DateTimeConverter version 4 produces INVALID_INPUT

You should not use the @Value(THE_TIME) function in the datetime attribute field, it should simply say THE_TIME.

Perfect - that is a gotcha for users clicking the down arrow to select the required attribute field.

Thank you @david_r​ !

I believe this should be reported as a bug, using the down arrow and selecting the field should insert the attribute in the same way as clicking the three dots and selecting the field. And it does in previous versions of the DateTimeConverter

The bug can be proven by trying both methods of selecting the attribute field. The three dots yields THE_TIME, the down arrow yields @Value(THE_TIME).

Bug submitted - thank you @ebygomm​ and @david_r​ 

@geographix​ Thanks for bringing this bug to our attention. This looks to be an issue with the DateTimeConverter GUI, so I've gone ahead and submitted a bug report to get this fixed. The issue number is FMEDESKTOP-13351. We will notify everyone here once a fix is released in a new version of FME. Thanks for your understanding.

Hi everyone, a fix for this bug is now available in the current 2023 beta version, and will be included in the full FME 2023 release. Thanks for your patience ! 😄

@danminneyatsaf​ : Not sure if this is related to the above, or if it's a different bug, but the DateTimeConverter is unable to pick up a datetime like "05/27/16 06:39 AM". As far as I understand, the Input Format on the transformer should be "%m/%d/%y2100 %I:%M %p". But the Preview says it's an error, and running it also tells me it's an Invalid Format.

When I use the @DateTimeParse function instead, it does work perfectly though!

Happy to log a different ticket.

Hi @Arnold Bijlsma​ I was able to successfully change the value with the DateTimeConverter. What version of FME Desktop are you running? For context I am using FME(R) 2022.2.0.0 (20221103 - Build 22765 - WIN64).

If you're using an older version of FME Desktop then I suspect this was a bug that has since been resolved. I've also attached a copy of my workspace for your reference. 

@danminneyatsaf​ I was using 2022.1.2, and found the same issue as above that it failed when you fill in the "Datetime Attributes" parameter the usual way, because it will say "@Value(DateFieldName)". Manually removing the @Value and the brackets, so it just says "DateFieldName" (as @david_r​ mentioned at the beginning) does work. And that bug has indeed been fixed in FME 2022.2+

In other words, the issue is/was not in the "Input Format" parameter (as I thought) but in the "Datetime Attributes" parameter.

The only minor issue is that the Preview box still doesn't like it (and which explains why I blamed the "Input Format" parameter for my features getting all rejected)

@danminneyatsaf​ : I hadn't realised that option was there.

Good to hear the main issue got promptly fixed in 2022.2+, and that the cosmetic issue in the Preview is getting looked at. Thanks for all your help.

Hi @geographix,

I’m happy to update that the ticket that @danminneyatsaf had filed has been addressed for FME 2024.1! At the moment, the new functionality is only available in our FME 2024.1 beta.

You can find the beta downloads here: https://engage.safe.com/support/downloads/#beta

If you get a chance to try it, please let us know if you have any feedback!

(FYI @david_r, @ebygomm, @arnold_bijlsma )