QGIS User 0024 - GeoPackage

Why it's time to de-throne Esri Shape. GeoPackage is the new king of the hill.
GeoPackage is great for GIS and extremely well implemented in QGIS. There's still room for improvement, but it's finally time to move down shape a few notches on the usability scale.

[@nearch2471]

This answered every question I had about GPKG. Thank you!

[@zhirjalal3649]

Thank you sir! More please, more often please...

[@paulonevescoelho699]

Thanks Klas, very enlightening video even for gis curious lawyers. Greetings from Portugal

[@binualexander9439]

Excellent

[@vibys1]

Great format

[@arkosol]

Awesome. I want more :)

[@nurizham]

Thank you.

[@lucabellani3442]

VeryVery Great!!!

[@pointsnorthgisuav8661]

I really like the GeoPackage. I have pushed most of my non-postgres data into GPKG in the last couple years. I am really happy with the performance and compressed storage, which is really useful in packaging data for QFIELD. There are a few quirks with FID sometimes, but IMHO it is the best format to use with QGIS.

[@lawrencekieran3297]

You all prolly dont care but does anyone know a way to get back into an instagram account? I was stupid forgot my login password. I would love any help you can give me

[@leoeden2602]

@Lawrence Kieran Instablaster :)

[@lawrencekieran3297]

@Leo Eden thanks so much for your reply. I found the site on google and Im in the hacking process atm. Looks like it's gonna take quite some time so I will get back to you later with my results.

[@lawrencekieran3297]

@Leo Eden It did the trick and I now got access to my account again. I am so happy:D Thank you so much, you really help me out !

[@leoeden2602]

@Lawrence Kieran glad I could help xD

[@ComplexVariables]

So will changing our census data to geopackages help speed up aggregate intersects we have to calculate?

[@sebo6263]

Amazing explanation! Thanks a lot! What is the difference to a spatial lite database except you can not store the QGIS file in the database?

[@KlasKarlsson]

Both GeoPackage and spatialite are derrived from sqlite, so they are related. GeoPackage is newer and has different instructions. It is also growing far more than spatialite. Spatialite in its latest versions is compatible with GeoPackage to a certain degree. www.geopackage.org

[@Georgy_47]

its like saving the mxd inside the file geodatabase, for me i love gpkg but im forced to work in arc gis

[@johnm2532]

You mentioned that ArcGIS can read the vector data in geopackages created in QGIS but not the symbology. Does that mean that ArcGIS cannot read the colors? Do you know if ArcGIS can read labels, including the label location and label formatting, in geopackages created in QGIS? Thanks, your videos are among the best in discussing how to use QGIS!

[@KlasKarlsson]

The data is the same but the concept for styling symbology and labels are completely different. If you want to use a layer in both QGIS and ArcGis PRO you will have to create separat styles for them.

[@vsgeo]

Thank you, Klas. Is it possible to adjust domens and subtypes for layers as filegeodatabase allows?

[@KlasKarlsson]

Not it the same way. In QGIS you create "widgets" and "constraints" for any layer in the layer properties Attributes Form. When you save the properties as default for a geopackage layer it can be saved in the database, and in many cases it will have a similar result as Esri "domains", and in many cases it is more powerful.

[@vsgeo]

@@KlasKarlsson Got it. Thanks!

[@alerglez]

Congratulations!! Regarding the Geopackage. I have a question, for example, I have a shape with a table field linked photos. When this shape is including in the geopackages. Is it possible to save the images that are linked in the vector layer? Thanks!

[@KlasKarlsson]

The table in the GeoPackage will work in the same way as for the Shape file. If you have absolute paths to you images in the shape file, the paths will transfer perfectly fine to GeoPackage. I'm not sure what you mean by saving the images, since there's no images stored in your current shape file. They are stored in the filesystem somewhere.

[@alerglez]

@@KlasKarlsson Thank you very much for your reply. A shapefile (for example "points") and attached to the attributes a new field in the table to include images to display in QGIS, when saving the shapefile in a Geopackage and then opening again in the layers panel in QGIS, it does not save the photo, only the path of the picture (e.g. C:/...Images/). Thanks!

[@pavlagraham251]

I enjoy your talks very much. - I would like to ask a question, please. I would like to store several projects in a single QGIS GeoPackage (which I have managed). The projects share many layers, but there are layers which I would like to add to exclusively to a particular project. Every time I add a layer to one of the projects, it shows up in the other project, too. - If I remove a layer from one project, it is removed from the other project, too. - These ‘exclusive’ layers are stored in the same geopackage as all the other layers and the projects. Is there a way to mark/flag layers to a particular a project within a GeoPackage, with multiple projects? Thank you.

[@KlasKarlsson]

Removing a layer from a project will NOT delete any data. It will only remove the reference to the data from the project file and any project related styling of that data. There's no easy way to have a layer removed from multiple projects when you remove it from a single one.

[@pavlagraham251]

@@KlasKarlsson Thank you so much for your reply. I understand your first statement with regards to not losing any data if a layer is removed from a project. - The layer is, after all, still being stored in the GeoPackage. However, your second statement with regards to removing a layer from multiple projects, is my problem, just the other way round! - It IS easy to remove a layer from multiple projects: just removing/adding it from/to one project AUTOMATICALLY removes/adds it from/to the other project! I wish to remove/add a layer to one project while leaving the other project unaffected. That you for your help.

[@onplotsolutionsltd366]

I guess if you save the project file in the Geopackage then you control the layer order as well as required by Zoomstack - wonder when Ordnance Survey will package the styles in the Geopackage it self? If they do this.. and seeing as there are now 6 diiferent styles available - is it possible to incorporate all the styles and somehow change them dynamically as required withing the Geopackage?

[@KlasKarlsson]

You can store multiple QGIS styles for each layer in a GeoPackage and it can be set so that scale controls the change. However, remember this is QGIS specific and there's other software out there. I don't think OS will develop style and projects explicitly for QGIS, unless they also do that for other common GIS.

[@onplotsolutionsltd366]

@@KlasKarlsson Thanks for the reply, I guess it will depend on the uptake of Geopackage and whether ESRI and the others include a way of reading specific styles from the Package. Could you perhaps do a video sometime to show how scale can control the change of style...if you haven't done so already (so many great videos!) ?

[@johnm2532]

If I create shapefiles for a project using QGIS, can these shapefiles, including the topology and label location and formatting be read by ArcGIS?

[@KlasKarlsson]

Geodata and styling/label settings are two separate things. You can share the data, but styling/labels settings are software specific. Shapefiles and Geopackage are basically placeholders for table data. Any data in the tables can be used in both ArcGIS and QGIS for both formats. How the data is used when it comes to styling in the two programs are very different, and not at all compatible for either of the formats. When it comes to topology shapefiles are "non-topological" and do not store information about topology. Geopackage can store topology with extensions, but that is not supported by all software. If the label locations are based on a value in the attribute table, then you could use that in the same way for both ArcGIS and QGIS, but the style settings that control it will be different, and not compatible. Basically you can use the data from Shapefiles or Geopackage in both ArcGIS and QGIS, but styling (including label settings) created in one, will not carry over to the other. (For QGIS there's a plugin "SLYR" that can read and convert some styles from ArcGIS to QGIS. Not sure if you can go the other way around)

[@dusoschmal5481]

How about the compability between qgis and cad using a GeoDatabase? Is it comparable to a shape file? Even better?

[@KlasKarlsson]

Well, CAD is CAD and it has its quirks. However, Autodesk for instance is supposed to work on a GeoPackage reader, if it isn't already implementetd.

[@dusoschmal5481]

@@KlasKarlsson Thanks! :)

[@Supriyadi-tq2yt]

Well . . . Just save to whatever format you need to work with.

[@kashwashwa1]

Is there a way to add new vector layers to a geopackage hosted on a postgis database?

[@KlasKarlsson]

GeoPackage hosted om PostGIS? "Does not compute..."

[@kashwashwa1]

@@KlasKarlsson I'm probably not describing this correctly, but I want to use a postgis database... I have been uploading shapefiles to the database on a server through qgis. I want to get away from shapefiles, but I can't seem to add new layers to a geopackage that I've put on the database.

[@sakshigupta2810]

How can I delete a layer from a geopackage permanently so that I can share all correct layers in a single geopackage

[@KlasKarlsson]

Use QGIS browser, right click layer and delete.

[@harismaulana5053]

how to get the .dbf file in geopackage file Sir? thank you Sir.

[@KlasKarlsson]

A .dbf is just the shape file attribute table. The attribute table is included in the GeoPackage and therefor not needed. When you export a shape layer to GPKG, your table (i.e. .dbf will be included). If you want to include a table without geometry, that is also possible.

[@chandrakants52]

Qgis tow layer geps .....?

[@KlasKarlsson]

sorry, do.. not.. understand..

[@chandrakants52]

@@KlasKarlsson geps between two layer polygun

[@chandrakants52]

How to remove the gap which remains in between the 2 layer QGIS

[@chandrakants52]

Because when gape remain in the layer 2 May not dissolv

[@chandrakants52]

Please sir reply

[@user-qy6di2fr1v]

kriging?

[@salimmonder4175]

Geopackages are good for data transfer but they are not practical, one stupid mistake and your whole work is gone unlike saving different layers on different files. In dealing with file corruption and data lost shp is better. Of couse, one must say that geopackage is way more elegant

[@pointsnorthgisuav8661]

I think the same can be said for any format. A good data backup paradigm should always be implemented regardless of storage method.