science

OFML

OFML is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand OFML rather than just read about it. In short: Office Furniture Modeling Language (OFML) is a standard of the IBA – Industrieverband Büro und Arbeitswelt e.V. (former BSO Verband Büro-, Sitz- und Objektmöbel e.V.), or the German Furniture Manufacturers Association.

Key takeaways

OFML belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect OFML to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of OFML from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Office Furniture Modeling Language (OFML) is a standard of the IBA – Industrieverband Büro und Arbeitswelt e.V. (former BSO Verband Büro-, Sitz- und Objektmöbel e.V.), or the German Furniture Manufacturers Association. It was created in 1998 to provide a common method of describing furniture products. The standard has seen little support outside of usage by the authors and a few adaptions.

Motivations OFML is the result of a series of requirements that could generally not be met with past solutions:

The new requirements in the area of planning and visualization of furniture cannot be met alone by CAD-based systems. The main problems of CAD-based solutions are the enormous data size, the poor parameterizability and configurability, insufficient product logic, insufficient interactivity and complicated operation. A platform-independent and software manufacturer-independent data format which allows an unlimited number of software manufacturers to offer systems and solutions so that monopolizing conditions can be avoided or eliminated. The new data format also allows for the implementation of a series of applications that are compatible with respect to the data in spite of different orientation. In this way it is possible to achieve compatibility and, therefore, technological uniformity between manufacturer, trade, and end user systems.

Features The OFML standard has the following features:

consistent application of object-oriented paradigm, conversion of concepts of semantic modeling to match virtual objects with actual products, combination of geometric, visual, interactive, and semantic features of real products in a uniform and holistic data model, mapping of real configuration logic and parameters, independence of system or interface platforms, and independence of a concrete runtime environment.

Levels OFML level Base. The level Base defines a table-based interface for description of hierarchical geometries in 2D and 3D.OFML level GO. The level Generic Office library extends the level Basis with functionality for interaction and behavior.OFML level Language. The level Language defines a complete programming language that may be used for the creation of arbitrary complex data and the integration of external commercial data, for instance.

Versions

External links IBA EasternGraphics GmbH Archived 2017-03-04 at the Wayback Machine wegscheider office solution gmbh 3D Office Ingenieurbüro Bodenhöfer Major Office Furniture Retailer BiMi.co

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with OFML

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what OFML claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to OFML before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about OFML ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of OFML

In research: OFML appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses OFML in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: OFML is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Markup languages, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for OFML outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study OFML in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what OFML means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain OFML out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is OFML in simple terms?

Why does OFML matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study OFML?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on OFML.