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Generate additional unique IDs from existing Unique IDs

vxn43
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I am using FME Form 2021. I have a Point Feature Class with 100,000 points that includes 4 ID fields, all of which are populated with unique IDs. I want to simplify the process of creating new unique IDs from the existing ones, so I no longer have to manually enter each one when I add a new point.

For simplicity, I will refer to the unique ID fields as Field1, Field2, Field3, and Field4. For Field1, the maximum value is 141386; for Field2, the maximum value is 592124.

What would be the best way to do this in FME? I am looking for general information like what transformers and parameters I need to use; I think I need to use the Counter Transformer.

My goal is to add a new point in ArcGIS Pro and then run the FME workspace to generate the unique IDs for that point.

 

    2 replies

    j.botterill
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    • j.botterillInfluencer
    • Influencer
    • April 1, 2025

    Esri has much of the functionality built in with OBJECTID and if you use enterprise SDE you can set GlobalIDs.

    From FME, consider UniqueIdentifierGenerator which offers some UUID, GUID etc

    You could use AttributeCreator and concatenate the four existing fields together to create a unique identifier. Based on the new attribute, add a sorter, followed by duplicate filter. Then simply create a another field using Counter

    vxn43
    1 person upvoted this
    • vxn43
      vxn43
    vxn43
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    • vxn43Supporter
    • Author
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    • April 1, 2025

    Thank you, ​@j.botterill. I think I figured it out. 

    I am able to create unique IDs for new records. In the Visual Preview of the workspace screen capture below, shows in light blue the unique ID (for the new records) I added to the ADDR_KEY and SITE_KEY attributes; You can see that the ADDR_KEY is not sorted but the max key from the existing record is 65, the unique ID for the new records starts at 66 and continues sequentially, 67, 68, 69. The same goes with SITE_KEY, which is sorted, and the max key starts at 70523. 

    Are there any suggestions on how/if can this be improved?

     

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