Skip to main content
Question

ChatGPT - The "Generate Workspace Documentation" function in FME

  • December 19, 2024
  • 3 replies
  • 296 views

ydreborg
Participant
Forum|alt.badge.img

 Hi folks! As I was using AI tools like ChatGPT and Copilot to troubleshoot, I suddenly received information from the AI about the "Generate Workspace Documentation" function. 


Here's what I learned:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Generate Workspace Documentation

This feature allows you to automatically generate comprehensive documentation for your FME workspace. The output is typically an HTML file that provides detailed insights into your workspace structure, parameters, and transformations. It's incredibly useful for sharing with colleagues or for archiving your workflows.

 

How to Use It:

 

Usage in FME Workbench (GUI):

  1. Open the FME Workbench application.
  2. Load the workspace you want to document.
  3. From the Tools menu, select Generate Workspace Documentation.
  4. You can choose to output the documentation in an HTML format, which can be opened in any browser.

Command Line Usage:

This function is also available through FME's command-line interface, allowing you to automate documentation creation without opening FME Workbench. The basic syntax is as follows:

fme.exe "path\to\your_workspace.fmw" --generateWorkspaceDocumentation --output "path\to\documentation.html"


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Is this true? I can't find the function in the GUI, and I also can't get the command line to work. I can't find any information or documentation either.

Is it too good to be true

3 replies

rahulsharma
Safer
Forum|alt.badge.img+10
  • Safer
  • December 19, 2024

Hi ​@ydreborg 

Although it maybe useful to have this functionality but unfortunately it is not accurate. 
For addition information about command line arguments please refer to our documentation  https://docs.safe.com/fme/html/FME_CommandLine/ 

You can also run the following command to get a list. 

C:\Program Files\FME\fme.exe help 


david_r
Celebrity
  • December 20, 2024

Ah yes, the infamous AI hallucinations… It would be fantastic if it were true, though :-)

I’ve had ChatGPT suggest using transformers that don’t exist, although they were very convincingly named in the suggestion.


malegre
Contributor
  • September 19, 2025

Not sure if this has been added in recent versions, but up to 2023 it wasn’t available. I’ve tried renaming the .fmw to .xml and using an AI prompt to generate Markdown docs of inputs, outputs, and logic. Sharing here in case anyone wants to explore this option:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/automatically-document-any-fme-workflow-using-ai-2-steps-alegre-7zzqf