Airtable Writer Feature Type Parameters

To access feature type parameters, click the gear icon on a feature type in the workspace. This opens the Feature Type Parameter Editor.

Tip  To always display the editor in FME Workbench, you can select View > Window Layout > Parameter Editor.

General

All feature types share similar General parameters, which may include Feature Type Name, Reader or Writer information, and Geometry.

In most Writer Feature Type parameter dialogs, you can also control Dynamic Schema Definitions. Some database formats accept Table or Index Qualifier prefixes on the output table feature type.

Dataset

Feature Operation

This parameter specifies how records will be written into the destination table. Supported feature operations are described below.

Note  Record IDs provided for the Update/Replace/Delete operations must be provided. If the value in the Record ID attribute is missing, the feature will be skipped. However, if the record ID attribute value does not correspond to an existing record, the translation will fail.

Option

Description

If the Record Does Not Exist

If the Record Exists

Insert

Adds a record into the table.

A new record will be inserted.

Not applicable.

Update

Updates an existing record in the table.

A Record ID Attribute containing a valid record ID must be specified in the Row Selection group.

If the record ID is invalid, the translation will fail.

Changes only fields in the corresponding record which are contained in the input feature.

Replace

Replaces an existing record in the table.

A Record ID Attribute containing a valid record ID must be specified in the Row Selection group.

If the record ID is invalid, the translation will fail.

Changes fields in the corresponding record which are contained in the input feature.Fields not specified in the input feature will be set to NULL.

Delete

Deletes an existing record in the table.

A Record ID Attribute containing a valid record ID must be specified in the Row Selection group.

If the record ID is invalid, the translation will fail.

The writer deletes existing row(s) corresponding to the input feature.

fme_db_
operation

The feature operation will be determined by the attribute fme_db_operation on each input feature.

A Record ID Attribute containing a valid record ID must be specified in the Row Selection group.

The value of fme_db_operation will be processed according to the steps below.

Note   The processing steps listed below depend on a format's available Feature Operation options.
  • If the value is null, empty, or missing, it will be treated as an Insert.
  • The value will next be matched to Insert, Update, and Delete, case-insensitively.
  • If there is no match, the feature will be skipped.
  • If there is a match, the matched feature operation will be performed on the feature.
 Same as Insert. Same as Insert.

Row Selection

Note  This group is enabled (and mandatory) when the feature operation is set to Update, Replace, Delete, or fme_db_operation.

Record ID Attribute

Specify an attribute on the incoming features which will contain record IDs. Record IDs should correspond to valid records in the table; otherwise, this could cause the translation to fail.

The default value for this parameter is the airtable_record_id attribute, which is automatically generated on features output from the Airtable Reader.

Table Options

Let Server Cast Values

Whether to rely on Airtable for attribute value casting and validation.

Yes – Airtable will attempt to cast attribute values which do not match field constraints. Enabling this option may not preserve data integrity.

No (default) – The Airtable Writer will perform client-side validation of input feature values. If a value is invalid, then the feature will be skipped and a warning will be logged.

If a write fails due to an invalid feature value, then the translation will terminate.

Example Value

Server Field Type

Server Casts Values set to Yes

Server Casts Values set to No

2021-01–01T02:23:30.000Z

date

This value is accepted and only the date 2021-01-01.

The value is rejected (this is a datetime value, not a date), and the feature will be rejected and skipped.

1234

date

This value is rejected and the translation terminates.

The value is rejected, and the feature will be rejected and skipped.

d

singleSelect (with valid choices [‘a’,’b’,’c’]

The value is accepted and ‘d’ is added as a list of valid options to the singleSelect field.

The value is rejected, and the feature will be rejected and skipped.

Remove Mentions

Whether to convert mention tokens to plaintext. Airtable supports the usage of mention tokens in multilineText and richText fields which allow collaborators to be tagged. Mention tokens can only be created through the Airtable web GUI and are only valid for the record they are created in.

Yes (default) – The username will be extracted from mention tokens, allowing mention tokens created in other records to be written as plaintext in other records.

No – Mention tokens will be preserved, but they must be written to the record in which they originated (either in a Replace or Update feature operation).