the synchronization report to locate the element in your authoring application (e.g., MicroStation).

• • • Key-in: selectby elementid <ID>

Analyze the Element: Use the Analyze Element or Properties tool. You will likely see that the element's range has a volume of zero. The element may not be visible in the view.

• Delete the element. Since the element has no spatial extent, it is safe to remove. This is the most common and effective solution.
• If you believe the element is a valid part of the design that has become corrupt, delete it and recreate it using standard modeling tools to ensure it has valid geometry and range.

 

FileStatus

Error: Revit_0003

 Error message: The input file was not provided. Please make sure the file has not been deleted and the data source is accessible.

Issue:
Missing input Revit file.

Cause:
Revit file not accessible.

Solution:
A source document was not found in the data source. Please make sure the file has not been deleted and is in an accessible state to resolve the issues. If a file was deleted, it should be unmapped from the connection.

 

Line Style

Warning: DgnV8_0046

 Warning message: "Could not find definition for line style [<Name>]. Some elements may not display properly."

Issue:
The custom line style definition is missing from the resource (.rsc) file.

Cause:

This can happen if the required line style definition is not available in the resource file.

Solution:

Make sure all the line styles present in the resource file should have definition associated with it.

• Open the .dgn file in the Bentley Design application
• Open the Line Style Editor dialog and File-> Open RasterStyles.rsc (This is specific to the Pencil lead for other line styles check it is coming from any of the .rsc files)
• After opening the Source file, navigate to line style in the Line Style Editor dialog and observe that the selected line style contains a definition.
• Below is an example of a file with a missing definition. 
• 
• Fix the definition in the source file and preprocess the file to iModel. 
• If line styles are not important, this error can be ignored. 

 

Point Cloud File

Warning: DgnV8_0068

 Warning message: "PointCloud file <FileName.pod> attachment is missing."

Issue:

The reality attachments like Point Clouds are not visible in iTwin Reality Data widget.

Cause:

• The Point Clouds are not properly attached to the source file.
• Sufficient access rights to publish the reality data into ContextShare Service are not granted.

Solution:

• Fix the PointClouds attachments: Open the source file design application, and open the PointClouds Attachment dialog from Ribbon: Modeling > Home > Primary > Attach Tools split button.
• Grant ProjectWise ContextShare "Create" permission for synchronization owner.
• Read more about how to publish point cloud data.
• All point clouds with less than 7 million points will go directly into the iModel.
• Point clouds greater than 7 million points require the use of a Context Data Share which would have to be set up for the project.
• Be aware that large point clouds can greatly increase processing times.

 

Missing Dependency

Info: Civil_0004

 Info message: "No alignment found for source corridor 'Alignment Name'"

Issue:
There is a missing alignment for the processed Corridor element. This results in Corridor components being processed as generic graphical components, not as Physical Civil Corridor elements.

Cause:

• Alignment elements referenced in the processed file were removed. For example, the relationship between Alignment and Corridor was broken. Note that the Corridor is drawn using an alignment and there is a relationship between the two, which means updating the Alignment will update the Corridor accordingly.
• The Alignment of the corridor cannot be found due to the changed path of the referenced file.

Solution:

• Please review the best practices for creating a Civil iModel for information about how to address some of the issues.
• Check that the display of the referenced file is turned On and the reference file is attached properly. By default, references, with Display Off are not processed.  
• Open the file in the Bentley Civil application and identify if there are missing references. In the design application used for the master file creation, go to the References dialog and fix any attachments that are missing. Items that need to be fixed are indicated in red. Read more about attachment fixing in design applications. Reference Manager dialog can be launched using Ribbon: Modeling > Home > Primary > Attach Tools split buttoning MicroStation application.

Warning: Civil_0010

 Warning message: "Bridge with name 'Name' and ID number could not find its associated alignment. As a result, this bridge and its parts will be processed as generic graphics instead of physical bridge elements. This can affect what properties are available in the iModel and prevent other tools from working properly (such as clash detection). To fix this issue, please ensure that this root model references the model that contains the appropriate alignment(s) and that those alignments are visible."

Issue:

Missing alignment associated with the Bridge component. Hence the bridge components would be processed as generic graphical components, not as Physical Civil Bridge elements.

Cause:

• Alignment elements referenced in the processed file were removed. For example, the relationship between Alignment and Bridge was broken. Note that the Bridge is drawn using an alignment and there is a relationship between the two, meaning, updating the Alignment will update the Bridge accordingly.
• The Alignment of the corridor cannot be found due to the changed path or other reasons. 

Solution:

• It is important to note, that DGN models of the highway alignment geometry (also profiles, and ground information) created with Bentley's OpenRoads and OpenRail products are referenced in Bridge files thus maintaining relevant and up-to-date geometry within a single model throughout the lifecycle of the bridge. Read more about Open Bridge Designer. 
• Please review the best practices for creating a Civil iModel for information about how to address some of the issues.
• Check that the display of the referenced file is turned On and the reference file is attached properly. By default, references, with Display Off are not processed.  

Open the file in the Bentley Civil application and identify if there are missing references. In the design application used for the master file creation, go to the References dialog and fix any attachments that are missing. Items that need to be fixed are indicated in red. Read more about attachment fixing in design applications. Reference Manager dialog can be launched using Ribbon: Modeling > Home > Primary > Attach Tools split buttoning MicroStation application.

Info: Civil_0003

 Info message: "No alignment found for 187 additional source corridor(s)." 

Issue:
Coming soon.  

Cause:
Coming soon

Solution:
Coming soon

Error: Rvm_003

 Info message: "Missing attribute file: <FileName> " 

Issue:
Connector failed to find the corresponding .att file in the same location as the RVM file. 

Cause:
The attribute file does not exist or has a different name (without extension) than the corresponding .rvm input file.

Solution:
Verify the existence of the .att file with the same name as the .rvm file and resynchronize. 

Error: Rvm_008

Info message: "Missing REF-NO in .att file, for:<ComponentName>" 

Issue:
Attributes for the given component do not contain the reference number. This is used for unique identification of the component within the context of the file, when a component misses the reference number, updates to the element may have issues. The allowed values for the reference number in the attribute file are: XXX, YYY, ZZZ.  (This message is repeated only for first 50 components missing the reference number.)

Cause:
Improper export of attributes.

Solution:
Re-export attributes with the reference number for components from source. The cdxattdump.plmfrm in your E3D installation can be modified by adding this line to the end of the section that defines the attributes of the element: !attl.append('RefNo') Instead of RefNo, XXX and YYY are also acceptable, and the values are not case sensitive.

Info: Rvm_009

 Info message: "Missing TYPE in .att file for:<ComponentName> " 

Issue:
The connector assigns classes to the element based on the "TYPE" defined in the attribute file. No TYPE field will fail to import properties for the element from the attribute file. (This message is repeated only for the first 50 components missing TYPE)

Cause:
Improper export of attributes.

Solution:
Re-export attributes with TYPE for components from the source file and resynchronize. 

Info: Rvm_0010

 Info message: "Cannot find Attributes for:<ComponentName>" 

Issue:
No attributes were available for the component in the attribute file. This message is repeated only for the first 50 components missing attributes. 

Cause:
Improper export of attributes.

Solution:
Re-export the attributes,  ensure the concerned component has its attributes exported from the source file, and resynchronize.

Invalid Input Data

Error: Ifc_0027

 Error message: "Object does not have attribute Name" 

Issue:
Missing information for the attribute for an object in the imodel viewer. (e.g. In properties tab > IFC Attribute section, the attribute "Name" could be blank because it doesn't have any value from the IFC source file)

Cause:
The attribute for the object could not be identified in the IFC source file (Note: some attributes are optional).

Solution:
The missing information for the mentioned attribute in the IFC file can be updated in the design application that generated the IFC. Once the IFC file has been updated and generated from the design application, resynchronize the IFC file to the iModel.
NOTE: Some attributes are optional. Please refer to this documentation on optional and required attributes: https://ifc43-docs.standards.buildingsmart.org/IFC/RELEASE/IFC4x3/HTML/lexical/IfcObject.htm

Warning: Ifc_0032

 Warning message: "Cannot initialize the Geographic Coordinate System (GCS) from the European Petroleum Survey Group (EPSG) code <epsg number>, trying to create the GCS using the latitude and longitude specified in the IFC file"

Issue:
The given EPSG code is not valid for GCS creation.

Cause:
The EPSG code could be beyond the range of 20000 to 32767 for projected coordinate systems or beyond the range of 4000 to 4199 for geographic (latitude/longitude) coordinate systems.

Solution:
Please make sure the EPSG code used is in the valid range mentioned above.

Error: Ifc_0038

 Error message: "Missed name attribute for a property in property set '<PropertySet Name >'."

Issue:
The IFC Connector failed to read the property name mentioned in the property set.

Cause:
The mentioned property name is missing in the property set of the source IFC model.

Solution:
Since this is caused during the generation of the IFC model from the source application, please fix the missing property name in the source application to address this issue.

Error: Rvm_0001

 Error message: "Could not find source file: <File Name>'."

Issue:
The RVM connector failed to find the input .rvm file.

Cause:
The file is missing or the name is mismatched.

Solution:
Verify the existence of the file with given name.

Missing Geometry

Info: Dwg_0103

 Info message: "No geometry created for entity [Name], ID=XX."

Issue:
Normally, a graphic object in a model is displayed unless the object is on a layer which is frozen, turned off, or the object is set to invisible by the source CAD application. When a connector sees a visible graphic object which is not on a frozen or turned off layer, it tries to get the displayed geometry. If it does not get the geometry for any reason, it logs an informational message about geometry not found from the object.  

Cause:
Causes to this message vary, with some legitimate and others potential errors. A block reference (aka an INSERT entity in AutoCAD) that contains no displayable child entity, a Civil 3D object that is not displayed in the model per its style display control, or a polyline that has insufficient points, etc. are examples that may be considered as legitimate because the same objects are not displayed in the source CAD application. A custom object whose object enabler is missing, yet has no bounding box, can also cause this message, albeit with a separate message Dwg_0209 which shows detailed information about the missing object enabler. This may or may not be a concern, and the message may help the user to make the right call. If an object is displayed in the source editor but not seen in the iTwin, it is potentially an error in the connector and this message serves for diagnostic purposes.

Solution:
As causes may vary from case-to-case solutions may also vary. If an object is not displayed in the source product, you can ignore the message. If an object is displayed in the source product but not in the iTwin, please report the issue tos Bentley support for further investigation.

Named Group

Info: DgnV8_0126

 Info message: "No BIS grouping created for v8 Named Group element (x) because the Named Group was not converted.."

Issue:
BIS grouping was not created for Named Group element. 

Cause:
Named Group element was not converted.

Solution:
When there is related issue to element (x), after resolving issue for that element Named Group should be created. – Please check Synchronization Report for other error that contains same element (x) issue, this might be root cause why Named Group was not converted.  Refer to root error on Communities, solve issue with provided solution, re-run synchronization and this error should be resolved.

About Base Infrastructure Schemas (BIS): https://www.itwinjs.org/bis/guide/intro/overview/