5 FME Form Tricks You Should Try! 

Struggling with different schemas between your input and output data? I have a trick in FME Form for you! 

Simply right-click on a connection within your workspace and select "Auto Connect Attributes". This intelligent feature will automatically link attributes with matching names (using smart recognition like ID = identifier), saving you time and effort. Then Right-click again on the connection and choose "Replace Link with AttributeManager".
This will create a pre-parametered AttributeManager, allowing you to easily rename and manage your attributes for a seamless data flow.
No need to do anything!

Working with JSON data? Some transformers like JSONFragmenter, Extractor... need a JSON query. However, getting the right JSON query can sometimes get a little complicated depending on the JSON file you're working with...
The JSONReader in FME offers a fantastic way to browse through our JSON to automatically create JSON queries. 

First, add a JSON Reader to your canvas and point it to your JSON document. Then, click on "Parameters". In the "Schema Scan Mode" dropdown, select "JSON Query". You can then assign a name to your Feature Type and use the "..." button to bring up a wizard that helps you directly locate and select the key you wish to retrieve. 

Once selected, your JSON query is conveniently stored as a string within the 'Query' attribute, ready for further processing.
You now can use that automatically made JSON query and use it in JSONExtractor/Fragmenter!

Need to perform calculations based on preceding or subsequent data, like month[1] + month[2] cumulative rainfall? 

Add an AttributeManager to your workspace and open it. Expand the "Advanced - Attribute Value Handling" section and enable "Adjacent Feature Attributes". 

For our rainfall example, we'd set "Number of Prior Features" to 1, as we're looking at the previous month's data. This allows you to construct expressions like : @Value(feature[-1].Average_Precipitation_inches)+@Value(Average_Precipitation_inches) in an Arithmetic Editor to calculate cumulative values.

The Recorder transformer is an invaluable and underrated tool for debugging, testing, and sharing data within the FME ecosystem. It efficiently saves any incoming feature into an FME Feature Store (FFS) file. 

Think of an FFS file as a versatile data dump – it can handle any geometry type (2D, 3D, rasters, point clouds), list attributes, and various projections, all at one location in your workflow. This makes it perfect for quickly capturing a snapshot of your data at any point in your FME project.

Recorder vs. FFS Writers: When to Use Which? While both can produce FFS files, their primary uses differ:

• Recorder: Primarily used for producing mid-workflow data dumps for debugging and workspace isolation. It's excellent for troubleshooting complex, long-running processes or exporting a quick snapshot before sensitive operations (e.g., updating database data).

• Feature Writers (FFS Writers): These are formal FFS writers that provide full control over the export, including schema definition or dynamic writing, and spatial indexes. They are designed for structured, persistent data output specifically for FME ecosystems
  
  

An interesting distinction to note is "RECORD" mode versus "RECORD_PASS_THROUGH". When the Recorder is set to "RECORD," it saves all features to the FFS file before continuing any other FME processes. This ensures that a complete and consistent file exists, even if your workflow encounters an issue later on, making it ideal for troubleshooting complex or long-running processes.

For teams and enterprises, maintaining consistent workspace organization is highly recommended.
FME allows you to define team-specific bookmark color codes for better visual management. 

To do this, navigate to "Preferences > Appearance" and locate the "Bookmark Options" section. Here, select "User Defined Palette" for your Bookmark Color Palette. This will bring up a menu where you can customize color names and define colors for both FME's light and dark modes.

Even better, this menu provides "Import" and "Export" buttons for these bookmark color settings. This means you can easily create a .json file of your custom palette and share it with your co-workers. They can then import this file to instantly apply the standardized color scheme, making it an easy way to customize and harmonize FME workspaces across your team.