Shape the future of FME with your ideas
Open ideas have been reviewed by our Product Management and are open for commenting and voting.
Please could we have control over the name of the output table from an SQLExecutor.Currently it is set as Result and Initiator
To provide more functionality on working with lists I would like to propose a ListExpressionEvaluator transformer. This would evaluate a specific expression on every item in a list. The result can overwrite a list item or form a new attribute on the list.In the expression you would have access to the attributes of a list item, and all the attributes of the feature itself. As an example list:someList[0].Value1 = 15 someList[0].Value2 = 30 someList[1].Value1 = 15 someList[1].Value2 = 20The user would pick the list: somelist. The expression could be: MaxValue = max(Value1, Value2).Which would leave the list as:someList[0].Value1 = 30 someList[0].Value2 = 15 someList[0].MaxValue = 30 someList[1].Value1 = 15 someList[1].Value2 = 20 someList[1].MaxValue = 20Bonus points for providing access to previous/subsequent list items, similar to the adjacent feature access on the AttributeCreator. This can of course be accomplished with Python or a ListExploder, but preferably we won't need Python and I can keep my features intact.
It would be nice if there were a built-in transformer that would check if the supplied directory exists and is writeable and optionally create it if it doesn't exist. There are a few transformers that can write to files directly, and they will fail if the directory doesn't already exist. For example the HTTPCaller with Save Response Body to File.I do have a python script that does it, but wrapping it in a custom transformer get tricky with parameters [see python-caller-user-parametersl]
I recently read and tried to follow a tutorial by @DeWetAtSafe (link included below). It appears as though parts of the tutorial have changed in Amazon Web Services and I found myself wishing I could post a comment to get some help working through it given the changes. Link to tutorial - https://knowledge.safe.com/articles/24147/tutoria...Can you add the ability to comment on Knowledge Center articles?
I think it would be cool if transformer could have similar floating toolbars as readers and writers got in 2015 or simply another button next to the settings gear.Especially in transformers like the PythonCaller or SQLExecutor you often need to open the editor view (SQL Statements, Python Script) multiple times which requires several clicks.
Right now, Inspector only works if translation is successful.I suggest to make 'completed' Inspector show the results even the translation is Stopped or Aborted.
It would be great to show which readers or writers has change from previous versions. I just had a classic example of why it is needed. I have migrated a 2014 workbench to 2016. i tried running it and it failed on startup, with import arcpy, could not find arcgis. The user have no idea that the reader format as changed (in the case the Geodatabase reader has change significantly)After add the new reader format - it seems to worksame applied to the geodatabase writer
On the Writer it is possible to move a canvas FeatureType between writers using the 'move' function. With Readers though you have to reimport the FT onto a new Reader. It's very common that I'm given workspaces that have multiple unnecessary Readers defined, all with say 1 FT and for best practice its necessary to consolidate the Readers. Deleting and reimporting is quite a bit of effort so I wondered if an alternative could be explored. I appreciate this function would likely need restricting to being between 'like' formats.
Improve the Chopper transformer, so it becomes possible to chop a line at a specific coordinate / vertex
Rather than having to duplicate the Line (network) many times, once for each source point. Can it be built to handle more than one source. I have 1000 source points and a network of 100,000 lines. This blows out to 1,000,000,000 lines to process. Ouch!!! thanks Steve
Currently the copy number (_copynum) created by the Cloner always starts from 0. In some cases, the copy number will be used for parameters in the following transformers and there are cases it has to be a 1-based number. Although it's easy to increment the number, it might be better that the user could specify the starting number as a parameter of the Cloner, as same as the Counter.
Update or merge the various style transformers (PDF, Mapinfo, CAd etc) into a style manager super transformer. Allow for importing styles from other datasets and tables as well as from json and SLD (whole map styling) and SVG + PNG (individual feature styling) files. Various agencies such as the OS use sld style files. OS Mastermap for instance would be a lot less painful in organizing styling if it were possible to open the style file up and convert data in the fme-colour and other style fields. If this information auto transferred to other writing formats then even better. If you could also preview styles within the style manager such as point markers and transparency as well as open up new style markers in SVG or PNG format then FME would start to look as powerful as GIS in terms of map creation. It would be amazing if the style manager could connect to the Mapnik rasterizer as well.
FME Desktop / and or Server should use default python installation, so that all existing packages and or fmeobjects should be in the same python interpreter.I think the use C:WindowsSysWOW64python27.dll is not a very good implemetation (due to various installation of python).During installation of FME Desktop / Server it should be able to detect python installations (if none install a python interpreter), and then setup accordingly. so the custom / default python should be combinedWith this you then can choose between for example 2.7 32-bit and 3.4/3.5 64-bit etc.
A simple improvement to server would be a transformer, much like FMEServerJobSubmitter or FMEServerJobWaiter, that would allow me to use a job waiter, find out what failed, and resubmit those job ID's only.This would be best handled as a new transformer, for better control on the users end, but could also be implemented in the JobWaiter as a simple checkbox.
The 'Set Connection Runtime Order' at the output port for every transformer has been introduced in FME 2016.1. It's very useful to control the feature flow, but it might be further better if the user could also control the connection order at the input port optionally.In-Flow Control: Optionally the user can specify the order of the input connections flowing into a transformer. Also it should have the "Group By" parameter.This would allow the user to control the input order for some transformers which combine features coming from multiple connections, such as RasterMosaicker, RasterBandCombiner etc., without using the Sorter. The expected function may not be useful to most transformers, so it's also good to add the function to the Junction.
If you want to detach a transformer from a connection, you have to delete the connections and create a new one between the neighboring objects. It would be great to have a feature that does the same as when you delete a transformer: conserving the connection, but at the same time keeping the transformer.
The FeatureMerger has the option for 'Suppliers first'. Checking the box indicates that all Suppliers should arrive before any Requestors arrive. If a Supplier arrives after a Requestor has arrived, it is ignored.However, I've run into a few cases where I can't get all the suppliers in first. I can guarantiee that a specific Supplier arrives before any of the Requestors that match it. My proposal would be to not ignore Suppliers arriving later, but just add them into the mix. A warning could be shown in the log to indicate this happened and a possible mismatch could have occurred. The alternative is not enabling 'Suppliers first', which is quite detrimental to performance.
Go back to where we used to get ESRI access by buying the ESRI edition.If not possible get a plugin at the same price users pay for the interop extra plugin ie.$1000 rather than having to buy a full license to stick on an FME desktop or server box to enable all the ESRI formats.
Would be nice if:There was more space between readers by default Annotation addition would attempt to space things out automaticallyThe second way might be useful across the board.
When searching for objects in Workbench with Workspace Search for a second time, the text in the field Find need to be cleared manually. (Backspace or select all delete.)Suggestion is to always select the text in the field Find. This way you can hit a new search text without having to backspace the previous search text. This is the way other software (for example Notepad, Notepad++, Excel, etc.) works, feels naturally and speeds up multiple searches.Current:Proposed:I understand this isn't a groundbreaking idea but it feels a bit annoying every now and then when I fail the second search.
Write Autodesk Filmbox format. Useful format, when lots of game engines are reading it in. Would help with city modeling and working with 3D material.
***Note from Migration:*** Original Title was: Exclude junctions in the objects to be aligned (vertically or horizontally) on the canvas When aligning horizontally or vertically objects on the canvas, if a junction is selected it will align it as well giving unwanted results. Could junctions be automatically omited?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVFaJqe-bIw&feature=youtu.be
To help with the clutter in the big list you get with some formats and you want to see the set you are adjusting.
I want to split features that are paths so I can access polyline and circular arc components along a parcel boundary course. First I need to detect paths!
There are some parameters I use in a lot of different workspaces (ex the scripted parameter that put's a time stamp on the log file name). It would be nice if I can save them to a favourites list and then add parameters from favourites.
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