Hi Mark, I hoped I would get some hints if I did something wrong and if there is a chance to get the first line of an Excel sheet without error messages...
Wolfgang --- In [email protected], "avtmd" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Thanks, Mark! Well, the mapping file herein started from a workbench, but the lines here and the Excel example are just a very small breakdown of the real thing, it's the "minimum reproduceable problem". I have tried both examples with Workbench as well, but I see exactly the same errors as with the mapping file: Using the "n x y z" definition for the Excel data works well with data with the same header but fails with data without header. Using the "F1 F2 F3 F4" definition works well with data without header (except for dropping the first data line which is not what you appreciate, anyway) and fails for the dataset with header. The Workbench wizard automatically creates a definition of "F1 F2 F3 F4" for the data without header, and the conversion process drops the first line nevertheless. In both error cases FME Workbench fails with the same error message as the mapping file does. So I do not see any difference between mapping file and Workbench. Why we use mapping files: The conversion mentioned is just a small step embedded in a large data processing chain that runs fully automatic and has to be operated frequently. The process works very well and consists of several FME mapping file conversion steps and other programs and scripts. Excel support in FME 2006 was not that good that I went deeper into that, but with 2006 GB I tried again. The Excels are large and complex with many columns and attributes, 3 header lines and irregular data. I do not get data back into the Excel. With INSERT mode I lose header lines and format information, with UPDATE nothing happens although the FME says it had successfully written the correct number of features. I assume the reason is the attribute names. A "-"-sign in an attribute name is automatically converted to "_" in the Workbench for the Excel writer, thus the conversion fails; I had to correct this manually in the mapping file, then it worked; anyway, columns with attribute names including (combinations of?) "-" or "." or " " seem to remain empty when writing Excel (at least I did not find out how you to define them correctly). Above naming problems lead me to the idea that it would make sense to have the possibility to read and write Excel data from the first line onwards, naming the columns in an arbitrary manner (or simply using the F1 F2 ... notation) without any pre-assumptions. By the way, would it be possible to get the corresponding Excel row numbers for each feature? I think that could be an interesting feature for some applications. Thanks again, Wolfgang --- In [email protected], "mark2atsafe" <mark.ireland@> wrote: > > Hi Wolfgang, > Well, I can say it works for me using Workbench - is there any > particular reason you are using a Mapping File? > > At least now you know it can work. In this sort of situation what I > ususally do is set it up in Workbench then save the translation as a > mapping file. Then you can compare FME's version to what you have > created to see what is different. > > Hope this helps > > Mark > --- End forwarded message --- For insights into what's up at Safe Software and what's on the development horizon, visit Safe's blog at spatial-etl.blogspot.com. Safe Software has also made slides available that outline enhancements planned for FME 2007. The slides are from the "Road Ahead" presentation given on Day 2 of the FME Worldwide Users Conference. To view these slides, visit www.safe.com/2006uc. Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fme/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fme/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
