We’d like to welcome you to the first issue of the Safe Insider (previously called the FME Insider). To start the New Year off with a big bang, we are pleased to announce the release of FME 2003 (Press Release).

If you're an AMC holder, we invite you to upgrade to this new release. We will also send you the latest version on CD in approximately 2-4 weeks. If you're not an AMC holder, you can still download an evaluation version.

Download the latest version of FME from our Download Centre.

Below is a quick summary of several new key features and additions made to FME. For a detailed list of changes in FME 2003, visit http://www.safe.com/products/fme/whatsnew.htm.

If you’re still new to FME or have never used FME Workbench, sit back, relax, and enjoy several movie screen captures with voice-overs that provide an introduction to using FME Suite components. These provide the fastest way to get up to speed on getting the most out of FME. Movies can be found on the web site here.

ONLINE HELP SYSTEM
We have created completely new online help for the FME Universal Translator, FME Workbench, FME Universal Viewer, and the Coordinate System Gallery. This new help system makes FME even easier to explore and learn.

DATASET MERGING
FME 2003 makes it very easy to merge large numbers of datasets. The dataset choosing interfaces of the FME Universal Translator, FME Workbench, and the FME Universal Viewer have been extended to include point-and-click multi-dataset merging with wildcards and directory recursion.

WORKBENCH
FME 2003 features an improved Workbench. A large number of productivity enhancing refinements have been made, and much more of the processing power of FME has been exposed. For example, Workbench now fully supports lists, greatly expanding the class of problems that you can solve using Workbench.

FORMATS
FME 2003 features a number of new formats including SVG writing, Autodesk Map 6 Object Data reading, and Mercator MCF reading and writing. We added a generic XML writer for non-spatial data, and updated the GML reader and writer to support multiple schemas and GML 2.1. As well, the OS MasterMap support has been extended to handle address points. FME now supports MapInfo version 7 files, and the GeoMedia reader and writer now work with GeoMedia 5.

APPLICATION EXTENDERS
An exciting application of our technology is the third-party extensions we include with FME. We are working hard to have our technology work seamlessly within all major GIS and web-mapping tools. We welcome your feedback on this initiative.

FME OBJECTS
FME Objects now supports .NET – any .NET language such as C# or VB.NET can be used to write a .NET FME Objects application . In addition, we created a QuickStart guide to quickly and effectively introduce potential FME Objects developers to FME Objects development.

Learn more about these services on our web site. Be sure to read up on our new Solution Assistance Service, which is a low-cost way to get our experts helping you solve your data translation challenges.

We have also revamped the FME Training course based on client feedback. The course has been expanded to include even more advanced FME topics and practical hands-on exercises using FME formats. Our FME course now stresses Workbench rather than Mapping Files. FME Workbench now lets users completely control their data translation and transformation tasks by graphically adjusting the way their data flows from its source to the destination.

It is a 2-day course to really acquaint existing and potential FME users with how FME "thinks" and works, and with how to use Workbench most effectively.

Preview the 2003 FME Training schedule and course outline today. AMC holders should be sure to take advantage of the specially priced sessions hosted in our Surrey offices. Spaces fill up quickly, so register early!

In it you'll find out more about what's going on at Safe and what kinds of products and services we offer. We hear "I didn't know Safe/FME/Workbench did that...!" so often that we thought we'd try to showcase some of the lesser known features of our products. You'll also see a picture or two of a few famous Safe celebrities in there somewhere.... An online version of the newsletter is available here.

AMC holders will get a hardcopy of this with their FME 2003 CD sometime in the next week or two.

We are always looking for practical examples of solutions achieved by our customers using our products, as well as informational white papers. Do you have an interesting solution using our products? Submit your information online.

If your case study is selected and featured on our website, you will receive coveted Safe Software merchandise!

These last few months we have been working to give the website a brand new look and feel. The site has undergone some noticeable bodywork: Colors have changed, navigation has shifted, some sections have changed names and new features have appeared. Longtime readers will notice that many of the early design elements still exist, but the color scheme is different and several navigation capabilities have been dramatically redone.

Take a look.