Using FME to Convert TIGER Spatial Data From Oracle Spatial To ESRI Shapefiles

In an effort to increase the availability of Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Reference (TIGER) spatial data, the Geography Division of the US Census Bureau has made increasing usage of the ESRI Shapefile format for the exchange of spatial data, both internally and for public products. To accomplish this goal, the basic conversion functionality provided by FME has been utilized in the creation of a number of shapefile products. We will discuss our basic implementation approach, which utilizes manually prepared FME mapping files that feed into a fully automated shapefile creation process and is used for the creation of most of our shapefile products. This process is used to create the Public TIGER/Line Shapefiles, as well as the shapefiles provided to local government partners for updates using the MAF/TIGER Partnership Software. We will also discuss our more recent experience using FME Workbench to design more complicated geo-processing models, which are then saved as FME mapping files and integrated into a similar, automated process. This new process is used to create the shapefiles that serve as the data source for the American Fact Finder web site.