Question

Is it possible to work with Esri Annotations in FME?

F

Is it possible to work with Esri Annotations in FME?

My source data set is a file geodatabase created with ArcGIS. It contains a few texts as annotations. When I read them with the FME Data Inspector not the texts are shown but the encircling polygons of the texts and just those areas are editable in the workbench. In my workbench I want to convert the text strings into polygons or polylines with the TextStroker for example but that is not possible if FME cannot interpret the annotation texts correctly. My aim is to get a represantation of the text strings in a (multi)polygon format that looks exactly like the texts in the input feature in ArcGIS.

4 replies

jneujens
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You might need additional help with reading annotations. I think this article describes well how you can extract esri annotations with FME (https://knowledge.safe.com/articles/19706/reading-basic-geodatabase-annotation-gis-to-cad.html and http://docs.safe.com/fme/html/FME_Desktop_Documentation/FME_ReadersWriters/sde30/Annotation.htm).

 

But even then, you basically want to create multipolygons from text, which requires a more complex workflow I think?

debbiatsafe
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Hi @felixderglueckl

Which file geodatabase reader are you using to read the annotations? It appears you are using the ESRI Geodatabase (File Geodb Open API) reader based on your screenshots. This reader does not support annotations (from documentation here).

Please use the File Geodb reader (which requires a valid ArcGIS installation and license on same machine). You can then follow the article that jneujens has linked.

I hope this helps.

F

You might need additional help with reading annotations. I think this article describes well how you can extract esri annotations with FME (https://knowledge.safe.com/articles/19706/reading-basic-geodatabase-annotation-gis-to-cad.html and http://docs.safe.com/fme/html/FME_Desktop_Documentation/FME_ReadersWriters/sde30/Annotation.htm).

 

But even then, you basically want to create multipolygons from text, which requires a more complex workflow I think?

Well what I want to reach is an exact representation of the annotations in FME and convert that into a format which can easily be interpreted by other GIS. I tried out the workflow of the article you posted. The problem is that only the text strings are more or less well-presented which have a straight baseline. Curved baselines like the 'Hello World' example in my first post are displayed totally straight with an angle of 0. Additionally there are some annotations where fme_text_size, geodb_font_name_geodb_h_align and geodb_v_align are missing. Those are annotations which have a curved baseline and contains two or more words and so they have two or more encircling polygons (in this case fme_geometry is fme_aggregate and not fme_polygon). Are epsecially those cases with the curved baselines interpretable for FME?

 

debbiatsafe
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Userlevel 3
Badge +17
Well what I want to reach is an exact representation of the annotations in FME and convert that into a format which can easily be interpreted by other GIS. I tried out the workflow of the article you posted. The problem is that only the text strings are more or less well-presented which have a straight baseline. Curved baselines like the 'Hello World' example in my first post are displayed totally straight with an angle of 0. Additionally there are some annotations where fme_text_size, geodb_font_name_geodb_h_align and geodb_v_align are missing. Those are annotations which have a curved baseline and contains two or more words and so they have two or more encircling polygons (in this case fme_geometry is fme_aggregate and not fme_polygon). Are epsecially those cases with the curved baselines interpretable for FME?

 

Hi @felixderglueckl

 

Within the File GDB reader is an Advanced parameter called 'Split Complex Annotation'. If this parameter is enabled, the annotation's placement will be accurately preserved. In the case of your example, your text will likely be split into separate features for each letter. Please see the following documentation for an explanation of this parameter: http://docs.safe.com/fme/2018.0/html/FME_Desktop_Documentation/FME_ReadersWriters/geodatabase/GEODATABASE_FILE_reader.htm

 

I hope this helps.

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