Licensing options for this format begin with FME Professional Edition.
The Intergraph MGE Reader/Writer is nearly identical to the (Bentley) MicroStation GeoGraphics Reader/Writer. The only difference is that by default, the format abbreviation (shortname) for the GeoGraphics reader is GG.
Note: This chapter contains information that is applicable to both MGE and GG formats.
The Intergraph Modular GIS Environment (MGE) Reader and Writer modules enable FME to read and write design files and their associated databases.
Overview
MGE uses standard MicroStation elements to represent the graphical portions (geometry) of the geographic map objects. These elements are identical to the design file elements used by the Bentley MicroStation Design Reader/Writer (IGDS). Any geometry enhancements made to the IGDS format also benefit the MGE Reader/Writer.
The non-graphical aspects of a map object are defined by linking an MGE feature to elements in a database. Features are linked to elements in the database via pairs of entity and mslink numbers. Feature definitions are stored in a special table within the project’s database. Each row of the feature table defines a feature, providing a name, feature code, feature type, display attributes (to be applied to elements linked to that feature), and possibly a pointer to a table of non-graphical attributes to be associated with each instance of the feature.
Tip: Tip: A feature in Intergraph MGE is closer in nature to a feature type in FME terminology. In this chapter, we refer to FME’s features using the term “FME features” to differentiate it from MGE’s features.
The following table describes the general database tables used. Other tables not listed are non-graphical user attribute tables. The mscatalog and feature tables are mandatory for the database used.
|
Table Name |
Description |
|
mscatalog |
The key table to determine where there are more attributes to the feature in the other tables. |
|
feature |
This table holds all the feature types and the general feature information. |
|
maps |
The table contains the corresponding map information associated with the feature. |
|
category |
This table holds information about the categories associated with the feature. |
|
ugfeature, ugcategory, ugjoin_cat, ugmap, ugcommand, ugtable_cat |
Extended tables of the Intergraph Design format table that hold additional information for MGE. |
The MGE Reader and Writer use symbolic names for the design element types rather than numeric values. This greatly simplifies element type specification. The following table maps the design element type number to its corresponding FME feature igds_type value that is used by the MGE Reader and Writer. Subsequent sections describe the handling of each of these element types in detail.
|
IGDS Element Type |
FME igds_type |
|---|---|
| 2 |
igds_cell |
| 3 |
idgs_point |
| 4, 12 |
idgs_line |
| 6, 14 |
idgs_shape |
| 7 |
idgs_text_node |
| 11, 12 |
idgs_curve |
| 15 |
idgs_ellipse |
| 16 |
idgs_arc |
| 17 |
idgs_text |
| 7, 17 |
idgs_multi_text |
| 2, 6, 14 |
idgs_solid |