FME 2009

Safe Software has announced the release of FME 2009 a spatial data conversion and distribution solution. This new version, which includes releases of FME Desktop and FME Server, has been enhanced to make it even easier for the geospatial industry to access the spatial data they need to use.

Over recent years, three trends have been emerging in the geospatial industry that have increased the demand for improved data interoperability: a rise in the numbers of popularised and widely used formats, a growing interest in spatial data by non-traditional GIS professionals, and vastly larger data volumes resulting from the growing popularity of geographically-referenced data. More than ever before, data users require a better, more efficient way to access the spatial data they need in the applications they prefer.

In response to these industry trends, Safe Software has designed FME 2009 to help organisations better address their data interoperability challenges and ultimately make their spatial data easily accessible to the people who need it, how they need it. The enhancements to FME 2009 give organisations these benefits as they overcome their data interoperability barriers.

The FME 2009 platform has been optimised for processing complex conversions on large volumes of spatial data. Based on test results, most conversions now run approximately 20% faster than using previous versions of FME, with some conversions running as much as twenty times faster. Also, FME Server now natively supports 64-bit Windows, Linux and Solaris for greater processing power when converting, loading and distributing large datasets. Each of these changes means that FME can now convert data into the required format and data model faster than ever before, ensuring quick access to spatial data.

FME 2009 introduces support for more than a dozen emerging formats and has enhanced reading and writing capabilities for several popular formats. Safe Software supports over 200 CAD, GIS, raster, database, 3D and BIM formats, remains committed to offering the broadest range of format support to ensure that users of geospatial data can leverage whichever data formats, systems, and applications they want to use. Newly supported formats include Adobe Geospatial PDF, AutoDesk 3ds, CityGML, IBM Informix Spatial, OpenStreetMap (OSM) XML, and more.

Complex Data Conversions
The FME user interface makes it easier to convert spatial data into the required format and data model. Today, more non-geospatial professionals are beginning to transform and integrate their data with spatial data supplied by other teams which use different applications. FME 2009 reduces the learning curve for these new audiences, ensuring that they can quickly gain access to the data they require within whichever applications they prefer to use.