Open a big world of possibilities with Smallworld and FME. First, see how to integrate GE Smallworld with 325+ formats and applications via a point-and-click interface. Then, leverage location intelligence to analyze and report on network assets, perform data validation, provide self-serve data download, and more – all of which can be easily turned into automated workflows.
Welcome to our presentation on “Unlocking the Power of Smallworld” with FME. We’re going to cover a variety of tasks you can do with FME and Smallworld
I’m Mark Stoakes and with me is Steve McCabe. Hi Steve! We’re both with the ProServices team here at Safe. Steve is our database support specialist, amongst other things.
We’re at separate locations today, I think Steve is in our offices in Vancouver – is that correct?
I’m on Quadra Island at Open Bay Farm – house sitting for some friends. Hopefully the goats don’t chew through one of our internet cables or anything during the webinar.
The topics we’re going to cover range from viewing Smallworld data with FME tools, working with alternatives or versions, CAD data, database replication, + a bonus Location Intelligence demo if we have time.
Steve: Stephanie is going to run a quick poll for us.
Poll chat:
- Smallworld was one of our earliest partners at Safe. Group in Denver developed the first Smallworld reader/writer for Sworld 2.2, I think
Poll results:
Steve:
Please ask questions. If we can’t answer them now then we’ll follow-up.
The webinar is being recorded and you’ll receive an email with the link to the recording and all the example workspaces. All the examples are based on the ubiquitous Cambridge database
Steve:
This webinar is probably a moderate level technical webinar. If you are new to FME, please stick with us, but then review the resources listed here.
Steve:
There are two readers & writers plug-ins for Smallworld.
- GE Smallworld reader/writer – which we’ll be covering today
SpatialBiz reader / writer. Offers slightly more sophisticated functionality than the GE plug-in – particularly around joins and database replication
Smallworld plug-in compatibility. Smallworld is usually more conservative and will tell you that only older versions of FME support the plug-in. But we’re using FME 2014 SP3 in this webinar
Also, there is the Smallworld SOM for FME which extends the format reach of the Smallworld SOM. A short movie by Alfred Sawatzky gives an introduction to the FME SOM
Features of the GE Smallworld reader/writer
Mark:
It’s easy to work with Versions (alternatives) and checkpoints.
Demo 1:
- Shows the |FME alternative with new objects on Oak Tree Av and then
Shows using the Export changes from baseline
(when loading into an alternative the alternative must exist. FME can’t create the alternative)
Demo 2: shows the difference between:
Service: FMENOFACTORY
Service: FME
Mark:
Going to skip this demo. There’s an equivalent demo on FMEpedia. The link is
http://fmepedia.safe.com/articles/Samples_and_Demos/Data-Upload-Validation-and-Real-time-Display (click the demo text box)
Key parts to validation are Geometry (i.e. self-intersection) and attribute validation & reporting of errors. Also you can validate network data.
Use the DWGStyler or DGNStyler (there’s also a MapInfoStyler)
Use templates for symbols / layers
Push to FME Server to make it self-serve (can be integrated with a web mapping tool). Any workspace built with the newer GE Smallworld plug-in can now be run on FME Server because the “connection service” means you do NOT need the Smallworld GIS running.
Bonus: Network Validation. This can be done as you upload data, or after you’ve loaded the data to ensure the network is valid.
Mark:
Points of interest in the workspace:
FMENOFACTORY – preserves the multiple spatial columns
SQL Server – writer parameter “Handle Multiple Spatial Columns” = Yes
GeometryNameSetter – sets the name of each geometry to match the spatial column name
SQLExecutor – creates tables if needed (FME database writers can’t create tables with muitple spatial columns yet
Demo 1: Data Load
Demo 2: Incremental updates
Any interesting questions so far?
Mark:
Schema mapping always takes longer than you think it will. Lining up the Smallworld objects to the CAD layers or the database tables is a big and detailed task.
Mark:
Another GIS – CAD example. But in this case the schema and symbolization has been done in the SchemaMapper transformers instead of multiple AttributeRenamers & DGNStylers. Great for FME Server automation. Workspace is much easier to maintain.
Dynamic workspaces make the workspace much more flexible - it becomes less dependant on the source data schema.
Mark:
Points of interest in the workspace:
Reader parameter: Feature types to Read
Dynamic Properties
Workspace resources (Schema from Table reader)
SchemaMapper
Mark:
What if Cambridge electric decides to do some long term maintenance on their Cambridge substations. The union wants to know if there are public WC’s near to their locations. If not they’ll require Jiffy John’s installed.
Points of interest in the workspace:
Using a XML file from the City of Cambridge Open Data web page
Smallworld reader as well
On-line services with various custom transformers
AGOL Drive Time
AGOL route finder – or shortest path (FME has a ShortestPathFinder if you have your own road network)
Background map from MapQuest
PDF table creator custom transformer
PDF writer plus templater custom transformer
Steve:
- Plus Smallworld training coming up in the fall at some time – watch our training page
Mark & Steve:
Thanks for attending. The webinar was recorded and you’ll receive a follow-up email with links to the recording, PPT and example workspaces. Any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us or contact our support team through www.safe.com/support