Blog

Must-Have New Tools for Your Next Expedition

Kris Majury

January 18, 2012•3 min

See what additions to FME 2012 make it the right tool for every adventurer to tackle the challenges ahead.

Every time an adventurer strikes out on a new quest, he’s relying on quick wits and the right tools to tackle the challenges ahead. Well, our FME users definitely have the quick wits – and keep telling us that FME is the right tool. How can we make it even better? FME 2012’s usability enhancements, as always, come from your suggestions. Here are some highlights:

Fullscreen Mode

Hit F11/Shift-F11 to toggle Fullscreen Mode. Whether your workspace is the size of the Sahara Desert, or you’re working on an 11-inch laptop in the jungle, maximize your screen real estate.

Attributes and Parameters

It would be a lot easier to get to the top of Chichen Itza if you could eliminate a few of those huge steps… and the same goes for your workspace. Check out the system-wide enhancements to attribute and parameter handling in FME 2012.

Now you can concatenate strings and evaluate expressions right in the dialog of the transformer that is going to use them. Let’s say you want to generate a buffer zone around the Great Pyramid. Now you can compute the buffer size from attributes and parameters – right inside the Bufferer, replacing multiple transformers with just one.

Equally exciting is the expanded role of the AttributeCreator, which can now aggregate the functions of multiple attribute handling transformers into one central location. These enhancements mean less steps to get to where you want to be. You’ll be at the top before you know it.

Python. Why’d it have to be Python?

The days of ophidiophobia are over! Python^® support in FME 2012 is not only completely overhauled, but well within the capabilities of more users than ever. A complete rewrite from the foundation up, with extensive documentation and samples to learn from, our new Python API is part of FME Objects, which means expanded access to feature geometries and full access to FME readers and writers. Python is possibly the most popular and attainable scripting language in use today – explore the possibilities.

InlineQuerier

Rumor has it that the Druids moved monoliths over great distances by repeatedly placing logs in front of them. With the same logic, you can create a primitive sort of database query in FME by stringing together FeatureMergers. Functional, but not all that efficient. With the new InlineQuerier, construct temporary databases in your workspace and execute SQL-style queries and joins against data that isn’t natively database. If you’re using FeatureMergers, give this a spin!

These are just few of the enhancements coming your way in FME 2012 – and if you have a great idea for 2013, let us know. Every release brings new tools and better ways to solve those interoperability challenges.

Check out What’s Great in FME 2012 at safe.local/whatsgreat2012.