List of Transformers

You are here: Surfaces > AppearanceJoiner

AppearanceJoiner

Sets the front and/or back appearance style(s) of specified geometries to be identical to a specific source geometry. This is useful if you already have a geometry that has an appearance that you’d like to duplicate on other geometries.

You can set appearances on all Surfaces and most geometry types that are, or can contain, Surfaces.

If you do not want to use the texture coordinates already present, you can also (at the same time) use the option to generate the texture coordinates of the affected surfaces.

Note: When features pass through this transformer and have their appearances set, they will not simply have appearances with identical properties to the source, but they will in fact be sharing the same singular appearance definition.

For more information on appearance support in FME, see Appearances.

Input Ports

ClosedRequestor

Features that contain some geometry on which an appearance may be set.

ClosedSupplier

The appearance to be used as the source is taken from the first feature from each group sent into this port.

Output Ports

ClosedOutput

All input Requestor features are output whether or not anything was changed.

Coordinate Space Terminology

In order to reduce confusion between the real coordinate space of the surface and the texture coordinate space, this transformer uses "u" and "v" instead of "x" and "y" when referencing the latter. Note that this is also reflected in the parameter names.

Parameters

Transformer

ClosedGroup By

Note that only the first Supplier feature will be used in each "Group By" group.

ClosedParallel Processing Level

Note: How parallel processing works with FME: see About Parallel Processing for detailed information.

This parameter determines whether or not the transformer should perform the work across parallel processes. If it is enabled, a process will be launched for each group specified by the Group By parameter.

Parallel Processing Levels

Parameter Number of Processes
No Parallelism 1
Minimal coresThe processor, or CPU, is the physical part of the computer that performs mathematical calculations. It is the most important part of a computer system. Traditional processors have only one core on the processor, meaning that at any given time, only one set of calculations is being performed. If a processor is dual-core, this means the single chip contains hardware for two processors, now called cores to distinguish them from the single chip, running simultaneously, side by side. (Source: http://www.ehow.com/facts_5730257_computer-core-processors_.html) / 2
Moderate exact number of cores
Aggressive cores x 1.5
Extreme cores x 2

For example, on a quad-core machine, minimal parallelism will result in two simultaneous FME processes. Extreme parallelism on an 8-core machine would result in 16 simultaneous processes.

You can experiment with this feature and view the information in the Windows Task Manager and the Workbench Log window.

ClosedInput is Ordered by Group

Yes: This transformer will process input groups in order. Changes on the value of the Group By parameter on the input stream will trigger batch processing on the currently accumulating group. This will improve overall speed if groups are large/complex, but could cause undesired behavior if input groups are not truly ordered.

No: This is the default behavior. Processing will only occur in this transformer once all input is present.

Geometry Part Selection

ClosedSupplier Geometry XQuery

This filter is used to indicate which part on the Supplier geometry is to be used as the source Appearance Style. As well, if more than one Geometry Part match the Supplier Geometry XQuery filter, the first Geometry Part is used as the source of the appearance style.

ClosedSupplier: Get Appearance From

You can specify which side of the Supplier geometry from which the source appearance style should be retrieved.

Front Side: The texture will be retrieved from the front side of the geometry only.

Back Side: The texture will be retrieved from the front side of the geometry only.

ClosedRequestor Geometry XQuery

This filter is used to indicate onto which part on the Requestor geometry the Appearance Style is to be applied. The appearance is only directly set on the geometries which are specified through the Requestor Geometry XQuery selection. However, because appearances may be inherited further down a geometry hierarchy, setting an appearance directly at one level may have an effect further down a geometry hierarchy as well. Texture coordinates are therefore calculated, if necessary, on every geometry part that is affected by the setting of this appearance.

ClosedRequestor: Set Appearance On

You can specify which side of the Supplier geometry from which the source appearance style should be retrieved.

Front Side: The texture will be applied to the front side of the geometry only.

Back Side: The texture will be applied to the front side of the geometry only.

Front and Back Sides: The texture will be applied to both sides of the geometry.

Texture Coordinate Generation Parameters

ClosedUse Existing Texture Coordinates

When an appearance with a raster texture is set, each part of the Geometry that is affected will also require texture coordinates. When this parameter is No, new texture coordinates are always calculated for each part of the geometry that is affected by the appearance which is being set. When this parameter is Yes, new texture coordinates are only calculated on the affected parts of the geometry where they do not already exist. Existing texture coordinates are left unchanged.

ClosedTexture Mapping Type

This parameter specifies how the texture defined in an appearance style will be mapped onto the surface. This is only applicable to textures which have raster images.

Surface Normal: The textures are projected onto the surfaces along their normals. For composite surfaces and meshes, each of the child parts will be treated separately, since the parts can have different normals.

From Top View: The textures are projected onto the surfaces along a single normal – one that is perpendicular to the x-y plane. In this mode, a composite surface is considered as one single geometry when the texture coordinates are applied.

Closedu Origin Offset

You can specify how the texture is shifted in the u direction with this parameter.

Closedv Origin Offset

You can specify how the texture is shifted in the v direction with this parameter.

ClosedTexture u Repeat Factor

Texture u Repeat Factor can be used to specify the number of times the texture is repeated in rows.

ClosedTexture v Repeat Factor

Texture v Repeat Factor can be used to specify the number of times the texture is repeated in columns.

Editing Transformer Parameters

Using a set of menu options, transformer parameters can be assigned by referencing other elements in the workspace. More advanced functions, such as an advanced editor and an arithmetic editor, are also available in some transformers. To access a menu of these options, click beside the applicable parameter. For more information, see Transformer Parameter Menu Options.

Transformer Categories

Surfaces

Search FME Knowledge Center

Search for samples and information about this transformer on the FME Knowledge Center.