guide.adoc

title	permalink
Guide	guide

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Quick Facts
  • Geometry Support
• Use Cases
  • Reading INTERLIS 1-Data
  • Reading INTERLIS 2-Data
  • Writing INTERLIS 1-Data
  • Writing INTERLIS 2-Data
  • Writing GML-Data
  • Reading and writing INTERLIS-Data
• INTERLIS-Models

Overview

The INTERLIS 2 reader and writer module (ili2fme) provides FME with access to INTERLIS 2 and INTERLIS 1 transfer files.

This documentation assumes you are familiar with FME and the INTERLIS 1 and 2 formats. For more information about FME, please read the FME documentation. For more information about INTERLIS, go to https://www.interlis.ch/.

An alternative guide can be found here.

Features read from an INTERLIS file consist of a series of attribute values. The attribute values may have no geometry. The attribute names are as defined in the INTERLIS model.

The feature type of each INTERLIS feature is the qualified INTERLIS name (for INTERLIS 2, the qualified name of the class; for INTERLIS 1, the qualified name of the table). The mapping of the inheritance hierarchy is done with a super or sub-type strategy.

ili2fme can read and write INTERLIS 1 and 2. However, in most cases you will need an FME script or FME Workbench to write INTERLIS.

Quick Facts

About Quick Facts Tables

Format Type Identifier	ch.ehi.fme.Main
Long Format Name	Swiss INTERLIS (ili2fme)
Reader/Writer	Both
Licensing Level	Professional and above
Dependencies	None
Dataset Type	File
Feature Type	Class name
Typical File Extensions	.xtf, .xml, .itf, .ili
Automated Translation Support	Automated reading
User-Defined Attributes	Yes
Coordinate System Support	No
Generic Color Support	No
Spatial Index	Never
Schema Required	Yes
Transaction Support	No
Geometry Type	xtf_geomtype

Geometry Support

Geometry	Supported?
aggregate	no
circles	stroked
circular arc	yes
donut polygon	yes
elliptical arc	stroked
ellipses	stroked
line	yes
none	yes
point	yes
polygon	yes
raster	no
solid	yes
surface	yes
text	no
z-values	yes

Use Cases

Reading INTERLIS 1-Data

To read INTERLIS 1-data, the Model (.ili) must be known to FME. It can be stored:

• in a model repository on the internet

• in $(FME)\plugins\interlis2\ilimodels

• in a special model directory you specify

• in the same directory than your data

Then you can select an INTERLIS 1-datafile (.itf) and open it with FME (Viewer, Workbench, Universal Translator) and use it.

• All the enumerations from the ITFs will be converted to texts (values).

• If more than one geometry exists, the first geometry will be used as FME geometry, the other ones will be stored as Hex Well Known Binary in Attributes.

Reading INTERLIS 2-Data

Reading INTERLIS 2-data is essentially the same than reading INTERLIS 1-data with the following differences:

• The data comes in XTF-files (and not ITF-files)

• If your data models contain EXTENDS, FME will show all the data in a single "superstructure" – feature type. You will have to use an AttributeFilter on XTF_CLASS to separate the different classes in Workbench. Since ili2fme-4.4.0, the data model may also be imported with a "subclass"-strategy rather than a superclass- strategy. When "subclass" is chosen, a feature type is created for each concrete extended class, whereas one feature type is created per parent class when "superclass" is chosen.

Writing INTERLIS 1-Data

To write INTERLIS 1-data, the process is the following Prerequisites: the INTERLIS model (.ili) has to exist before!

• Set up a Workbench

• Define an Swiss INTERLIS (ili2fme) destination dataset

• Import the feature type definitions from your ILI-model (Destination Data → Import FeatureTypes → Browse to your ILI-file; define the appropriate ili2fme parameters)

• Define a transfer identification for each feature, by setting the format attribute "xtf_id" (e.g. generate it with a counter or map a format attribute like OBJECTID / FID or similar)

• Route your features to the destination feature types (connect the arrows)

• GO!

Note	If the xtf_class format attribute is set, its value supersedes the name of the feature type. This may lead to unexpected results if your features come from an INTERLIS dataset, and xtf_class is still set (to the source class instead of the target class).

Writing INTERLIS 2-Data

To write out INTERLIS 2-data, you will have to follow these steps in addition to the ones explained for INTERLIS 1:

• Create one feature of feature type XTF_BASKETS for each TOPIC (With a Creator / NullGeometryCreator + AttributeCreator)

• Reference this basket in each feature type of the topic, by setting the format attribute "xtf_basket" (e.g. by attaching a constant).

• Write all herited classes to a "superstructure" feature type. (or choose a subclass-strategy)

• Define the qualified INTERLIS class name of each class, by setting the format attribute "xtf_class" in each feature type

Note

you should define the appropriate ili2fme parameters when importing the feature types (such as "superclass" or "subclass" inheritance mapping strategy) XTF_BASKETS features must be created by hand in a common transformation with an INTERLIS 2 writer. xtf_basket format attributes must be set by hand in a common transformation with an INTERLIS 2 writer. xtf_id format attributes must be set/mapped in a common transformation with an INTERLIS 2 writer. You always need to provide fully qualified class names of the target INTERLIS model. For example, the correct parameter might be: "Fallbeispiel.Raumplanung.Bauzone". If the xtf_class format attribute is set, its value supersedes the name of the feature type. This may lead to unexpected results if your features come from an INTERLIS dataset, and xtf_class is still set (to the source class instead of the target class).

Writing GML-Data

Starting with version 5.0.0 ili2fme is able to write GML, according to the ILIGML specification. To write out GML, just follow the steps explained for INTERLIS 2, but select a file to write with extension ".gml".

Reading and writing INTERLIS-Data

When you read and write INTERLIS data, read the sections on reading and writing. In addition, you always (even if writing INTERLIS 1) have to

• set the xtf_class format attribute on every destination feature type to the qualified INTERLIS class name (use an AttributeCreator transformer)!

INTERLIS-Models

Normally ili2fme will read the required INTERLIS-Models as required by your data. Only when you "Import features types" (a FME Workbench menu item) you should specify a model file (a file with the extension ".ili"). You can specify the places that ili2fme should look after the required models by setting the parameter MODEL_DIR. If a file folder doesn’t contain a file named "ilisite.xml" or "ilimodels.xml", ili2fme will scan all files with an extension ".ili". If the folder contains multiple files with extension ".ili" that contain an INTERLIS models with the same name, you will get unexpected results. If a file folder contains a file named "ilisite.xml" or "ilimodels.xml", ili2fme will use the folder as an INTERLIS model repository. "ilimodels.xml" lists models and associates them with files. "ilisite.xml" contains links to other model repositories.