Runs a search for Twitter™ entries that contain the given query. Access to the Twitter search API is rate-limited.
Configuration
Output Ports
Tweets
Upon successful completion of the search, the transformer will output a new feature for each tweet in the search results. Each output feature will contain several attributes:
_tweet_id: The identification number of the search result.
_tweet_user: The name of the Twitter user who created the search result.
_tweet_text: The text of the search result.
_tweet_created_at: The date and time of the status update. This will be formatted in the standard FME date/time format: YYYYMMDDHHMMSS
_tweet_search_result: The JSON text of the search result. This can be further examined via the JSONFragmenter and JSONExtractor transformers.
Error
If the search could not be completed, the feature will be output through the Error output port, and will have the following new attributes:
_twitter_search_result: If a response was received from the Twitter server, it will be stored in this attribute.
_twitter_error: If the Twitter response contained an error message, it will be stored in this attribute.
Parameters
Search
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Twitter Search Text |
Type a search query or select the name of an attribute that contains the query. |
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Result Type |
Select the type of Tweets to search for. The options are Recent, Popular and Mixed. The value of this parameter may affect the number of search results that are returned. |
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Maximum Number of Results |
Specifies an upper bound on the number of search results returned, and therefore the maximum number of features output from the transformer. |
Geocode
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Search for Geocoded Tweets |
If this parameter is set to Yes, the transformer will restrict its search to geocoded tweets. These are tweets which have been tagged with lat/long location data. The center of gravity of the feature’s geometry will be used as the center point of the search area. Note that Geocoded Tweets may also include non-geocoded tweets if a user has set their location in Twitter settings, and that location falls within the search parameters (but does not have proper lat/long coordinates). In these cases, the TweetSearcher will add an additional attribute: _tweet_geo. To exclude these results, you can attach a Tester transformer to filter out non-geocoded Tweets. Set the test to _tweet_geo = "null". |
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Search Radius/Radius Units |
When searching for geocoded tweets, these parameters control the radius of the search area. The units may be set to Kilometers or Miles, and only tweets within the search radius from the search center point will be returned. |
Twitter Account
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Account |
Select or create a Web Connection to connect to a Twitter account. |
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
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.
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.
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
| These functions manipulate and format strings. | |
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Special Characters |
A set of control characters is available in the Text Editor. |
| Math functions are available in both editors. | |
| Date/Time Functions | Date and time functions are available in the Text Editor. |
| These operators are available in the Arithmetic Editor. | |
| These return primarily feature-specific values. | |
| FME and workspace-specific parameters may be used. | |
| Creating and Modifying User Parameters | Create your own editable parameters. |
Dialog Options - Tables
Transformers with table-style parameters have additional tools for populating and manipulating values.
Table Tools
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Row Reordering
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Enabled once you have clicked on a row item. Choices include:
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Cut, Copy, and Paste
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Enabled once you have clicked on a row item. Choices include:
Cut, copy, and paste may be used within a transformer, or between transformers. |
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Filter
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Start typing a string, and the matrix will only display rows matching those characters. Searches all columns. This only affects the display of attributes within the transformer - it does not alter which attributes are output. |
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Import
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Import populates the table with a set of new attributes read from a dataset. Specific application varies between transformers. |
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Reset/Refresh
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Generally resets the table to its initial state, and may provide additional options to remove invalid entries. Behavior varies between transformers. |
Note: Not all tools are available in all transformers.
FME Community
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Search for all results about the TweetSearcher on the FME Community.
Keywords: TwitterSearcher