Creates Constructive Solid Geometry (CSG) from pairs of solid geometry features which are input through the A and B ports.
CSG is useful for representing complex solids by specifying the Boolean operations between simpler solids. For example, a wall with a window can be represented by taking the difference of the solid wall against the window. The CSGBuilder can be used to create a CSG solid that is comprised of relationships (order of Boolean operations or a hierarchy of Boolean operations) between the simpler solids.
Input Ports
- A and B: Pairs of solid geometry features.
Output Ports
Each Boolean operator is output via its corresponding port:
Union
Merges two objects into one.
Difference
Subtracts one object from another.
Intersection
The portion common to both objects.
<Rejected>
Any features that do not have solid geometry, or extra features that come after the first feature with solid geometry in each group, are output through the <Rejected> port.
Parameters
Group By
If any Group By attributes are given, then each group will be treated independently. This allows a single transformer to operate on multiple pairs of input features.
Parallel Processing
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
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.
Input Ordered
No: This is the default behavior. Processing will only occur in this transformer once all input is present.
By Group: This transformer will process input groups in order. Changes of 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. Specifically, on a two input-port transformer, "in order" means that an entire group must reach both ports before the next group reaches either port, for the transformer to work as expected. This may take careful consideration in a workspace, and should not be confused with both port's input streams being ordered individually, but not synchronously.
Considerations for Using Input is Ordered By
Using Ordered input can provide performance gains in some scenarios, however, it is not always preferable, or even possible. Consider the following when using it, with both one- and two-input transformers.
Single Datasets/Feature Types: Are generally the optimal candidates for Ordered processing. If you know that the dataset is correctly ordered by the Group By attribute, using Input is Ordered By can improve performance, depending on the size and complexity of the data.
If the input is coming from a database, using ORDER BY in a SQL statement to have the database pre-order the data can be an extremely effective way to improve performance. Consider using a Database Readers with a SQL statement, or the SQLCreator transformer.
Multiple Datasets/Feature Types: Since all features matching a Group By value need to arrive before any features (of any feature type or dataset) belonging to the next group, using Ordering with multiple feature types is more complicated than processing a single feature type.
Multiple feature types and features from multiple datasets will not generally naturally occur in the correct order.
One approach is to send all features through a Sorter, sorting on the expected Group By attribute. The Sorter is a feature-holding transformer, collecting all input features, performing the sort, and then releasing them all. They can then be sent through an appropriate filter (TestFilter, AttributeFilter, GeometryFilter, or others), which are not feature-holding, and will release the features one at a time to the transformer using Input is Ordered By, now in the expected order.
The processing overhead of sorting and filtering may negate the performance gains you will get from using Input is Ordered By. In this case, using Group By without using Input is Ordered By may be the equivalent and simpler approach.
In all cases when using Input is Ordered By, if you are not sure that the incoming features are properly ordered, they should be sorted (if a single feature type), or sorted and then filtered (for more than one feature or geometry type).
As with many scenarios, testing different approaches in your workspace with your data is the only definitive way to identify performance gains.
CSG is the unevaluated model. The CSGEvaluator can be used to compute the equivalent boundary representation of the CSG solid.
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
FME Licensing Level
FME Professional edition and above
Resources
See the definition of CSG at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructive_solid_geometry.
Technical History
Associated FME function or factory: CSGFactory
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