FME World Tour 2017. Presentation by Jos Pyck (VisitFlanders).

1. The difficulties of a simple
trail network
Jos Pyck
VisitFLANDERS

2. Recreational trail networks in Flanders
• Managed by 5 provinces in Flanders
• Common guidelines and coordination by VisitFLANDERS

3. Recreational trail networks in Flanders
#nodes length
Hiking 2769 8.377 km
Biking 3442 13.120 km
Horseback riding 328 1.171 km
Based on datasets published on http://data.toerismevlaanderen.be/
• Published as Open Data
• Reused by app providers,
online routeplanning,
publishers,…
• Reused by non-profit
organizations and the public
sector

4. The Challenge

5. Challenge
Users need route network data that is:
• for the whole of Flanders
• up-to-date
• geometrically correct (<3m accuracy)
• routable (route planners)
Place your screenshot
here

6. Challenge
5 different data sources: Provincial Tourist
Organisations each have their own systems:
≠ data model
≠ ID’s
≠ topological consistency

7. Challenge
Manually merging 5 different data sources is
• error prone
• inefficient (lost updates)
• a huge coordination effort
• not timely (biking season has already started)

8. Challenge
Can we build a solution that automatically normalises,
aggregates, and validates the data?

9. Challenge
VisitFLANDERS put forward these principles:
• provincial solutions remain the authentic source
• corrections are applied at the source
• stable ID’s (ID coupling table) and delta files must
make updates lighter
• stable, canonical data model
• automated topological validation

10. Challenge
VisitFLANDERS put forward these principles:
• provincial solutions remain the authentic source
• corrections are applied at the source
• stable ID’s (ID coupling table) and delta files must make
updates lighter
• Connection of the provincial ID and the Flemish ID via ID
coupling table
• stable, canonical data model
• automated topological validation

11. Challenge
Topological validation rules for the output data:
each node must snap to a trajectory start or
ending.

12. Challenge
Topological validation rule for the output data:
trajectories must not consist of multipart lines

13. FME Server (in the
FME Cloud) to the
rescue

14. FME Server runs a workspace every
hour
FME Server
GeoServer
Web Feature Service
WFS
API
File Server
Data Portal
(S)FTP
HTTP(S)
API
Mail Server
E-mail reports
SMTP
1. Get input data from provincial tourist organisations
2. Normalise the data
3. Assign stable Ids + Match edges
4. Validate topological consistency
5. Write output and delta file

15. FME Server runs a workspace every hour
Transformers:
Joiner,
Neigborfinder, …
Transformers: Neigborfinder,
Snipper, LineOnLineOverlayer,
… HTMLReportGenerator
PythonCaller (FTP)
+ FeatureReader

16. FME Cloud
FME Server +
PostGIS DB instance
was started from
FME Cloud.
100% scalable.
Place your screenshot here

17. The provinces get a daily e-mail with
links to validation report (html / shp)

18. Results
• Solution operational after 5 weeks
• Provincial Tourist Organisations say the validation
report really helped to improve data quality
• > 500 topological errors fixed at the source
• VisitFLANDERS coordinated removal of duplicates and
edge matching at the borders (provinces)

19. Thank you!
Jos Pyck
Consulent Marketing Office
Toerisme Vlaanderen
Grasmarkt 61 - Brussel
toerismevlaanderen.be
data.toerismevlaanderen.be