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PointOnLineOverlayer

Performs a point-on-line overlay. Each input line is split at its closest place to any point within the specified point tolerance, and attributes are shared between related points and lines (spatial join).

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Typical Uses

Splitting lines where they overlay points
Identifying lines that intersect with a point
Identifying points that fall on a line

How does it work?

The PointOnLineOverlayer compares points and lines, splitting the lines where a point falls on (or within a specified distance of) the lines. Each resulting new line receives the attributes of the points that matched the original line, and points receive attributes from the lines (a spatial join). Features (points and lines) also receive a count of the number of matches encountered.

Aggregates can either be deaggregated before processing or rejected. Intersections between linear features are not computed.

Usage Notes

Where point geometries are expected, Point Cloud geometries are not supported.
Chopped Lines output via the Line output port receive the attributes of all points that matched the original input line (if a list is enabled). All points that the original line encountered are included - not only the endpoints of the new line segment.
To obtain attributes from points matching only the ends of the new line features, use a second transformer (consider another PointOnLineOverlayer, or a NeighborFinder).

Z Values and Measures

If the input Line features have measures and/or 3D coordinates, measures and elevations (z values) are interpolated and assigned to points according to the selections made in the Attribute Accumulation parameters.

If Attribute Accumulation Mode is set to Drop Incoming Attributes, the measures and z values will be ignored. If it is set to Merge, Prefix, or Only Use Incoming Attributes, the appropriate values will be calculated and assigned to the points. If a z value is added to a 2D point, it will become 3D.

Choosing a Spatial Transformer

Many transformers can assess spatial relationships and perform spatial joins - analyzing topology, merging attributes, and sometimes modifying geometry. Generally, choosing the one that is most specific to the task you need to accomplish will provide the optimal performance results. If there is more than one way to do it (which is frequently the case), time spent on performance testing alternate methods may be worthwhile.

To correctly analyze spatial relationships, all features should be in the same coordinate system. The Reprojector may be useful for reprojecting features within the workspace.

Spatial Transformers Comparison Matrix

Transformer	Can Merge Attributes	Alters Geometry	Counts Related Features	Creates List	Supported Types*	Recommended For
SpatialFilter	Yes	No	No	No	Point Text Curve Area	Testing for the existence of spatial relationships between two sets of features, and routing them according to whether they pass or fail the test(s).
SpatialRelator	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Point Text Curve Area	Identifying the nature of spatial relationships between two sets of features.
AreaOnAreaOverlayer	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Area	Finding polygon overlaps and extracting them into new geometry.
LineOnAreaOverlayer	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Curve and Area	Finding intersections between lines and polygons, and splitting the lines where they intersect with the polygons.
LineOnLineOverlayer	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Curve	Finding intersections between line features, splitting them, and generating new line geometry as well as points representing the intersections.
PointOnAreaOverlayer	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Point and Area Text and Area	Identifying points that fall within polygons, and merging attributes between them
PointOnLineOverlayer	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Point and Curve Text and Curve	Identifying where points fall on lines, and splitting the lines into new geometry.
PointOnPointOverlayer	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Point Text	Identifying points in the same location (within a tolerance), and merging attributes between them.
Intersector	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Point Text Curve Area	Finding intersections between all input features, regardless of geometry (optionally including self-intersections), splitting features, and creating new geometry.
Clipper	Yes	Yes	No	No	Point Text Curve Area Solids Raster Point Cloud	Comparing features against a set of Clipper features, and splitting the features at or along the Clipper boundaries. Outputs both new and untouched geometry, identified as either Inside or Outside the Clipper.
NeighborFinder	Yes	In some cases	No	Yes	Point Text Curve Area	Identifying the nearest other feature(s) to each feature being considered, either in another set of features or within the same feature set.
TopologyBuilder	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Point Text Curve Area	Analyzing spatial relationships between features to compute topology, splitting features and creating new geometry representing topologically significant nodes, edges, and faces, with associated attributes.

Configuration

Input Ports

Output Ports

Parameters

Transformer

Attribute Accumulation

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.

Defining Values

There are several ways to define a value for use in a Transformer. The simplest is to simply type in a value or string, which can include functions of various types such as attribute references, math and string functions, and workspace parameters. There are a number of tools and shortcuts that can assist in constructing values, generally available from the drop-down context menu adjacent to the value field.

How to Set Parameter Values

Reference

Processing Behavior	Group-Based
Feature Holding	Yes
Dependencies
FME Licensing Level	FME Professional Edition and above
Aliases
History
Categories	Filters and Joins Spatial Analysis

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Examples may contain information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver

String Functions	These functions manipulate and format strings.
Special Characters	A set of control characters is available in the Text Editor.
Math Functions	Math functions are available in both editors.
Math Operators	These operators are available in the Arithmetic Editor.
FME Feature Functions	These return primarily feature-specific values.
FME Parameters	FME and workspace-specific parameters may be used.
Working with User Parameters	Create your own editable parameters.