Vancouver, June 24, 2009 – Safe Software, the leaders in spatial ETL (extract, transform and load) and the makers of FME®, today introduced support for Bathymetric Attributed Grid (BAG), enhancing their raster ETL offerings in the marketplace.

FME now enables organizations to translate and convert data between BAG, a widely recognized raster-based bathymetric data exchange format, and over 225 other formats supported by FME. A non-proprietary raster-based bathymetric data exchange format, BAG was created to facilitate the processing and storage of large volume multi-beam sonar data and is commonly used by the hydrographic community.

"We are very pleased that Safe Software has responded to our request to support this format," says Matt Austin, Physical Scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). "This is a very important format for NOAA and now by using FME, we will be able to save large amounts of time in updating our data and making it accessible to others."

New support in FME for the BAG format includes translation to and from the format, as well as data conversion capabilities. Users can now consume data from other formats for storage in the BAG format, and push data stored in BAG out to other formats as required. Translation support for this format includes the handling of the data model's two bands – elevation and uncertainty – as well as collection of metadata from the source. Users are also able to convert BAG data, individually manipulating the format's two bands, elevation and uncertainty, as required.

"Responding to our customers' needs is of great importance to us at Safe Software," says Dale Lutz, Vice President of Software Development. "We're pleased our support for the BAG format will enable NOAA and other organizations working with this format to more easily access the data they need to use."

Safe Software introduced support for the first raster format in 2002 and FME now supports over 45 raster formats. FME's unparalleled raster manipulation capabilities provide flexible data transformation options when working with interesting multiband formats such as BAG.

FME enables users to translate data between raster and other GIS, CAD, database, 3D/BIM and web formats and manipulate it as required. Users can also integrate their raster data with disparate datasets, and distribute the combined information over the web for end user access.

Organizations interested in learning more about Safe Software and FME can visit www.safe.com.

About Bathymetric Attributed Grid (BAG)
Bathymetric Attributed Grid (BAG) is a non-proprietary file format developed by the Open Navigation Surface Working Group for storing and exchanging bathymetric data. For more information, visit www.marinemetadata.org/references/bag.

About Safe and FME
Safe Software powers the flow of spatial data with its software platform, FME. The recognized standard in spatial ETL (extract, transform and load), FME is the only complete solution for data conversion. It delivers the most extensive format support for data translation and integration, and provides unlimited flexibility in data model transformation and distribution.

FME is used by thousands of customers worldwide in a variety of industries including government, utilities, and petroleum. Its powerful data access technology also makes FME the choice of leading GIS, CAD, and database vendors for integration into their own solutions. Designed for true data interoperability, FME unleashes spatial data so people can use it where, when, and how they want to. For more information, visit www.safe.com.

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Media Contact:
Lakhvir Brar
Acting Director of Marketing
Safe Software Inc.
(604) 501-9985 ext. 274
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