The Geodatabase reader and writer translates several different types of features:
- table-level metadata
- reading and writing of geometric features such as points, multipoints, polylines, and polygons
- reading and writing of non-spatial table data
- reading and writing of annotations, including leader lines and feature-linked annotations
- reading and writing of dimensions
- reading and writing of geometric network features, including simple junctions, complex junctions (reading only), simple edges and complex edges
- reading and writing of relationships, including attributed relationships
- reading and writing of raster data
- reading and writing of multipatch features, including textured surfaces
The Geodatabase modules also provide the following capabilities:
- Programmatic Table Creation: Tables need not be created before a data import operation. All table creation details are handled by the FME.
- Transaction Support: Transactions are fully supported in Personal and Enterprise Geodatabases, enabling a partially complete load of operation to be resumed later, without the loss or duplication of data.
- Update/Delete Support: In addition to appending features, the Geodatabase writer provides the ability to update and delete existing features in the Geodatabase.
- Attribute Query Support: SQL WHERE clauses can be specified to limit the data being exported.
- Spatial Query Support: FME exploits the spatial query capabilities of Geodatabase using both search envelopes and search features with a multitude of filtering options. This allows greater control to translate only the relevant spatial data.
- Non-Spatial Table Support: Any table can be read or written to a Geodatabase with FME, whether or not it contains spatial data. The FME can read, write, and create regular RDBMS tables (such as those in Oracle) in Geodatabase.
- Versioning Support: FME enables data to be read from a particular transactional version, historical marker, or historical date and time of an Enterprise Geodatabase, and also allows data to be written to a specific transactional version of an Enterprise Geodatabase.
- Version Differences: FME can also read only the changes between any two transactional or any two historical versions. This is useful for applications such as database replications as it focuses on the changes since the last read.
- Fully Automatic Import and Export: FME’s Geodatabase support provides fully automated import and export of data through the FME’s Graphical User Interface (GUI). This is ideal for quick data imports and exports.
- Mapping File Customization: FME’s ability to generate mapping files for user customization allows greater and more precise control over Geodatabase translations.
- Unicode Support: Geodatabase text columns are stored in the UTF-16 encoding. FME can read and write this data.
- Archiving Support: The Geodatabase reader can retrieve archived data from a table that has archiving enabled, through the use of a WHERE clause constrained by the gdb_from_date and gdb_to_date attributes.