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Writer Overview

The underlying format that the Geodatabase writer module uses to store FME features depends on the <WriterType>:

GEODATABASE_MDB (Personal Geodatabases)
GEODATABASE_SDE (Enterprise Geodatabases)
GEODATABASE_FILE (File-based Geodatabases)
GEODATABASE_SDE_RASTER_DATASET (Enterprise Geodatabases)
GEODATABASE_FILE_RASTER_DATASET (File-based Geodatabases)

Use of the word table is meant to refer to both non-spatial tables and feature classes.

The Geodatabase writer module provides the following capabilities:

Versioning Support: The Geodatabase writer provides the ability to write to a specific version of an Enterprise Geodatabase.
Update/Delete Support: The Geodatabase writer provides the ability to update and delete existing features in the Geodatabase.
Transaction Support: The Geodatabase writer provides transaction support that eases the data loading process. Occasionally, a data load operation terminates prematurely due to data difficulties. The transaction support provides a mechanism for reloading corrected data without data loss or duplication.

Transactions are not supported in File Geodatabase.
Table Creation: The Geodatabase writer module uses the information within the FME mapping file to automatically create tables or feature classes as needed. If a feature class is to be created, then certain parameters, such as the grid size and whether or not the features will contain Z values, can be specified. Personal Geodatabase table names are limited to a maximum length of 52 characters.
Automated Calculation of Extents and Grid 1 Size: When writing to a Personal Geodatabase it is possible to set the writer in a mode whereby it will determine what the extents and grid 1 size of the dataset are and will use these values when creating new feature classes. This is not available with the Enterprise Geodatabase or File-based Geodatabase writer; however, valid grid sizes can be calculated and set when writing to Enterprise Geodatabase and File-based Geodatabase.
Ignoring Failed Features: The Geodatabase writer allows the user to continue with a translation, even when a feature would normally cause the translation to fail. The user is given the ability to choose how many failed features are allowed to fail before deciding to halt the translation altogether. Additionally, the user can specify a directory in which to store failed features, which will be stored in the FME Feature Store format.
Mosaicking: The Geodatabase writer provides the ability to mosaic raster data to an existing raster dataset, by overlaying new data on top of old data and building a single, seamless data representation. All rasters being mosaicked must share the same coordinate system, cell size, palette, and data type, which is determined by the first raster written to the Geodatabase.

Writer Feature Type Properties: Database User

For some database formats, the Database User field (under the General tab of the Feature Type properties dialog) is used to define the schema for the location of the writer feature type if it differs from the schema of the user who made the connection.

For example, if you specify a database table called CITY.ROADS, the Feature Type is ROADS and the database user is CITY. This field allows you to change the database user (for example, to VANCOUVER) on the output feature type.