***Note from Migration:***
Original Title was: Compatibility of old workbenchs with new versions of FME. Currently, every transformer with new version is removed.
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Compatibility of old workbenchs with new versions of FME. Currently, every trans
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+26- Contributor
I think it is the other way around: Newer transformers are removed if the workspace is opened in an older version of FME. It should not be the case if the older workspace is opened in a newer version of FME.
+41- Contributor
Agreed, however it would be nice if the forward compatibility of FME was improved. Instead of simply removing an incompatible transformer, put an annotation in their place: transformer name, version, parameter settings and if possible connection information.
Even better would be a transformer regression wizard when you attempted to open a workspace. Something like
Found transformers in this workspace that are not in your system
NeighborFinder (version 15), most recent available version is NeighborFinder version 13
and then the opposite of the update transformer dialogue box.
This wizard would cycle through each problem transformer. If the incompatibility is due to a transformer not existing (ex. Geocoder) then place the aformentioned annotation.
+22- Safer
Yes, in general we can't take Workspaces made in a NEWer FME Workbench and open them in an OLDer FME Workbench. This is because the OLD Workbench won't have the ability to do whatever was being asked in the newer one. Even if we did show something in the OLD Workbench (like for example the newest version of the transformer that was available), the danger is we'd give the impression that things might just work when it is improbable that they actually would. I appreciate that this can be annoying at times. If you somehow have a new workspace, and you don't mind living on the wild side, you can bring up a text editor, open the workspace (well, open a COPY of it), and then find the VERSION tags for the transformers that you'd like LOWERED and then manually just edit them. Then be sure to check each one when you open it up in the old workbench.
Note -- there is a way to place older versions of transformers that we've got in house. I can reveal the secret here if anyone asks nicely. Which also proves they've read to the end of this long comment.
+7@daleatsafe Not sure if I'll ever need it again, but I did have a need for a trick like that in the past once, so yes please! Would you be so kind to share that secret? :)
+25- Supporter
I usually have 2014,2015,2016,2017 of FME installed - just so I can copy an "older version" of a transformer from a previous version of FME. Would be great if you could "hold shift while selecting transformer" or something to insert an old version. Tell about the secret on #FMEUC!
+41- Contributor
Like sigtill, I usually open up an older version of FME and copy the transformer from there, but it would be nice to know how to select a specific version of a transformer (especially of there was also a cheat sheet that told us which build uses that version)
+22- Safer
Alright, you've talked me into it
@sander_s
@sigtill
@jdh
Here are the steps:
1. Add a file called developers.txt to install\\res folder
2. Restart workbench 3. Right click desired transformer in the transformer gallery and there will be a menu item called 'insert deprecated version'
Be aware adding the developers.txt will change other behavior potentially as well. It currently also: 1. turns off version checking (ie. no warnings when open workspaces in newer/old releases) 2. makes the log window always visible
3. adds a 'last build edit' to the summary annotation
We're thinking that in FME 2018 we'll just always have that "insert deprecated version" available on the right click. Note that we really don't want or recommend or hope anyone wants to do this, so this will never be a prominent feature. But for anyone who has managed to read down to here and find this post, you've now got even more great power.
Use it wisely.
+19- Influencer
Forward compatibility should just work. In ArcGIS geoprocessing, even if a tool is deprecated it is left in the install so workflows don't break (with some exceptions). Not everyone can write into install directories; I like jdh's suggestion and Dale's thoughts about FME 2018 with maybe making the offending transformer some obvious colour.
+22- Safer
Thanks @bruceharold for pointing out @jdh 's suggestion in the first comment reply. I'd missed that and I agree, it is a great one. That said, we are planning a significant rework of how workspaces are stored (well, how their published parameters are stored) and that may put the kybosh to some of this I'm sad to say. But you've given us a new set of potential constraints to consider.
RE: FME 2018 betas @sigtill -- Once 2017.1 is out AND the User Conference is over AND we've caught our breath, we'll get them online. I'd be sad if they weren't there by the end of June.
Hi! The suggestion i more less what erik_jan said.
If I have a workbench developed with an specific version of FME and I open it in with a newer version, all transformers with newer versions are removed from the workbench.
This happens even with releases of the same FME version. For example, I have some workbenches developed with FME 2015.0 and if I open them with 2015.1 I have this problem.
Maybe with new versions this problem is solved but this can be a big problem if you have a lot of workbenches (or FME Services) and you want to migrate to a newer FME version.
+22- Safer
Yes
@fmeinfoaggregat that definitely should never happen. Can you send a description in to
support@safe.com ? One of THE MOST important things that guides us is that "if it worked before, it will work now" and so I'm really interested in the scenarios you are experiencing.