Developing Custom Transformers to Simplify a Sanitary Sewer Geometric Network

Carl Von StettenCCCSD

About Me

GIS Analyst, CCCSDCarl Von Stetten

Last Year on the FME

World Tour…

Our GoalGIS will serve as the authority of record for the inventory of District infrastructure assets.

Our ProblemGIS sewer main features were not always 1:1 with physical pipes, sometimes they were n:1.

Historical Context…• From 1970’s thru mid-1990’s, infrastructure

maps produced by manual drafting• Annotation overload!

…More Historical Context…• 1996 MGE deployed – similar hardcopy format,

just maintained with different tools• Sewer mains with attribute changes stored as

“minisegs”

# Main ID

Length

Diam.

Material

Job

1 75D1 M 70.5 75D1 80 131 6 VC X1558

2 75D1 80 75D1 81 114 8 CI X1558

3 75D1 81 75D1 82 18 8 CI X1558

4 75D1 82 75D1 83 100 8 CI X1558

5 75D1 83 75D1 84 18 8 CI X1558

6 75D1 84 75D1 M70 75 6 VC X1558

…Almost Caught Up…• 2005-06 GeoMedia deployed – somewhat refined

hardcopy format, new tools and custom code• Automated process to calculate “majorsegs” from

“minisegs”# Majorseg Main ID1 75D1 M 70.5 75D1 M 70 75D1 M 70.5 75D1 80

2 75D1 M 70.5 75D1 M 70 75D1 80 75D1 81

3 75D1 M 70.5 75D1 M 70 75D1 81 75D1 82

4 75D1 M 70.5 75D1 M 70 75D1 82 75D1 83

5 75D1 M 70.5 75D1 M 70 75D1 83 75D1 84

6 75D1 M 70.5 75D1 M 70 75D1 84 75D1 M70

So Where Are We?• “minisegs” solved the problem of tracking the

attribute changes over the length of a sewer main• “majorsegs” solved the problem of linking to external

databases (CMMS, CCTV, hydraulic modeling, etc.)

• But… still can’t reliably link back to GIS from the external databases 1:1• Which single GIS feature represents the whole pipe?

Time to Rethink Things

How can we consolidate the “minisegs” into single features without losing any information?

What do we do with “miniseg” data?

Pipe attribute changes tracked by “minisegs”

Need to track

spatially? New solution

Pipe material Yes Copy “miniseg” to ssAttributeChangeLine FC

Liner material/method Yes Copy “miniseg” to ssAttributeChangeLine FC

Diameter Yes Add reducer fitting in ssFitting FC – make it a defining structure

Slope (grade breaks, vertical curves) Yes Move mid-pipe elevation changes to ssElevationPoint FC, retain start/end invert elevations on pipe

Job number(s) No Move to a related JobLinks tableEncasement Yes Copy “miniseg” to ssCasing FC, remove

encasement attributes from pipe

What do we do with “miniseg” data?A few leftover details:• When consolidated pipe has multiple materials set the

MATERIAL attribute to “Varies”• Same for multiple liner materials/methods

(LINERMATERIAL/LINERMETHOD)• If the “minisegs” can be consolidated at all before copying to

ssAttributeChangeLine, do so• Can consolidate job and slope changes if material or liner doesn’t

change between adjacent “minisegs”• Sum the total length of the consolidated pipes and

consolidated ssAttributeChangeLines

How do we accomplish

this?

• With FME of course! (duh!)

• Using the LineJoiner transformer

• Using a reuseable Custom Transfomer

Let’s see this in FME…

The Mighty Workbench!

MiniSeg Consolidation to Whole Pipes

MiniSeg Consolidation to ssAttributeChangeLine

MiniSegJoiner Custom Transformer

MiniSegJoiner User Parameters

Define inside Custom Transformer

Set attributes on each placement

Move Job info to a Relate

JobHandler Custom Transformer

JobHandler User ParametersDefine inside Custom Transformer

Set attributes on each placement

Custom Transformers

rock!!!

• Keeps workbench DRY (don’t repeat yourself)

• Configureable behavior (through user parameters)

• Encapsulate your task logic

Thank you!Carl Von StettenEmail: cvonstetten@centralsan.orgWeb: http://centralsan.org

http://about.me/cfvonnerTwitter: @cfvonnerSlack: @cfvonner

http://gisdevs.slack.com signup: http://bit.ly/1HxiNv1