Using timestamp in text format published parameter of FME?

Question

I have an FME workspace (FME 2015.1) that creates an output file, let's say result.xslx. What I would like to do is to build up the output file name from various parameters, e.g. the project name and the creation date like myprojectname_result_20161017.xlsx.

Obviously, the DestDataset_... published parameters cannot be built in such way using the TextEditor like $(project)_result_@timestamp(yyyymmmdd).xlsx. Promising approach is to build up a text published parameter and use this as a source for the DestDataset_... published parameter.

Where the project name is no problem to achieve, I am not able to access the actual date like described in the above way in creating published parameters. So the problem can be reduced to the question:

In FME, how to automaticaly insert the actual date (timestamp) into a text format published parameter?

Answer 1

A TimeStamper will create an attribute with yyyymmdd. Next you can fanout on both filename and sheetname:

Answer 2

The Fanouts are a great idea - probably the easiest way. However, you can also use parameters.

The FME advanced training manual has a section (Shared Parameters) that shows how to embed one parameter inside another, like so:

Output File: $(OutputFolder)\$(Username).txt

To get the date you would use a Scripted Parameter. That can be a TCL or Python script that carries out an action and returns a value.

For example, here's a code snippet that returns a path depending on which platform you are running on:

if {[string match 'C:*' $FME_MacroValues(FME_HOME)]} {
    set realname 'C:\Output\'+$FME_MacroValues(UserFileName)
} else {
    set realname '/Output/'++$FME_MacroValues(UserFileName)
}

return realname

You would just need to use some sort of Python/TCL function to capture the current date and time. I don't know what it would be off hand, but I'm sure there is such a function.

That way you can build up quite a complex output path, perhaps using a combination of embedded parameters and scripted parameters - plus any other sort of parameter you like. For example:

$(ScriptedPlatformPath)\$(ProjectParameter)\$(ScriptedTimestamp).xlxs