FME (software)

FME
ReleaseNovember 1996; 29 years ago (1996-11)
Stable release
2026.2.1 / August 11, 2026; 2 months ago (2026-08-11)
Written inC++
Operating systemWindows, MacOS, Linux
TypeGeographic information system, Geospatial ETL
LicenseProprietary commercial software
Websitefme.safe.com Edit this at Wikidata

FME, (also known as Feature Manipulation Engine), is a geospatial extract, transformation and load platform developed by Safe Software, a Vancouver-based software company founded by Don Murray and Dale Lutz.

History

The Safe Software company was started in 1993 by Don Murray and Dale Lutz, who had previously worked together at MDA Space. Their first big project was a contract for the Canadian Government focused on data exchange to track logging activities. The company name itself came out of this project, based upon the acronym for the Spatial Archive and Interchange Format which was the required data exchange method. The FME software itself evolved out of this contract and the first build was released in 1996. Much of the early success of the software was driven by the ability to translate data between CAD and GIS formats, and the interoperability with Esri software.

In January 2024 JMI Equity obtained a minor share of Safe Software. Safe Software wants to triple the net annual revenue in the next five years.

Software

The base product is FME Form (formerly FME Desktop); this is a standalone software package with an interface that enables the user to graphically build workflows for data translation, automation, and format and coordinate conversion. FME Flow (formerly FME Server) is an 'on-premises' solution that permits on demand server based instantiations of tailored FME workflows. FME Flow Hosted (formerly FME Cloud) is similar to FME Flow however is hosted 'as needed' in the AWS Cloud.

FME data transformation workflows typically consist of a combination of the following 'building blocks':

  1. Readers to input from single or multiple data sources in a variety of formats or databases.
  2. Transformers to manipulate, transform and analyse the data.
  3. Writers to output the data in a number of different formats.

Any number of readers, writers and transformers can be used in an FME workflow. A further tool is the Data Inspector, which can present spatial workflow results in a cartographic display.

The ArcGIS Pro software can use the FME engine and workflows as part of the data interoperability extension. In 2015 the FME software was integrated with the What3Words geolocation system.

Use and adoption

As of November 2022, FME has an estimated 0.32% of the total data integration software market. The Information Technology, governmental, utilities, and oil and gas sectors form the largest organisational user base. Examples of the use of FME include routing for emergency fire response, backend data quality management and sub-surface modelling for infrastructure projects, CAD to GIS file conversions, and BIM data extraction for indoor navigation.

Criticism and Reviews

FME is considered a comprehensive platform for BIM data exchange and support of spatial data. Reviews indicate it is strong in the analytic, conversion and interoperability areas, flexible in scope, with a strong user community. However, the cartographic capability is considered poor, interactive editing tools are absent, and the licensing costs are seen as significant.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Build Numbers for FME Versions". Safe Software. Archived from the original on 6 November 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  2. ↑ "Developing a New Transformer Using the FME Plug-in SDK". Safe Software. Archived from the original on 6 November 2022. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
  3. ↑ "FME Downloads". Safe Software. Archived from the original on 6 November 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  4. ↑ "Safe Software Makers of the FME® Platform" (PDF). Safe Software. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 November 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  5. ↑ Luccio, Matteo (11 May 2018). "Freeing the Data". XYHt. Archived from the original on 6 November 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  6. ↑ "US-based JMI Equity buys out Safe Software co-founder in strategic investment". BetaKit. Archived from the original on 22 December 2024. Retrieved 22 December 2024.
  7. ↑ "What is ETL… and How Can it Turn You into a Geospatial Rock Star?". XYHt. 4 June 2020. Archived from the original on 6 November 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  8. ↑ "Safe Software's FME Professional Suite 2003". Direction Mag. Archived from the original on 6 November 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  9. ↑ Plewe, Brandon (1997). GIS Online Information Retrieval, Mapping, and the Internet. OnWord Press. p. 120. ISBN 9781566901376. Archived from the original on 2023-04-12. Retrieved 2023-03-19.
  10. ↑ "Harness the Power of FME Server in the Cloud". Safe Software. Archived from the original on 6 November 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  11. ↑ "FME Transformer Gallery". Safe Software. Archived from the original on 20 December 2022. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
  12. ↑ "ArcGIS Data Interoperability or FME Desktop". Safe Software. Archived from the original on 6 November 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  13. ↑ "what3words Joins Forces with Safe Software". GIM International. Archived from the original on 6 November 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  14. ↑ "Companies using FME". Enlyft. Archived from the original on 6 November 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  15. ↑ "Developing the Digital Sub-surface Model for Crossrail 2". GIM International. Archived from the original on 6 November 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  16. ↑ "1Spatial helps London Fire Brigade achieve 95% faster processing of route queries with FME". GeoConnexion.com. Archived from the original on 6 November 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  17. ↑ "Balfour Beatty VINCI". Safe Software. Archived from the original on 6 November 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  18. ↑ Zhen, Liu; Jing, Changfeng; Chen, Xiuzhong (2012). "Files' Conversion from CAD to GIS Using Spatial Data Conversion Tools Provided by FME". 2012 International Conference on Computer Science and Service System. IEEE. pp. 1939–1942. doi:10.1109/CSSS.2012.484. ISBN 978-0-7695-4719-0. S2CID 10343042.
  19. ↑ Tekavec, Jernej; Lisec, Anka (2020). "3D Geometry-Based Indoor Network Extraction for Navigation Applications Using SFCGAL". ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information. 9 (7): 417. Bibcode:2020IJGI....9..417T. doi:10.3390/ijgi9070417.
  20. ↑ Mitchell, Tyler (2005). Web Mapping Illustrated. O'Reilly Media. p. 18. ISBN 9780596008659. Archived from the original on 12 April 2023. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
  21. ↑ "The 6 Best Geospatial Data Integration Tools to Consider in 2022". Solutions Review. 20 October 2022. Archived from the original on 6 November 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  22. ↑ "Interoperable Data Exchange – A Key Factor for BIM". GIM International. Archived from the original on 6 November 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.