Skip to main content
Gathering Interest

A DropFeatureCache tranformer

Related products:FME Form
mariuszwojcikgb
martin_ekstrand
maddiel
geomancer
danilo_fme
+10
  • mariuszwojcikgb
    mariuszwojcikgb
  • martin_ekstrand
    martin_ekstrand
  • maddiel
    maddiel
  • geomancer
    geomancer
  • danilo_fme
    danilo_fme
  • sigtill
    sigtill
  • ewoudvdc
    ewoudvdc
  • carlm
    carlm
  • mmccart
    mmccart
  • jatoxa
    jatoxa
  • crutledge
    crutledge
  • ronnie.utter
    ronnie.utter
  • frro
    frro
  • mattatsafe
    mattatsafe
  • sujitbhunia
    sujitbhunia

ronnie.utter
Contributor

In large and complex FME workspaces, memory usage can become a major performance bottleneck, especially when feature caching is enabled for debugging or when large feature streams are processed sequentially.

It would be incredibly useful to have a dedicated transformer (e.g., DropFeatureCache, ClearMemory, or similar) that can be placed mid-flow to explicitly clear cached data, or release memory from earlier processing paths.

This would be especially helpful in long chains of transformations, loops, or branching logic where intermediate data is no longer needed but still retained in memory.

 

7 replies

JennaKAtSafe
Safer
Forum|alt.badge.img+6
NewGathering Interest

JennaKAtSafe
Safer
Forum|alt.badge.img+6

Hi ​@ronnie.utter, thanks for raising this pain point. We’re working on some exciting changes to how Feature Caching works. While it may not take the form of a dedicated transformer like the ones you’ve suggested, I believe it will help alleviate some of the concerns around heavy memory usage. 


ronnie.utter
Contributor
Forum|alt.badge.img+11
  • Author
  • Contributor
  • April 17, 2025
JennaKAtSafe wrote:

Hi ​@ronnie.utter, thanks for raising this pain point. We’re working on some exciting changes to how Feature Caching works. While it may not take the form of a dedicated transformer like the ones you’ve suggested, I believe it will help alleviate some of the concerns around heavy memory usage. 

Thank you for your answer. Looking forward to review the development ☀️


ronnie.utter
Contributor
Forum|alt.badge.img+11
  • Author
  • Contributor
  • April 17, 2025

@JennaKAtSafe ,One thought I also have is this: Is it true that unused output ports, such as in the FeatureMerger, still store cache or use memory? If so, would a function like enabe a "Clear data from unused ports" option in the transformer help? Could this be a good setting to use?


JennaKAtSafe
Safer
Forum|alt.badge.img+6
The following idea has been merged into this idea:

All the votes have been transferred into this idea.

JennaKAtSafe
Safer
Forum|alt.badge.img+6
The following idea has been merged into this idea:

All the votes have been transferred into this idea.

JennaKAtSafe
Safer
Forum|alt.badge.img+6

@ronnie.utter Yes, I can confirm that currently, feature caching occurs for disconnected ports and will take time during workspace execution, as it writes files to disk. However, this doesn’t necessarily increase the process’s memory usage, since each feature cache acts as an on-disk terminus — meaning the features don’t need to be held in memory beyond that point.


Cookie policy

We use cookies to enhance and personalize your experience. If you accept you agree to our full cookie policy. Learn more about our cookies.

 
Cookie settings