Extract text from FME Feature Store files (FFS)
To convert FFS Feature Store files to another format, you need FME Desktop or other GIS software.
To convert other file formats to the "Proprietary Spatial Data" file type, you need software like FME Desktop or a similar tool.
The .FFS (FME Feature Store) file is a proprietary spatial data format used internally by FME Desktop (recently rebranded as FME Form) from Safe Software. It acts as a high-speed data cache or intermediary format during complex spatial ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) workflows. FME uses these files to temporarily store geographic features, 2D/3D geometries, coordinate system parameters, and attribute metadata while translating data between hundreds of different formats.
The .FFS format is heavily restricted and notoriously problematic for data sharing. It is a closed, proprietary file designed exclusively for the FME ecosystem. You cannot natively open it in standard GIS software like QGIS or ArcGIS Pro without local FME integration. Furthermore, FFS files can consume massive amounts of disk space because they store unoptimized schema details during active processing. If a colleague sends you an FFS file, it is virtually useless unless you own a commercial FME license.
To make this spatial data usable, you must convert the .FFS file into standard geographic formats. The best conversion targets are SHP (Esri Shapefile) for legacy GIS systems, GEOJSON for modern web mapping, or GDB (File Geodatabase) for complex spatial relationships. If you only need the tabular data, extracting attributes to a CSV is optimal. Be aware that exporting out of the native FFS environment might flatten nested lists or complex multi-part 3D geometries that FFS supports internally.
This file format is exceptionally difficult to process outside of its native environment. Because .FFS relies on a closed binary specification, standard online converters consistently fail to read its proprietary spatial encoding. Often, only the original FME software can properly read or export the data. We can inspect the file's hex headers, identify its internal structure, and frequently extract underlying text strings or attribute metadata, even when complete geometric conversion is blocked by proprietary limits.
Convert.Guru analyzes your FFS file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted BIN files.
If you want to convert FFS file to SHP, KML, KMZ, GPX, GEOJSON, TOPOJSON, TIF, TIFF, ECW, SID, IMG or DEM, you can use FME Desktop or similar software from the "Spatial Data Transformation Cache" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert LAZ, KMZ, DTM, CSV, DEM, PRJ, LAS, GPX, DSM, SHP, DBF or KML files to FFS, try FME Desktop or another comparable tool in the "Spatial Data Transformation Cache" category.
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our FFS converter.