Developing with FME

"Out-of-the-box" not quite what you're looking for? Then flex your developer skills by extending or integrating FME^® to work on your terms.

With FME's flexible developer components and tools, you can:

• Expand FME's capabilities to fit with your unique business needs and processes
• Create a plug-in to read or write your application's proprietary format
• Extend your application to read/write more formats
• Build a custom data transformer for FME
• Integrate FME Server into your web applications

Expand FME's capabilities to fit with your business needs and processes

• How it works
  FME plays nicely with Python and other programming languages. With Python there's the added advantage that you can simply write your Python code, add a PythonCaller transformer to your FME workspace, and you're all set.
• Licensing requirements
  All you need is a license for FME Desktop. No additional licenses or products are required.
• Examples and resources
  
  • Example: See how the Australian Bureau of Statistics used FME + Python + Oracle to enable automatic quarterly data loading.
  • Blog: Python in GIS
  • Tutorial: Oliver's Python Corner
• Getting started
  Download a free trial of FME Desktop.

Create an FME plug-in to read/write your application's proprietary format

• How it works
  FME's Plug-in SDK includes a comprehensive set of documentation, samples, test cases, and build files to help you quickly create a reader and/or writer for your application's format. The included C++ and Java sample plug-ins are based on an illustrative format, Text Feature Store (TFS), and are distributed with FME as source code and in compiled form so you can use them for testing right out of the box. These samples demonstrate how to handle rich geometry models, variable attribute schemas, settings dialog input, coordinate system handling and more.
• Licensing requirements
  A development license for FME Desktop (Professional edition or higher) is all you need to build and distribute your plug-in. Contact us to request a development license. If you need our assistance in developing, testing or promoting your plug-in, please contact us to discuss your plans.
• Examples and resources
  
  • Case Study: Read how SevenCs quickly built an FME S-57 writer
  • FAQ: Get answers to common FME Plug-in SDK questions
• Getting started
  Download a free trial of FME Desktop. When installing, select the SDK option. Everything you need to create a new FME plug-in is located in the "pluginbuilder" folder.

Extend your application to read/write more formats

• How it works
  With its ability to read and write data in over 275 different formats, FME is the dominant platform of choice for developers who want to extend the format reach of their applications. If your application has its own proprietary format, you can use FME's Plug-in SDK to create a plug-in that reads and/or writes this format. (See previous section for more details on the plug-in) Then to FME-enable your application, simply author a data transformation workflow (workspace) in FME Workbench and then integrate the IFME workspace runner into your application. Once your clients install FME on their client machines, access to additional FME-supported formats is automatically enabled.
• Licensing requirements
  If you plan to redistribute the FME workspace with your application and invite customers to purchase an FME Desktop license from us, no additional licensing is required. If you prefer to integrate and/or resell a custom version of FME Desktop with your application, please contact us to discuss OEM licensing.
• Examples and resources
  
  • Case Study: Read how Makai integrated FME into their custom submarine cable planning system..
  • Sneak Peek: IFME workspace runner in FME 2011
  • FAQ: Get answers to common FME Plug-in SDK questions
• Getting started
  Download a free trial of FME Desktop.

Create a custom data transformer for FME

• How it works
  FME includes the ability to create a custom transformer so you can perform unique data transformations.
• Licensing requirements
  If you would like our help in marketing or selling your transformer, contact us to discuss. Otherwise, no additional licensing is required.
• Examples and resources
  Currently, Safe Software helps market and sell two transformer extensions:
  • Curvefitter for linear optimization
  • MRFCleaner for geometric corrections
  A wide range of general examples are also available on fmepedia.
• Getting started
  • Download a free trial of FME Desktop.
  • To publish your Custom Transformer to the FME Store, please contact us directly.
  
  

Integrate FME Server into your web applications

• How it works
  FME Server ships with a REST API which enables you to tightly integrate FME Server's powerful data transformation, distribution, and loading capabilities directly into your web interfaces and applications. A range of samples are also included. FME Server also includes APIs for Java, .NET and C++ if you wish to have complete control over the integration.
• Licensing requirements
  Simply purchase a license for FME Server and you'll have access to our full set of APIs.
• Examples and resources
  
  • Whitepaper: FME Server Architecture
  • Blog: Writing Applications on Top of FME Server
• Getting started
  Contact us to request a development license for FME Server.