AppearanceSetter

This input port is optional. If this input port is not used, only the values specified in the parameters of this transformer will be used.

Appearance style features coming in through this port will be applied to the front and/or back sides of geometries. The format of this feature should be precisely what exits the AppearanceExtractor or AppearanceStyler transformers.

It may have many optional attributes which express the color and/or texture parameters of the appearance. It must also have either a Raster geometry (which is understood to be the Raster texture to use) or a null geometry. The Style parameters in this transformer, if used, will override any values on these input features.

Features that contain some geometry on which an appearance may be set.

Using this input port is optional.

All features that enter this port are held back until this transformer has completed all its processing, and are then output through the Holder port at the very end. These features will not be directly modified in any way by this transformer, but may have been indirectly changed. Please read the documentation for the Replace Existing Definitions’ value for the ‘Appearance Storage’ option for details on how this may occur.

The reason these Holder ports are useful is that in some situations, it is important to control the timing of features passing through the workspace. By holding back some features, you are ensuring that this transformer has a chance to complete its processing before allowing some other features to continue further along the workspace.

Example

There are 100 features passing through the workspace, and they all contain some surfaces that refer to a “red brick” Appearance. Their natural flow would be directly out to a writer. However, in a separate section of the workspace, an AppearanceSetter exists, and it uses the Replace Existing Definitions option on the Appearance Storage parameter. It replaces the definition of the “red brick” Appearance with “brown brick”, obviously using a different color.

In this situation, if there is no explicit control over the order of features, the first 50 features could be inadvertently sent to the writer, followed by the AppearanceSetter processing, followed by the last 50 features being sent to the writer. Here, the output would contain 50 “red brick” features and 50 “brown brick” features. You would not be able to control the arbitrary ordering of features flowing through the workspace.

If, however, all 100 features are routed through the Holder port, it is guaranteed that the AppearanceSetter will do its processing before any of the 100 features are sent to the writer. In this case, the output would contain 100 “brown brick” features. This is probably the desired outcome: change the definition of one Appearance, make sure that definition is reflected throughout the entire dataset (without having to locate each reference to that modified appearance), and have the guarantee that all features reflect that change regardless of the order of the flow of input features.

All input Geometry features are output whether or not anything was changed.

All features that came in through the Holder input port will be output through this port. See the Holder input port for more details on correct usage of these ports.

Features that were not queried.

Only appearance style features with null or raster geometry types are accepted. All other appearance style features are rejected.

If the Join parameters (described below) are not used, then only the first Appearance style input per group is used. All other extra Appearance styles are rejected and output through this port.

Rejected features will have an fme_rejection_code attribute with one of the following values: EXTRA_APPEARANCE_FEATURE, INVALID_APPEARANCE_GEOMETRY_TYPE, INVALID_GEOMETRY_GEOMETRY_TYPE.

Note that only the first appearance styles will be used in each "Group By" group.

Process At End (Blocking): This is the default behavior. Processing will only occur in this transformer once all input is present.

Process When Group Changes (Advanced): This transformer will process input groups in order. Changes of the value of the Group By parameter on the input stream will trigger processing on the currently accumulating group. This may improve overall speed (particularly with multiple, equally-sized groups), but could cause undesired behavior if input groups are not truly ordered.

Considerations for Using Group By

There are two typical reasons for using Process When Group Changes (Advanced) . The first is incoming data that is intended to be processed in groups (and is already so ordered). In this case, the structure dictates Group By usage - not performance considerations.

The second possible reason is potential performance gains.

Performance gains are most likely when the data is already sorted (or read using a SQL ORDER BY statement) since less work is required of FME. If the data needs ordering, it can be sorted in the workspace (though the added processing overhead may negate any gains).

Sorting becomes more difficult according to the number of data streams. Multiple streams of data could be almost impossible to sort into the correct order, 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. In this case, using Group By with Process At End (Blocking) may be the equivalent and simpler approach.

Note: Multiple feature types and features from multiple datasets will not generally naturally occur in the correct order.

As with many scenarios, testing different approaches in your workspace with your data is the only definitive way to identify performance gains.

Use this parameter if you want to isolate only a portion of the geometry passed in to the transformer. If no criteria are specified, the action will apply to the entire geometry at all levels.

Selection can be based on structural location, geometry name, type, appearance information, traits, trait storage types, or definition reference. The syntax used is a restricted set of XQuery, where the return clause is fixed.

The basic Geometry XQuery dialog allows you to construct simple selection queries by automatically writing the necessary query based on specified test clauses. Clicking the Switch to Advanced button opens the Advanced Editor, which allows you to type a query free-form, for more expressive queries.

Note: Once you switch to Advanced mode, you will have to clear all parameters before you can return to Basic mode.

A hierarchical geometry is represented as nodes of type geometry, with attributes containing information about traits, type, and name for each geometry.

You can specify which side of the geometry on which the appearance should be set.

Front Side: The texture will be applied to the front side of the geometry part only.

Back Side: The texture will be applied to the front side of the geometry part only.

Front and Back Sides: The texture will be applied to both sides of the geometry part.

Both of these parameters must be used together, or neither is used.

If you are not using these parameters, this transformer expects only one Appearance style feature (per Group) and it is used for all selected geometry parts.

If these join parameters are specified, all of the Appearance style features (per Group) are kept as possible matches for each individual selected geometry part. In each case, the value of the Trait specified on the geometry part is matched to the value of the Attribute specified on the Appearance style features. (If there is more than one match, an arbitrary Appearance style feature is chosen. If there is no match, no processing is done for that geometry part.) The matched Appearance style is then used for the processing of that geometry part.

Note: Note that a missing Trait on the geometry part, or a missing Attribute on the Appearance style features are equivalent to blank traits or attributes. Traits with blank values will match to Attributes with blank values. This will, for example, allow you to intentionally send in a “default” Appearance style feature without the join attribute, and use it for any geometry parts that may not have the trait present. This is useful if not all geometry parts are expected to have the join trait.

When you pass in Appearance style features, this transformer will be creating Appearance definitions. However, there are two ways these new appearances may be stored and used:

• Create New Definitions: This is the simplest approach. With this option, a new Appearance Definition is created and stored in the internal FMELibrary. This new definition is referenced by the selected geometry parts; references to previous definitions are dropped, leaving those definitions unchanged in the internal FMELibrary.
• Replace Existing Definitions: This approach is powerful and may change many things in the dataset very efficiently. With this option, a new Appearance Definition is not created, but instead, the link to every Appearance Definition which is referenced by the selected Geometry Parts is followed, and each of those definitions is overwritten within the internal FMELibrary.

This is reflected in two ways: First, all chosen geometry parts reflect the new Appearance style properties, even though they do not change how they reference Appearances. Second, a more subtle effect is that all geometry parts, on all active features (even those features not passing through this factory) that refer to the overwritten Appearance definitions will immediately see the new values as well.

This transformer can, therefore, modify the effective nature of some features that never pass through it. Please see the documentation for the HOLDER input and HOLDER output ports for more details on management of these effects.

A name that will help you remember what the appearance is for, such as "castle wall" or "house roof". Note that it does not have to be unique.

Attribute name string: fme_appearance_style_name

The most instinctive meaning of the color of an object, the essential color that is revealed under pure white light. It is perceived as the color of the object rather than a reflection of the light.

Attribute name string: fme_appearance_style_diffuse_color

The color that the object reflects when illuminated by color from the surrounding medium rather than direct light.

Attribute name string: fme_appearance_style_ambient_color

The color of the light reflected from the object through specular reflection (the type of reflection that is characteristic of light reflected from a shiny surface).

Attribute name string: fme_appearance_style_specular_color

Color of the light that the object is emitting itself.

Attribute name string: fme_appearance_style_emissive_color

A value from 0.0 to 1.0 that specifies the shine of specular reflection, with 0.0 being completely dull and 1.0 extremely shiny.

Attribute name string: fme_appearance_style_shininess

Specifies the transparency level of the appearance, with 0.0 being completely transparent and 1.0 completely opaque.

Attribute name string: fme_appearance_style_alpha

Used to specify the origin of texture coordinate system. It is only used in conjunction with scaling and rotation.

Attribute name string: fme_texture_style_center_u

Used to specify the origin of texture coordinate system. It is only used in conjunction with scaling and rotation.

Attribute name string: fme_texture_style_center_v

Specifies the counter-clockwise rotation angle of the texture in degrees around the texture center (from a line parallel to the u-axis, passing through the texture center).

Attribute name string: fme_texture_style_rotation_angle

Used to specify the amount of shear along the u texture coordinate system axis, relative to the center.

Attribute name string: fme_texture_style_u_shearing_factor

Used to specify the amount of shear along the v texture coordinate system axis, relative to the center.

Attribute name string: fme_texture_style_v_shearing_factor

Used to specify the amount that the texture should be scaled along the u-axis.

Attribute name string: fme_texture_style_u_scaling_factor

Used to specify the amount that the texture should be scaled along the v-axis.

Attribute name string: fme_texture_style_v_scaling_factor

Used to specify the offset applied to the texture after all the other transformations are done.

Attribute name string: fme_texture_style_u_offset

Used to specify the offset applied to the texture after all the other transformations are done.

Attribute name string: fme_texture_style_v_offset

Only affects the area outside the 0 to 1 U and V range. Note that not all texture wrapping styles are supported by all output formats, in which case the texture wrapping style will be defaulted to a supported style individual writer.

None: means no texture wrapping style is given and behavior outside the 0 to 1 range is unspecified.

Repeat in U and V: will tile the texture in both directions.

Clamp in U and V: clamps both U and V to the 0 to 1 range and a constant boundary color will fill values outside this range.

Clamp in U and Repeat in V: clamps U to the 0 to 1 range and tiles in the V direction.

Repeat in U and Clamp in V: clamps V to the 0 to 1 range and tiles in the U direction.

Mirror: will mirror the texture in the U and V direction.

Border Fill: will use a constant border color to fill values outside the U, V 0 to 1 range.

Attribute name string: fme_texture_style_wrap

This parameter is used only with the Border Fill wrapping style, and is only supported by certain formats. It specifies the color to "bleed" into the space surrounding the texture raster.

Attribute name string: fme_texture_style_border_color

When an appearance with a raster texture is set, each part of the Geometry that is affected will also require texture coordinates. When this parameter is No, new texture coordinates are always calculated for each part of the geometry that is affected by the appearance which is being set. When this parameter is Yes, new texture coordinates are only calculated on the affected parts of the geometry where they do not already exist. Existing texture coordinates are left unchanged.

This parameter specifies how the texture defined in an appearance style will be mapped onto the surface. This is only applicable to textures which have raster images.

• Surface Normal: The textures are projected onto the surfaces along their normals. For composite surfaces and meshes, each of the child parts will be treated separately, since the parts can have different normals.
• From Top View: The textures are projected onto the surfaces along a single normal – one that is perpendicular to the x-y plane. In this mode, a composite surface is considered as one single geometry when the texture coordinates are applied.

You can specify how the texture is shifted in the u direction with this parameter.

You can specify how the texture is shifted in the v direction with this parameter.

Texture u Repeat Factor can be used to specify the number of times the texture is repeated in rows.

Texture v Repeat Factor can be used to specify the number of times the texture is repeated in columns.

Using the Text Editor

The Text Editor provides a convenient way to construct text strings (including regular expressions) from various data sources, such as attributes, parameters, and constants, where the result is used directly inside a parameter.

Text Editor

Using the Arithmetic Editor

The Arithmetic Editor provides a convenient way to construct math expressions from various data sources, such as attributes, parameters, and feature functions, where the result is used directly inside a parameter.

Arithmetic Editor

Conditional Values

Set values depending on one or more test conditions that either pass or fail.

Parameter Condition Definition Dialog

Content

Expressions and strings can include a number of functions, characters, parameters, and more.

When setting values - whether entered directly in a parameter or constructed using one of the editors - strings and expressions containing String, Math, Date/Time or FME Feature Functions will have those functions evaluated. Therefore, the names of these functions (in the form @<function_name>) should not be used as literal string values.

Content Types

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.
Date/Time Functions	Date and time functions are available in the Text Editor.
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.
Creating and Modifying User Parameters	Create your own editable parameters.

Note: Not all tools are available in all transformers.