Running a .bat file in FME Desktop workspace

You can use the SystemCaller to do this. It can be initiated by anything. If you don't have anything to initiate it, you can always use a Creator to initiate it.

Using the SystemCaller, in what situations do I need to specify an Exit Attribute? is there a list of commonly used Exit Attributes and what they are used for?

You can use it to check if the script did run successfully. From the help:

If an Exit Code Attribute is specified, it will be set to the executed program's exit code: usually 0 for success and nonzero for failure.

Thanks, this is super helpful.

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One last question, which I am sure is an easy answer, my workspace to run the batch file includes the Transformers, I have not run it yet, but I have CREATOR --> SYSTEMCALLER --> ??? what Transformer would you recommend I include after SYSTEMCALLER? This would be my last Transformer in the workspace. My goal is to just have the .bat file run. I am thinking of using the Logger Transformer?

You could just leave it with the two transformers, but a better approach might be to include some error capture.

for example, the SystemCaller caller might successfully call the .bat file, but the .bat file fails to run and you get a nonzero exit code. Your workbench will show as having run successfully (because fundiemntally it did). What you could include is a Tester that tests for a 0 exit code and passes that to a logger which says 'Success'. Is cases where the exit code isn't 0, you can then pass it to a Terminator which will terminate the workbench, showing as a failure