What are the different feet units in FME Coordinate Systems

Question

What are the different feet units in FME Coordinate Systems?

Answer

Different Types of the Foot Unit

A "foot measurement" in FME doesn't refer to the size of the users' shoes but to the definition of the unit of measurement called the "foot". There are several kinds of foot measurement in the world, FME supports these:

FME Unit Name

1. Foot
2. IFoot
3. ClarkeFoot
4. SearsFoot
5. GoldCoastFoot

Unit Description

1. U.S. Survey Feet
2. International Feet
3. Clarke Feet
4. Sears Feet
5. Gold Coast Feet

Unit Abbreviation

1. FT
2. IFT
3. CF
4. SF
5. GCF

Unit Length (in metres)

1. 0.30480060960121920243
2. 0.30480000000000000000
3. 0.3047972651151
4. 0.30479947153867624624
5. 0.30479971018150881758

Note that there is a definite difference between the International Foot and the US Survey Foot. Make sure the coordinate system you are using is defined with the correct working unit for your data (this goes for all units, not just feet).

For ArcGIS users: The unit called "FOOT" in ArcGIS is comparible to the IFoot (or International Foot) in FME, with a value of 0.3048m. The FME "Foot" (US Survey Foot) is known as FOOT_US in ArcGIS.