Posts filed under 'Miscellaneous'
Contents:
1) Open Street Map Reader
2) GeoJSON 1.0
3) Workbench transformers guide
4) FME and 3D Rock Stars
5) Science Lab: Multi-Threading Follow-Up
6) PADS Walk for Independence
This FME Evangelist post includes details on FME support for OpenStreetMap and GeoJSON 1.0, plus info on updates to our transformers guide, an example of visualizing lidar data, a follow-up to the recent multi-threading article, and a personal note on an upcoming event.
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August 19th, 2008
Introduction
Hi folks. Starting now I’m going to try and reduce the number of items per post, but publish more often. I’ll still try and mix up topics so there is something for everyone in each post.
Let me know how well this works out for you all.
This issue has the best FME Server demo I’ve seen(!), some exciting news for users of the scripting tools Python and Tcl within FME, plus an important notice for users of FME on Linux who have a fixed (node-locked) license.
Cheers,
Contents
1) FME Server Demo: Handling Real-Time Location Data
2) Python 2.5: Now included with FME2009 (and more!)
3) FME2008: New screen saver
4) TCL: Updated to v8.5.2
5) Linux FME Fixed Licensing: Important Notice
6) Quick Info
FME Server Demo: Handling Real-Time Location Data
The great thing about FME Server (from an evangelist point of view) is that users can run demos directly from our in-house Server installation, and need to download or install very little else.
With that thought in mind, I’d suggest browsing on over to this fmepedia article, which describes and links to a demo that everyone at Safe is all fired up about: handling real-time location data.
The scenario is one of vehicle (taxi) locations being provided by a continuously updated GPS reading. In actual fact we’re fabricating the data with a Python script to ensure an uninterrupted supply, but a real data source would be little different. A workspace is created to read the data, process it and write it to KML. That workspace is uploaded to an FME Server and registered as a KML Network Link service.
And that’s it! Click the workspace URL and it opens up the KML data in Google Earth. Set the network link refresh rate to 2 seconds and you effectively get a real-time visualization of the data as it is updated.
OK. Maybe you’ve seen similar before, but two things to remember:
- This is FME! Simple and quick. There are only 7 transformers in the workspace, and 5 of them are to do with styling the KML. Plus the whole workspace only took 2 hours to develop. In fact it took longer to write the data-creating script.
- This is Spatial ETL! What we have is just a starting point. Now you can start to add more source data and carry out transformations. For example, add some road network data you have in your SDE database; merge in a GeoRSS feed of live traffic information; throw in some transformers to resymbolize the output, or to do a spatial overlay.
Hope you find this example interesting, and maybe a little inspiring. If you know of a real-life feed of GPS data then why not let us know so we can try it out?
Python 2.5: Now included with FME2009
Effective build 5573, FME2009 now includes a Python interpreter and a subset of the standard Python library. This means that users will no longer have to install Python separately in order to use the PythonCaller transformer or Startup/Shutdown Python scripts.
Notes:
- At the moment, only Windows is supported. Similar support for Unix is planned prior to the FME2009 release (in fact our developer expects implementation by the end of July)
- FME will only use its Python when no other installation of Python can be detected. That means users who do not want the FME Python version (2.5) are free to install another version.
- By “subset” of Python we mean we ship everything except tkinter and bsddb - but we’re confident this will not impact most users.
Additionally!
As of build 5573 there are also changes in how macros are handled using Python.
- The FME_MacroValues dictionary is now initialized by default, so no startup script is required.
- In addition to the FME_MacroValues object in the ‘main’ namespace, we also create a reference in the pyfme namespace, so you can use it from within Python factory modules.
- Macro values can now be accessed as objects via pyfme.macros, for example pyfme.macros.DestDataset
TCL: Updated to v8.5.2
The Tcl interpreter in FME2009 has been updated to version 8.5.2. There is a list of highlights on the Tcl official web site (http://www.tcl.tk/software/tcltk/8.5.tml) but in particular we were impressed by:
- Speed: 8.5 now runs 10% faster than 8.4 with reduced memory usage.
- Bignums: Tcl now supports arbitrary-precision integers, which improves math operations on large integers.
clock command: More robust implementation of command for specifying time, with significant l10n and i18n improvements.dict command: New data structure that allows access to data by value rather than a variable name, which is substantially faster.- Additional improvements: Faster list search, new and improved mathematics procedures, anonymous procedures, new ways to package Tcl extensions, Tcl-level custom channel types, file and line location information for each command, and more…
FME2008: New Screen Saver
Resident graphic designer Jara has just completed a screensaver with an FME2008 theme.
Download it from the fun stuff downloads page on fmepedia to find out what our wacky lizard is up to this time!
Linux FME Fixed Licensing: Important Notice
For reasons of reliability and security, the method of generating Registration Keys for Linux versions of FME has been changed for FME2009. This means that as of build 5574 of FME2009, any machine running a Linux version of FME with a fixed license will require a new license.
For more information see the bulletin on fmepedia.
Quick Info
- Reader/Writer and Function/Factory help files have been updated in build 5573
- We’re reviewing all keyboard shortcuts in Workbench - let me know if there are any you would specifically like to see.
- Beta builds of the FME 32-bit and 64-bit Linux versions are now automatically uploaded to our FTP site when available.
- The FSP (Forest Stewardship Plan) reader and writer has been updated to version 1.2 as of build 5562
- Safe announces partnership with WeoGeo to bring FME Server into the world of cloud computing
This Edition of the FME Evangelist…
…was written to the tune of “The Man In Me” by Bob Dylan.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2s8_hCCHg4
This song is played in the intro of one of my favourite movies. Kudos if you know which one.
July 17th, 2008
Hello FME’ers, and welcome to the FME Evangelist.
This site is the new home of what used to be called the FME Evangelism Weekly. It’s a means for Safe Software to circulate technical bulletins to all our users.
Focus
As the FME Evangelist my focus is on highlighting:
- Noteworthy uses of the current FME release: Any example of FME use that is particularly worthy of mention, be it an entirely new use, or an existing function that is relatively unknown
- New technology appearing in beta versions: Any new function that is destined for the next release
…with the occasional diversion onto items such as important technical news, upcoming events, Safe blog postings, etc.
Format
As with the Evangelism Weekly, I’ll be posting these as a compendium of items rather than as individual posts - though I don’t guarantee we’ll meet a weekly schedule!
FME Technical Resources
My first announcement regards FME technical resources in general. You may have noticed that we now have a number of such resources hosted on different web sites and services.
To help users keep track of all these resources, we’ve registered a bunch of domain names to make it easier to quote the resource URLs to someone. These are:
Additionally, we’ve organized them under a parent site called FME User Central:
Bookmark that page and you’ll always have access to the latest FME related information.
We’re trying (as far as is possible) to give each resource a standard look and provide navigation tools to flip from one to another. Also, all of these resources should let you at least look at the content without having to sign up for anything.
FME Evangelism and Your Feedback
Anyway, back to the evangelism…
My role is to evangelize new FME functions to the world on Safe’s behalf. You may have noticed me participating in user group discussions under the name mark2atsafe, or have attended a training course that I’ve taught.
However, I don’t see evangelizing as a one-way process. As much as I’m supposed to preach the good news to you, I feel it’s important that I should also promote user requirements and suggestions to the decision makers at Safe.
So please feel free to contact me to discuss any ideas or suggestions you might have for making FME a better product. It doesn’t matter how small the issue - a minor tweak to a GUI or log message for example - our developers’ favourite fixes are the small ones that have a big impact.
We’ve turned off the commenting on this site, because we don’t want it to turn into a glorified discussion board. You can either post your thoughts to the user group (FMETalk) or directly to me at:
Having taken my life into my hands by giving out my contact information, I’d add the comment that support related issues should really be sent to support@safe.com to be answered. The support team has more resources than I do, so you can expect a quicker and more accurate response by contacting them.
I hope you find this new resource of use, and I look forward to spreading the FME word.
Mark Ireland, The FME Evangelist
Safe Software Inc. Surrey, BC, CANADA
support@safe.com http://www.safe.com
Solutions for Spatial Data Translation, Distribution and Access
June 17th, 2008
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