Creating an FME Flow AR App

Introduction

Once we define our transformation, we can run it locally and generate an FMEAR file on our local machine. Our goal is, however, different—we want to be able to augment any location with our data within the full data coverage. This means that we need to run the workspace from an iOS mobile device using the current location as a parameter. In this tutorial, we will publish our workspace to FME Flow and set up an FME Flow AR app, which can be directly used with the FME Realize app. 

Requirements

• FME Form 2025.1+ 
• FME Flow 2025.1+
• An iOS mobile device with FME Realize app installed 

Step-by-step Instructions

Part 1: Publishing the Workspace to FME Flow

1. Open Workspace

Open the UndergroundUtilities.fmwt workspace in FME Workbench 2025.1+ or continue in the same workspace created in the previous tutorial. 

2. Publish to FME Flow

Click the Publish button on the toolbar. In the Publishing wizard, connect to a FME Flow 2025.1+ instance. For complete steps on how to publish to FME Flow, expand the Publish to FME Flow section below the parameters. 

• Repository: AR Tutorial (create a new repository) 
• Upload Data File: Enabled 
• Select Files: 
  • UndergroundInfrastructure.sqlite
  • Hydrant0.zip
  • WaterValve.zip
  • Manholecover2.jpg
  • Catchbasin.jpg
• Registered Services:
  • Data Streaming
    • Click Edit: Confirm Writers in Stream is [FMEAR] 

Note that in a real-world scenario, you may want to connect to your actual data directly, without copying the whole dataset to FME Flow. Refer to the necessary FME Flow documentation about accessing data.

• To publish a workspace from FME Workbench to FME Flow, follow the generic instructions below using the specific details listed in the article. If the article does not have a specific repository name listed, we recommend creating a Training repository. If a specific service is not listed in the article, please use the default Job Submitter.

  1. Click Publish

  From the File menu, click Publish to FME Flow, or from the toolbar ribbon, click Publish.

  Toolbar Ribbon:
  
  
  File Menu:
  

  2. Add a Web Connection

  In the Publish to FME Flow wizard, a FME Flow connection needs to be selected or created. To create an FME Flow connection, click the drop-down under FME Flow Connection and select Connect to FME Flow. For more information on creating or managing web connections, see the documentation.

  
   

  The following instructions are for a basic connection, but if your FME Flow is set up for Microsoft Azure, SAML, or Windows Credentials, please see the Using Web Connections to Connect to FME Flow documentation.

  An FME Flow Connection dialog will appear; here, we will set up the connection. The connection information and credentials can be obtained from your FME Flow Administrator. If you have not yet logged into FME Flow after installing, please do so prior to continuing, as you will be prompted to change the password from the default:
  Username: admin
  Password: admin

  • • Web Service: FME Flow

    • Server URL: http://localhost

    • Connection Name: Training FME Flow

    • Authentication: Basic

    • Username: your username

    • Password: your password

    Click OK. FME will try to authenticate the connection. Once authenticated, this connection will be available whenever you publish a workspace. The connection will only need to be created once.

  • • Web Service: FME Server

    • Connection Name: Training FME Server

    • Server URL: http://localhost

    • Username: your username

    • Password: your password

    Click Authenticate. FME will try to authenticate the connection. Once authenticated, this connection will be available whenever you publish a workspace. The connection will only need to be created once.

    Click Next to move to the Create Repository page of the dialog

  3. Create Repository

  Repositories are used to store groups of related items that have been published to FME Flow (similar to directories). Items such as workspaces, source data, custom formats, custom transformers, and templates can be published to a repository.

  If you need to create a new repository, click on the New button next to Repository Name. Enter the repository name and an optional description. Click OK to close the Create New Repository dialog.
  

  To select an existing repository, click the drop-down next to Repository Name and select the desired repository.
  

  4. Upload Files

  Some workspaces require additional files to run correctly on FME Flow, so these need to be uploaded along with the workspace. To upload files, enable Upload data files at the bottom of the dialog.

  When files are uploaded through the publishing menu, they are stored within the repository. If you want to upload folder files (such as geodatabases) or to specify where the files stored, the Select Files button allows you to do that. For detailed instructions on how to use the Select Files button, see the documentation.

  5. Register Services

  The final step before publishing a workspace is to register services. Services control how the data will be output after the workspace is run.

  

  Services return results in different forms:

  • Data Download Service returns results as a downloadable zip file

  • Data Streaming Service returns results as a data stream

  • Job Submitter Service accepts and runs workspace job requests

  • KML Network Link returns a KML Network Link that can be used in Google Earth

  • Notification Service allows for event-driven messaging

  Typically, the Job Submitter is always enabled, but multiple services can be enabled. Once services have been enabled, click Publish.

  6. Review Translation Log

  To confirm whether or not the workspace was published successfully, check the Translation Log. The Translation log will show which repository you published to, which files were included, and a quick link to run the workspace.

Part 2: Creating FME Flow AR app

After the workspace is published, we can run it as a normal workspace in our browser, however, the *.fmear files are usually not recognized as a streamable type such as HTML or JPEG. FME Flow will create a data download instead. FME Realize on the other hand, can stream the *.fmear files. We need to create an FME Flow AR workspace app, which will be accessible through FME Realize.

1. Open FME Flow

Log in to FME Flow 2025.1+. 

2. Create AR App

Expand Flow Apps on the side menu, and click Create AR App. 

On the App Details page, set the following:

• Name: <YourName>-UtilityApp (this value must be unique)
• Title: <YourName> Infrastructure (This is what mobile users see on their screen)
• Description: <leave blank or enter a short description> 
• Repository: <Repository name with workspace>
• Workspace: UndergroundUtilities.fmw
• Expiration: <leave as default>
• Device Geolocation: 
  • Autopopulate Geolocation: Enabled
  • Geolocation Parameter: LOCATION
  • Hide Parameter in App: Disabled

Location Parameter in FME Flow

In the Device Geolocation parameters, if the workspace contains a suitable parameter such as Geometry or Text types, the Auto Populate Geolocation Parameter can be enabled. Enabling this parameter enables the selection of a parameter that contains location information, in this case, LOCATION. The LOCATION parameter is from the Part 6: Anchor and Location Parameter section of the previous tutorial. 

The Hide Parameter in App parameter will hide the LOCATION parameter in the FME Realize app. This option can be used if we would like to hide the internal details of the app from a user, however, hiding this parameter won’t allow its manual adjustment, which might be needed for a high-accuracy model placement. A recommended use for hiding location is when high accuracy is not required and a typical GPS error of 5-10 meters won’t play a significant role in the visualization, for example, if we would like to show stores on a popular street.

Since our dataset is not made from real data and has no real geolocation, filling it out won’t make any difference for the model visualization; however, this is a very important parameter for the real data visualization.

Parameters Section

All workspace parameters, aside from the one used for location, are displayed in the Parameters section. Here, we can decide which parameters we want to show in the FME Flow AR app on a mobile device. We can, for example, use one workspace for two (or more) AR apps, in which we will have different parameters exposed and hidden. For beginners, we may want to hide advanced parameters, but show them to more advanced users.

App Appearance Customization

The Customize section allows selecting an icon for the FME Flow AR app that will be displayed on the home screen of the FME Realize app as a big button or tile, so you have an opportunity to get creative with the button design. 

Other parameters of this section control the look of the app page and can depict your brand style.

Run Immediately parameter

This section also contains the Run Immediately parameter. If it is on, FME Realize will try to load the FME Flow AR app without opening the app page—once you press the app tile, the AR view will open and load your model. This is the easiest way to experience AR, however, it bypasses the description and any parameters your workspace may have.

3. Finish Creating App

Once you finish setting the workspace, the location parameter, all other parameters, the custom look and running option, click Create and your FME Flow AR app will be created. 

From now on, it is available to you through FME Realize. If you need to modify it, go to FME Flow > Flow Apps > Manage AR Apps, find your app and change any of the settings we discussed in this part of the tutorial.

4. Open App in FME Realize

Continue to the next tutorial to learn how to open the FME Flow AR App in FME Realize.