Esri Shapefile Writer Parameters

Note: This parameter is used only when generating an initial workspace; therefore, it is not editable in Workbench after the workspace has been generated.

• Multipatch: To preserve the original structure, the writer will write input 3D surfaces and solids as shape_multipatch.
• Polygon: To break 3D surfaces into polygon components, the writer will write input 3D surfaces and solids as 3D shape_polygon.

Mixed-case attribute names are allowed by default. Selecting this parameter changes attribute names to uppercase text.

Note: This parameter is used only when generating an initial workspace; therefore, it is not editable in Workbench after the workspace has been generated.

This parameter is applicable only if you are working with foreign (non-English) character sets.

For example, if your source data contains foreign characters, using this parameter along with the encoding value ensures that the original data is preserved from the reader to the writer.

If the value is not set, the character encoding will be automatically detected from the source file. If the value is set, it will take precedence over the automatically detected character encoding.

FME supports most encodings.

Specifies whether or not to generate spatial index files when writing shapefiles. Writing spatial index files requires that ArcGIS be installed on the machine running the workspace.

Note: If any attributes are flagged for indexing, spatial indexes are produced regardless of this setting. For more information, see User Attributes (Writing Attribute Indexes).

When selected, this option creates a single zipped .shz file that contains all the files that comprise a shapefile dataset.

For example, coast.shz will contain coast.shp, coast.dbf, coast.shx, and optionally other shapefiles if applicable.

Tip: .shz files can be renamed to ".zip" and opened with most unzip tools.

• Dimension from First Feature: Shapefiles produced will contain geometries with dimension information obtained by the first feature observed by the writer.
• 2D: Shapefiles produced will contain two-dimensional coordinate geometry.
• 2D + Measures: Shapefiles produced will contain two-dimensional coordinate geometry and measures.
• 3D + Measures: Shapefiles produced will contain three-dimensional coordinate geometry and measures.

By default, this parameter specifies that the writer should write shapefiles that are compatible with other products by taking a stricter interpretation of the specification.

Note: This parameter is used only when generating an initial workspace; therefore, it is not editable in Workbench after the workspace has been generated.

This parameter specifies whether the writer should:

• Preserve the order of the vertexes within the rings of polygons and donuts of input features (Yes), or
• Force ring vertex order to be compatible with the format specification by orienting the ring vertexes to identify inner and outer rings and allow disambiguation of aggregates and donuts (No).

Note that ellipses are stroked into polygons with counterclockwise orientation and thus also may be affected by the option to not orient the rings properly as clockwise according to the specification.

Note also that because the vertex order is the only mechanism to distinguish between donut and aggregate geometry types when there are multiple polygon rings, the type may not be the same when read back if the input vertex order is preserved but does not match the input geometry type vertex order requirements.

Tip: The safest setting for this advanced option is to leave it unchecked (set to No), which is the default setting.

If set to Yes, dataset fanout divides the data and writes a different dataset for each division. The Fanout Directory sets the destination folder for the files. The Attribute to Fanout parameter selects the attribute on which the dataset fanout takes place.The default value is No.

This Navigator parameter controls how measure data associated with geometric data or attributes on the incoming features is handled. The default is No, which preserves the measures on the features. If Yes, measure data is created from the z values on the incoming features, if the z values exist. If measure data exists, it is not overwritten by the z values on the feature.