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Question

Generic format and geopackages ??

  • March 3, 2026
  • 5 replies
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lifalin2016
Influencer
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Hi all.

I just experimented with a small workflow, that scans a folder for files, and attempts to read those files using the generic format.

I tried with CSV and DGN, and both worked well.

I then tried with Geopackage, and then it blew up.

First because FME’s guess using the extension was wrong, so I had to parametricize the format used.

Then it blew up with an internal error message (“Too many recursive macro substitutions”):

2026-03-03 15:14:24|   2.6|  0.0|WARN  |UniversalReader -- readSchema resulted in 0 schema features being returned
2026-03-03 15:14:24|   2.6|  0.0|ERROR |Too many recursive macro substitutions -- line currently is: `SOURCE_READER GENERIC REAL_FORMAT "$(REAL_FORMAT)"                        EXPOSED_ATTRS "$($(FORMAT_SHORT_NAME)_EXPOSE_FORMAT_ATTRS)"'
2026-03-03 15:14:24|   2.6|  0.0|ERROR |class stk::ex::UString<0> __cdecl tabrdr::ClassicTableReader::macroSubstitute(const class stk::ex::UString<0> &,int)(C:\code\fme\foundation\framework\engine\tabrdr\tabrdr_classic.cpp:2160) - class stk::ex::UString<0> __cdecl tabrdr::ClassicTableReader::macroSubstitute(const class stk::ex::UString<0> &,int) .............. class FMETValOrderedVector<class ObsoleteString> &,class STF_TObjectStash<class STFFeature,class STF_FeatureStashHelper> &)(C:\code\fme\foundation\framework\control\contfile.cpp:2528)
2026-03-03 15:14:24|   2.6|  0.0|INFORM|Closing the GENERIC Reader

I tried it in both 2020.2 and 2025.2, both erred the same way.

Have anyone else come across this issue ?

Cheers

-- Cheers, Lars I.

    5 replies

    redgeographics
    Celebrity
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    Not sure if this is the same issue as you're seeing, but since the Generic reader uses the file extension to determine the format there is a chance it's picking the Geopackage Raster instead of regular (vector). That's what happens if you drag a .gpkg file into Workbench anyway.

    FME rocks! \m/
    lifalin2016
    Influencer
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    • lifalin2016Influencer
    • Author
    • Influencer
    • March 4, 2026

    Not sure if this is the same issue as you're seeing, but since the Generic reader uses the file extension to determine the format there is a chance it's picking the Geopackage Raster instead of regular (vector). That's what happens if you drag a .gpkg file into Workbench anyway.

    Yes, that was my initial problem, which I solved by adding choosing the correct reader to be an option.

    My final problem is not related to this issue. I’m using the correct OGCGEOPACKAGE reader, which produces the error message shown.

    -- Cheers, Lars I.
    crystalwang
    Safer
    Forum|alt.badge.img+20

    Hi ​@lifalin2016,

    Thank you for posting your question on the FME Community!

    I’m sorry to hear you’re running into that error. Could you try renaming the user parameter that the reader uses (instead of using the default parameter name)? We’ve seen cases where keeping the default parameter name causes the recursive macro substitution error, but changing it to a custom name allows the translation to succeed.

    After making that change, try running the workspace again.

    If that doesn’t help, feel free to share a small sample workspace if possible and we can dig further. 

    lifalin2016
    Influencer
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    • lifalin2016Influencer
    • Author
    • Influencer
    • March 13, 2026

    Could you try renaming the user parameter that the reader uses (instead of using the default parameter name)? We’ve seen cases where keeping the default parameter name causes the recursive macro substitution error, but changing it to a custom name allows the translation to succeed.

    After making that change, try running the workspace again.

    Hi Crystal.

    When running the workspace again in 2025.2.4, and updating all transformers, it worked even if not renaming anything. So the issue seems to have been an old FeatureReader transformer definition.

    But when I ran it with different datasets, I got undecoded UTF-8 attribute names (Property below) from the Geopackages. Apparently FME forgets to decode these, even in 2025.2.4

    It should read “ler2_nøjagtighedsklasse”:

     

     

    -- Cheers, Lars I.
    crystalwang
    Safer
    Forum|alt.badge.img+20

    Hi ​@lifalin2016,

    If you can please submit a ticket so that our team can look into this further, that would be great! This looks like something our support team should take a closer look at.

    When submitting your ticket, please provide a sample of the source data used to produce this issue if possible. As well, please include your FME version and OS. Thank you!

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