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Howdy,

This question pertains to working with file name/feature class name & name alias for shape files & file geodatabase feature classes.

My Question is: Where in FME can I modify the Name alias when writing to a shape file or file geodatabase feature class? I am not seeing this in the parameters or the Format Attributes.

Note: This is not a question about a geodatabase field name alias, help on that can be found here: https://knowledge.safe.com/content/kbentry/22423/working-with-geodatabase-field-aliases.html

How this became an issue for me:

Working with FME 2018.1 I noticed that when working in a workbench I noticed that an issue pops up when I get lazy and instead of adding a new writer feature type I do a quick copy and paste to create a new writer feature type that I then rename (Parameters > General > Feature Class or Table Name). When that pasted/renamed feature class is output the name from the parent/copied writer feature type is written to the name alias.

An example use case where I encountered this:

For instance, say I'm working with a feature type that writes a feature class named "Parcels_SR" and now I need to output another brand new feature class named "Parcels_RC_Zone". Instead of going Writers > Add Feature Type, I simply copy and paste the "Parcels_SR" feature type then change the name to "Parcels_RC_Zone." seems like a good idea but changing the name of the output feature class does not update the feature classes name alias which remains "Parcels_SR" as shown in the attached screen shot from ArcCatalog.

 

Where I looked for solutions so far:

While I may have missed it, I search around the FME site and specifically reviewed these resource pages with no luck:

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Hi,

You can tick the "geodb_feature_class_alias" in Format Attributes. Then, set a value for this attribute in AttributeCreator. The newly created feature class will have the alias name set in AttributeCreator. Please see the attached snapshfilename-alias.pngot for more clarity. I hope this resolves your issue.


THANK YOU!!!

Talk about the solution staring me in the face!


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