Question

Swiss issue: problem with INTERLIS2-writer on FME Cloud

gpt_geoinfo
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Hi FMEler,

I got stuck with my FME workspace in the FME Cloud. Maybe @david_r can help me :-)

Starting position: We got a Worskpace developed in 2014, upgraded to version 2016. Source is an INTERLIS1 file with a CSV file and some text parameters. The workspace is calculating, sorting, blending areas and so on. The ouput is an INTERLIS2 file (*.xtf) and a text file with some logs. Within the desktop environment everything is working fine.

Stopover: We published this workspace to an FME Server instance which we host together with another company. Here, everything is working fine as well. The results are the same.

Breakpoint: Now I want to try out the FME Cloud. I launched an instance with a 2016 version, published and ran the workspace. The results are different. The amount of objects are the same. But there are at least some coordinates and TIDs (a primary key for INTERLIS files) missing.

 

I didn't check the log files in detail yet, but I guess it's a reader/writer-problem.

My questions: Do I have to adjust some preferences in the reader/writer? Is it a java issue?

I can prepare a minimum workspace to test (just writing point, line and area geometries to an INTERLIS2 file), but would like to postpone it as it's not that easy to create a simple INTERLIS workspace. :-)

Cheers,

Maria

15 replies

david_r
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As you say, working with Interlis isn't always easy and it can be quite frustrating, the format is anything but trivial.

That said, I'm surprised that you get slightly different results on FME Cloud compared to FME Server, they should be identical.

I would say that the first thing to do is to thoroughly compare the job logs from FME Cloud and FME Server to see if there are some clues there as to the different results. I'm not certain that it's the writer in itself, it could even be some of processing done before the writer.

Remember that FME Cloud runs on Linux and that there might be some slight differences to FME Server on Windows when dealing with external resources etc.

S

Hi Maria,

 

 

When comparing the job logs of the two instances look for the version of ili2fme, the module that enables FME to read/write INTERLIS1/2.

 

 

As ili2fme has evolved over time and is not developed by Safe itself, there might be different versions installed on the two servers.

 

You can download ili2fme as a separat installer from here. There are archived versions available as well, so you might try to align the versions on your instances.

 

 

Cheers,

 

Stefan
G
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Hi Maria (@gpt_executer ),

if you can share a simple workspace with log files that runs successfully on FME Desktop but fails on FME Cloud, please feel free to share and I'll give it try on a cloud instance.

The format was also updated for 2017 so it might be worth to run it on a 2017.0 or 2017.1 cloud instance. Can you share the exact version of FME Desktop & FME Server (build number) the workspace ran successfully with?

gpt_geoinfo
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Hi David, Stefan and Gerhard,

thanks for your hints! As my affected workspace is quite huge/complex/"mazy" it's hard to read and compare the log files.

I compared the versions of the ili-Reader/Writer. They are the same. So it cannot be due to the version.

I've created a simple workspace: read xtf, offset the geometry and write xtf. As expected: it works in both, Desktop and Cloud.

But I came to another stumbling block, which I couldn't solve yet: Within the workspace some additional geometries are generated/calculated. One feature can carry one or more geometries within attributes besides its own geometry. I set the "Geometry Encoding" parameter to "FMEBIN", in reader and writer. Even within the workspace (ie GeometryReplacer) I chose "FMEBIN" as the Geometry Encoding Type. Still the same: Cloud writes only one geometry whereas Desktop writes all the geometries.

Might that be a hint I should pursue?

david_r
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Userlevel 4

I would suggest to add an FFS writer to your workspace and to send all your output data to both the ili2fme and the FFS writer at once. Then upload to FME Cloud and execute.

Download both the .ffs and the .xtf and compare the contents. If the .ffs exhibits the same problems as the .xtf geometries, I would say it's probably a problem with the workspace rather than the ili2fme writer.

You should also triple-check that the input data is exactly the same on FME Server and FME Cloud.

gpt_geoinfo
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I don't get it: I added an FFS-writer but my output zip-file doesn't contain that *.ffs-file. The log file says it wrote it to FFS. Did I miss something?

In the Desktop version the FFS file looks good. It contains all missing attributes with its geometry saved as FMEBIN.

david_r
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Userlevel 4

Desktop and Server does work a bit differently. When republishing the workspace to FME Cloud you'll have to tell FME that you want the FFS writer result rather than the ili2fme one.

gpt_geoinfo
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I got it. Thanks!

Now I see that the geometries exist, but they are not written to Interlis.

My current conclusion: An Interlis feature can carry more than just one geometry. The first geometry is the one I can see in the Inspector. All other geometries are carried as attributes. With the parameter "Geometry Encoding" of the Reader I can control the way the geometry is stored (FMEBIN, FMEXML, ...). In the output of FFS it look like this:

The writer then should recognize this on its own and write the correct geometries.

As my desktop installation runs on windows and the FME Cloud on Linux, might there be a problem there?

gpt_geoinfo
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Ok guys,

I've created a simple workspace. It runs fine on desktop and even on our server installation (both windows 64bit), but fails on cloud. The only difference I can see is the operating system: windows vs. linux.

I'm still in contact with the support of safe. @XiaomengAtSafe and her team are on it.

Any hint is appreciated!

david_r
Rank
Userlevel 4

Ok guys,

I've created a simple workspace. It runs fine on desktop and even on our server installation (both windows 64bit), but fails on cloud. The only difference I can see is the operating system: windows vs. linux.

I'm still in contact with the support of safe. @XiaomengAtSafe and her team are on it.

Any hint is appreciated!

You may also want to contact the developer of the ili2fme plugin to check if it's a known issue: http://www.eisenhutinformatik.ch/kontakt.htm

 

gpt_geoinfo
Rank
Badge +1

Ok guys,

I've created a simple workspace. It runs fine on desktop and even on our server installation (both windows 64bit), but fails on cloud. The only difference I can see is the operating system: windows vs. linux.

I'm still in contact with the support of safe. @XiaomengAtSafe and her team are on it.

Any hint is appreciated!

Yes, I already did some days ago. But he is well known for being rare ;-)

 

 

david_r
Rank
Userlevel 4
Yes, I already did some days ago. But he is well known for being rare ;-)

 

 

No comment ;-)
G
Badge

Ok guys,

I've created a simple workspace. It runs fine on desktop and even on our server installation (both windows 64bit), but fails on cloud. The only difference I can see is the operating system: windows vs. linux.

I'm still in contact with the support of safe. @XiaomengAtSafe and her team are on it.

Any hint is appreciated!

I was able to reproduce this on Mac OSX & Linux. The 'Position' geometry seems not to be written on those OS while the geometry is written correctly on windows. I contacted the developer of the 3rd Party Format on your behalf again to look into this.

 

 

G
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We have been in contact with the developer and were able to identify the problem that caused different translation results on Unix based operating systems compared to Windows. The plugin has been updated and the newest version is available here: http://www.eisenhutinformatik.ch/interlis/ili2fme/ili2fme-6.2.0.zip

A request has been filed to upgrade the ili2fme plugin, that ships with our products, to the latest version.

gpt_geoinfo
Rank
Badge +1

We have been in contact with the developer and were able to identify the problem that caused different translation results on Unix based operating systems compared to Windows. The plugin has been updated and the newest version is available here: http://www.eisenhutinformatik.ch/interlis/ili2fme/ili2fme-6.2.0.zip

A request has been filed to upgrade the ili2fme plugin, that ships with our products, to the latest version.

Great! I'll test it as soon as it is available for FME Cloud.

 

Thanks a lot!

 

 

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