You are here: About FME Workbench > Welcome to FME Workbench

Welcome to FME Workbench

What's New in FME Desktop?

Accessing Product Documentation

By default, documentation is live (online); however, you can also choose to use installed (offline) documentation. From Workbench, select FME Options > Default Paths > Documentation Help Locations.

Product documentation (either online or offline) is accessed in the following ways:

  • From the Start menu > FME Desktop > FME Help: Opens a portal for accessing help for all FME Desktop components (see Welcome to FME Workbench, below).
  • From any FME component Help menu: Opens component-specific help.
  • From the FME Workbench View menu > Windows > Help: Opens a dockable pane that displays help on FME Transformers and FME Readers and Writers, depending on the item selected on the Workbench Canvas. This help is dynamic. For example, if a Tester transformer is selected, this pane displays Tester help. If a Geography Markup Language (GML) reader or feature type is selected, this pane displays GML help.

FME Desktop Help Map

FME Desktop documentation includes:

Documentation Description
FME Workbench This is the primary FME Desktop application for translating and transforming data.
FME Data Inspector View data in any FME-supported format. Use the Data Inspector to preview data before translation, verify it after translation, and check data at any point during a translation.
FME Readers and Writers This is a technical reference to the 300+ spatial and non-spatial data formats that FME Workbench is capable of reading and writing. It also includes format parameters that are visible in Workbench.
FME Transformers This is a comprehensive reference to the 400+ FME transformers. Transformers are used in FME Workbench to perform geometric and attribute restructuring of features during a translation.
FME Coordinate Systems This is a guide to associating coordinate systems with features in FME Desktop.
FME Quick Translator Although we highly recommend using Workbench for translations, the Quick Translator (a lightweight alternative) allows you to perform fast and easy data conversions.
FME Desktop Administrator's Guide Find out how to install and license your version of FME, and perform other administrative tasks. Available at https://knowledge.safe.com/knowledgeDocumentation.
FME Integration Console This component allows you to integrate certain third-party applications with FME Desktop.

Download Transformer Quick-Reference

A transformer is an FME Workbench object that can perform geometric and attribute restructuring. Hundreds of different transformers perform different types of restructuring. This is known as data transformation and it is one of FME's core capabilities.

In Workbench, help for individual transformers is integrated into the Workbench window, and is also available from the Help menu. If you're looking for a general overview of transformer functions, we also provide a quick-reference guide, designed to be used as an index. Click the link below to open a printable booklet:

Note that you must have a PDF reader to open this file.