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Fanout File type .csar

  • December 11, 2025
  • 1 reply
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francesca.corp1
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Hi,

I’m relatively new to FME and currently doing some self-teaching for my company. At the moment, I’m trying to use an Excel Writer with a fanout expression to create hierarchical folders and files. The challenge is that I’m working with a bathymetric raster layer, and my workflow is primarily in CARIS, so the output files must be compatible with CARIS.

I’ve tested several export options and found that .csv and .shp files work, but other formats do not. Does anyone have suggestions on alternative ways to create these folders and files while ensuring compatibility with .csar or caris compatible point cloud files?

I also wonder if I am able to export contours as anything other than a shapefile/ can it be a .hob?

My fanout expression is currently: @Value(ObjectName)Raw_Data\@Value(ObjectName)_BathymetricData.csv

j.botterill

1 reply

j.botterill
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  • j.botterillInfluencer
  • Influencer
  • December 11, 2025

Not all formats in FME support fanout. I can’t find fme documentation for formats .casr or .hob

Fanout is a powerful feature for splitting output data based on attribute values, but its availability depends on the format. Some formats, especially raster and certain file-based formats, support feature type or dataset fanout, while others may not. Always check the documentation for the specific format you are using to confirm fanout support.

https://docs.safe.com/fme/2025.1/html/FME-Form-Documentation/FME-Form/Workbench/fanout_about.htm

You can use fanout with zipped output formats in FME. For example, when writing to a format like Shapefile, you can set the output directory or the fanout expression to include a .zip extension. This allows you to either:

  • Write multiple fanned-out datasets into a single zip file, or
  • Create multiple zip files, each containing a single fanned-out dataset.

This is useful for formats that produce multiple files per dataset or when you want to package outputs for distribution.

https://docs.safe.com/fme/2025.1/html/FME-Form-Documentation/FME-Form/Workbench/fanout_about.htm

francesca.corp1

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