Sep' 2122, 2006

1
v
Sep. 21-22, 2006
FME Worldwide User Conference - Vancouver
Tcl and Mapping Files Best Practices Peter
Laulund, National Survey and Cadastre, Denmark
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Agenda

• Tcl plays a big role in my mapping files. It is
  used for
• batch processing
• dynamically writing part of the mapping file
• processing the features
• and pre and post processing the data.
• In this presentation I will discuss different
  aspects of how I structure a mapping file, with
  special focus on TCL. 

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Demo Mapping File Structure
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Structure of Mapping File Complex

• Build by modules
• Placed in a common structure
• Metadata in tables
• Transformation attributes with common prefix
  ex. kms_
• kms_feature_type, kms_feature_code

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Different Levels of Tcl in FME
fmeObjects tcl
fme.exe script.tcl
FME_BEGIN/END_TCL
INCLUDE script
Tcl2 source Tcl2( proc )
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Command Line

• Syntaks - Fme.exe script.tcl
• Used for batch processing and chaining together
  more than one process together

proc spilflyt global header fil
lappend cmd fme.exe MAIN.FME --Modul FLYT
.. lappend cmd --from
FME_GetAttribute from lappend cmd --to
FME_GetAttribute to eval exec
cmd 2gt NUL eval exec fmeview.exe /ownffs
gsParth2Appspil/fil
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INCLUDE .. script

• Used to initiate the mapping file
• putting in MACRO ltnamegt ltvaluegt pairs
• Lookup tables
• _DEF lines
• INCLUDING Factorys or modules

INCLUDE switch -- (Modul)
\
SPIL puts "MACRO SourceFormat
TEXTLINE" \ INIT
puts "MACRO DestFormat FFS"
\ FLYT puts "MACRO
SourceFormat FFS"
\ puts "MACRO
DestFormat FFS"
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Tcl2 and _at_Tcl()

• Work on the feature and dataset level
• Has a global namespace

Tcl2 set gsParth2App (mf_root)
\ set
gx0 (x0) set gy0 (y0) set gdxy (dxy)
\ source
(FME_MF_DIR_UNIX)/TCL/(Modul).TCL
proc inittilpasBrik id variable
brikPos FME_Execute Bounds xmin xmax ymin
ymax FME_Execute Offset expr
brikPos(id,x) - FME_GetAttribute xmax
expr
brikPos(id,y) - FME_GetAttribute ymin
FME_UnsetAttributes xmin xmax ymin ymax
skak_font fme_text_size fme_text_string
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Tcl
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FME_BEGIN/END_TCL

• Used to pre- and post-processing the translation
• creating directorys and copying documentation to
  dataset
• zipping the dataset
• emailing
• copying the data to a FTP server
• logging the translation to a database or file

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Conclusion

• Tcl works on many levels in the mapping file
• It gives a dynamic dimension to mapping files
• You can manipulate both attributes and geometry
• The global namespace means that Tcl is more than
  just a new function
• It can integrate FME with other programs

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Links

• http//wiki.tcl.tk/
• Wiki about tcl and tk with many examples
• http//jamesthornton.com/tcl/8.4.2/
• tcl and tk documentation