OSGeo Statement: EU Cyber Resilience Act

QGIS Planet

QField receives prestigious recognition as a digital public good from the Digital Public Goods Alliance

We are thrilled to announce that the Best of Swiss Apps Enterprise winner 2022, QField, has been officially recognized as a Digital Public Good by the UN-endorsed Digital Public Goods Alliance. This prestigious recognition highlights QField’s significant contributions to six key Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure), SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), SDG 13 (Climate Action), SDG 15 (Life on Land), and SDG 16 (Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions). The “Swiss Made Software” QField is the leading fieldwork application with almost 1 Million downloads worldwide.

Leading the Way in Fieldwork Technology

QField stands out as the leading fieldwork app, designed to bring the power of geospatial data collection and management to the fingertips of users worldwide. Developed with a user-centric approach, QField allows seamless integration with QGIS, providing a robust and intuitive platform for data collection, visualization, and analysis directly in the field. This recognition as a Digital Public Good underscores QField’s vital role in advancing digital solutions for sustainable development.

QField 3.2 Statistics

Accessible for Everyone

One of QField’s key strengths is its ease of use, making it accessible not only to professionals but also to students, researchers, and community members. Its intuitive interface ensures that users with varying levels of technical expertise can efficiently collect and manage geospatial data. This inclusivity promotes wider adoption and engagement, enhancing the app’s impact across different sectors and communities.

Land surveying project Tonga

Exemplary Open Source Project

At the heart of QField’s success is its commitment to technological excellence and open-source principles. As an exemplary open-source project, QField fosters a collaborative environment where developers and users alike contribute to continuous improvement and innovation. QField frequently contributes back to its upstream project, QGIS, ensuring mutual growth and enhancement of both platforms. This community-driven approach not only enhances the app’s functionality but also ensures that it remains accessible and adaptable to diverse needs across the globe.

Supporting Sustainable Development Goals

QField’s capabilities extend beyond just one aspect of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); they intersect with multiple goals, enhancing efforts towards a sustainable future:

  • SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation: QField facilitates efficient water quality monitoring and management, ensuring communities have access to clean and safe water.
  • SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure: By providing cutting-edge tools for infrastructure planning and development, QField drives innovation in various industries.
  • SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities: QField supports urban planning and sustainable development, contributing to the creation of resilient and inclusive cities.
  • SDG 13: Climate Action: The app enables precise data collection for climate research and environmental monitoring, aiding in climate action initiatives.
  • SDG 15: Life on Land: QField aids in biodiversity assessments and conservation efforts, promoting the sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems.
  • SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions: Through its reliable and transparent data management capabilities, QField supports the development of strong institutions and governance systems.
Post-disaster assessment Tonga

A Future of Innovation and Sustainability

As we celebrate this recognition, we remain committed to pushing the boundaries of what is possible in fieldwork technology. QField will continue to evolve, driven by the needs of its global user base and the imperative to support sustainable development. We invite all stakeholders to join us on this journey towards a more sustainable and equitable future.

Land surveying project Tonga

For more information about QField and its contributions to the SDGs, please visit https://qfield.org/sdgs.html

Media Contact:

Marco Bernasocchi is happy to receive interview requests or queries about the project.
Email: marco@opengis.ch
Phone: +41 79 467 24 70 (14:00 – 18:00 CET)

OPENGIS.ch GmbH
Via Geinas 2
CH-7031 Laax

About the OPENGIS.ch product “QField” application

QField is an open-source fieldwork app that integrates seamlessly with #QGIS, providing a powerful platform for data collection, visualization, and analysis. Designed for professionals across various sectors, QField empowers users to efficiently manage and analyze geospatial data in the field, contributing to sustainable development and innovation worldwide. Link: https://qfield.org

About the OPENGIS.ch service QFieldCloud

#QFieldCloud is a spatial cloud service integrated in #QField that allows remote provisioning and synchronisation of geodata and projects. Although “QFieldCloud” is still in an advanced beta stage, it is already being used by many groups to significantly improve their workflows. Link: https://qfield.cloud

About OPENGIS.ch:

OPENGIS.ch GmbH is a Swiss software development company based in Laax. OPENGIS.ch employs 19 people and works mainly in the field of spatial software development, geodata infrastructure deployments and professional support. Personalised open-source GIS solutions are often planned and developed as desktop or mobile applications. OPENGIS.ch finances itself through tailor-made customer solutions, professional support and adaptations. Link: https://opengis.ch

OPENGIS.ch

About Digital Public Goods Alliance (DPGA)

The Digital Public Goods Alliance is a multi-stakeholder initiative endorsed by the United Nations Secretary-General, working to accelerate the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals in low- and middle-income countries by facilitating the discovery, development, use of, and investment in digital public goods.

For more information on the Digital Public Goods Alliance please reach out to hello@digitalpublicgoods.net.

Images for editorial purposes are freely available for download if the copyright ©OPENGIS.ch is mentioned: https://download.opengis.ch/2024_qfield_sdgs_images.zip

Learn More

[Changelog] Open PDF and other packaged files from within the form

PDF and other files can now be opened from within the feature form. Use an HTML link with the address project://<path_to_file_within_project> to open packaged files! HTML links can be placed inside an HTML widget or a multiline text editor.

Learn More

[Changelog] Added support for ZSTD format

The mobile app is now capable of opening GeoTIFF files compressed with zstd format.

Learn More

[Blog] Chance to win Admin Essentials training voucher - just give a review to enter

Don’t miss out on this opportunity to win a free seat at an upcoming Mergin Maps Admin Essentials training.
Learn More

[Blog] We hope you’re enjoying the new experience!

We're excited to announce significant updates to our ecosystem. Over the past few months, we've dedicated ourselves to redesigning both the mobile app and dashboard, aiming to enhance your overall experience.
Learn More

ChatGPT Data Analyst vs movement data

Today, I took ChatGPT’s Data Analyst for a spin. You’ve probably seen the fancy advertising videos: just drop in a dataset and AI does all the analysis for you?! Let’s see …

Of course, I’m not going to use some lame movie database or flower petals data. Instead, let’s go all in and test with a movement dataset.

You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression, they say. — Well, Data Analyst, you didn’t impress on the first try. How hard can it be to guess the delimiter and act accordingly?

Anyway, let’s help it a little:

That looks much better. It makes an effort to guess what the columns could mean and successfully identifies the spatiotemporal information.

Now for some spatial analysis. On first try, it didn’t want to calculate the length of the trajectories in geographic terms, but we can make it to:

It will also show the code used to get to the results:

And indeed, these are close enough to the results computed using MovingPandas:

“What about plots?” I hear you ask.

For a first try, not bad at all:

Let’s see if we can push it further:

Looks like poor Data Analyst ended up in geospatial library dependency hell 😈

It’s interesting to watch it try find a solution.

Alas, no background map appears:

Not giving up yet :)

Woah, what happened here? It claims it created an interactive map in an HTML file.

And indeed it did:

This has been a very interesting experiment for me with many highs and lows. The whole process is a bit hit and miss. But when it does work, it’s fun.

I wasn’t sure what to expect with regards to Data Analyst’s spatial data processing capabilities. Looks like there are enough examples in its training data to find solutions for the basic trajectory analysis problems I asked it solve today, eventually, at least.

What’s the conclusion? Most AI marketing videos are severely overselling the capabilities of these tools. However, that doesn’t mean that they are completely useless, either. I’m looking forward to seeing the age of smaller open source models specifically trained for geospatial analysis to finally make it unnecessary for humans to memorize data analysis library syntax.

Learn More

(Fr) Plugin QGIS French Locator Filter 1.1.0 : API Photon et personnalisation avancée !

Sorry, this entry is only available in French.

Learn More

The PostgreSQL Connection Service File and Why We Love It

The PostgreSQL Connection Service File pg_service.conf is nothing new. It has existed for quite some time and maybe you have already used it sometimes too. But not only the new QGIS plugin PG service parser is a reason to write about our love for this file, as well we generally think it’s time to show you how it can be used for really cool things.

What is the Connection Service File?

The Connection Service File allows you to save connection settings for each so-called “service” locally.

So when you have a database called gis on a local PostgreSQL with port 5432 and username/password is docker/docker you can store this as a service called my-local-gis.

# Local GIS Database for Testing purposes
[my-local-gis]

host=localhost port=5432 dbname=gis user=docker password=docker

This Connection Service File is called pg_service.conf and is by client applications (such as psql or QGIS) generally found directly in the user directory. In Windows it is then found in the user’s application directory postgresql.pg_service.conf. And in Linux it is by default located directly in the user’s directory ~/.pg_service.conf. 

But it doesn’t necessarily have to be there. The file can be anywhere on the system (or on a network drive) as long as you set the environment variable PGSERVICEFILE accordingly:

export PGSERVICEFILE=/home/dave/connectionfiles/pg_service.conf 

Once you have done this, the client applications will search there first – and find it.

If the above are not set, there is also another environment variable PGSYSCONFDIR which is a folder which is searched for the file pg_service.conf.

Once you have this, the service name can be used in the client application. That means in psql it would look like this:

~$ psql service=my-local-gis
psql (14.11 (Ubuntu 14.11-0ubuntu0.22.04.1), server 14.5 (Debian 14.5-1.pgdg110+1))
SSL connection (protocol: TLSv1.3, cipher: TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384, bits: 256, compression: off)
Type "help" for help.

gis=#

And in QGIS like this:

If you then add a layer in QGIS, only the name of the service is written in the project file. Neither the connection parameters nor username/password are saved. In addition to the security aspect, this has various advantages, more on this below.

But you don’t have to pass all of these parameters to a service. If you only pass parts of them (e.g. without the database), then you have to pass them when the connection is called:

$psql "service=my-local-gis dbname=gis"
psql (14.11 (Ubuntu 14.11-0ubuntu0.22.04.1), server 14.5 (Debian 14.5-1.pgdg110+1))
SSL connection (protocol: TLSv1.3, cipher: TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384, bits: 256, compression: off)
Type "help" for help.

gis=#

You can also override parameters. If you have a database gis configured in the service, but you want to connect the database web, you can specify the service and explicit the database:

$psql "service=my-local-gis dbname=web"
psql (14.11 (Ubuntu 14.11-0ubuntu0.22.04.1), server 14.5 (Debian 14.5-1.pgdg110+1))
SSL connection (protocol: TLSv1.3, cipher: TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384, bits: 256, compression: off)
Type "help" for help.

web=#

Of course the same applies to QGIS.

And regarding the environment variables mentioned, you can also set a standard service.

export PGSERVICE=my-local-gis

Particularly pleasant in daily work with always the same database.

$ psql
psql (14.11 (Ubuntu 14.11-0ubuntu0.22.04.1), server 14.5 (Debian 14.5-1.pgdg110+1))
SSL connection (protocol: TLSv1.3, cipher: TLS_AES_256_GCM_SHA384, bits: 256, compression: off)
Type "help" for help.

gis=#

And why is it particularly cool?

There are several reasons why such a file is useful:

  • Security: You don’t have to save the connection parameters anywhere in the client files (e.g. QGIS project files). Keep in mind that they are still plain text in the service file.
  • Decoupling: You can change the connection parameters without having to change the settings in client files (e.g. QGIS project files).
  • Multi-User: You can save the file on a network drive. As long as the environment variable of the local systems points to this file, all users can access the database with the same parameters.
  • Diversity: You can use the same project file to access different databases with the same structure if only the name of the service remains the same.

For the last reason, here are three use cases.

Support-Case

Someone reports a problem in QGIS on a specific case with their database. Since the problem cannot be reproduced, they send us a DB dump of a schema and a QGIS project file. The layers in the QGIS project file are linked to a service. Now we can restore the dump on our local database and access it with our own, but same named, service. The problem can be reproduced.

INTERLIS

With INTERLIS the structure of a database schema is precisely specified. If e.g. the canton has built the physical database for it and configured a supernice QGIS project, they can provide the project file to a company without also providing the database structure. The company can build the schema based on the INTERLIS model on its own PostgreSQL database and access it using its own service with the same name.

Test/Prod Switching

You can access a test and a production database with the same QGIS project if you have set the environment variable for the connection service file accordingly per QGIS profile.

You create two connection service files.

The one to the test database /home/dave/connectionfiles/test/pg_service.conf:

[my-local-gis]
host=localhost
port=54322
dbname=gis-test

And the one for the production database /home/dave/connectionfiles/prod/pg_service.conf:

[my-local-gis]
host=localhost
port=54322
dbname=gis-productive

In QGIS you create two profiles “Test” and “Prod”:

And you set the environment variable for each profile PGSERVICEFILE which should be used (in the menu Settings > Options… and there under System scroll down to Environment

image

or

image

If you now use the service my-local-gis in a QGIS layer, it connects the database prod in the “Prod” profile and the database test in the “Test” profile.

The authentication configuration

Let’s have a look at the authentication. If you have the connection service file on a network drive and make it available to several users, you may not want everyone to access it with the same login. Or you generally don’t want any user information in this file. This can be elegantly combined with the authentication configuration in QGIS.

If you want to make a QGIS project file available to multiple users, you create the layers with a service. This service contains all connection parameters except the login information.

This login information is transferred using QGIS authentication.

image

You also configure this authentication per QGIS profile we mentioned above. This is done via Menu Settings > Options… and there under Authentication:

image

(or directly where you create the PostgreSQL connection)

If you add such a layer, the service and the ID of the authentication configuration are saved in the QGIS project file. This is in this case mylogin. Of course this name must be communicated to the other users so that they can also set  the ID for their login to mylogin.

Of course, you can use multiple authentication configurations per profile.

QGIS Plugin

And yes, there is now a great plugin to configure these services directly in QGIS. This means you no longer have to deal with text-based INI files. It’s called PG service parser:

image

It finds the connection service file according to the mentioned environment variables PGSERVICEFILE or PGSYSCONFDIR or at its default location.

As well it’s super easy to create new services by duplicating existing ones.

And for the Devs

And what would a blog post be without some geek food? The back end of this plugin is published on PYPI and can be easily installed with pip install pgserviceparser and then be used in Python.

For example to list all the service names. 

>>> import pgserviceparser
>>> pgserviceparser.service_names()
['my-local-gis', 'another-local-gis', 'opengisch-demo-pg']

Optionally you can pass a config file path. Otherwise it gets it by the mentioned mechanism.

Or to receive the configuration from the given service name as a dict.

>>> pgserviceparser.service_config('my-local-gis')
{'host': 'localhost', 'port': '54322', 'dbname': 'gis', 'user': 'docker', 'password': 'docker'}

There are some more functions. Check them out here on GitHub or in the documentation.

Well then

We hope you share our enthusiasm for this beautiful file – at least after reading this blog post. And if not – feel free to tell us why you don’t in the comments 🙂

Learn More

New Trajectools 2.1 and MovingPandas 0.18 releases

Today marks the 2.1 release of Trajectools for QGIS. This release adds multiple new algorithms and improvements. Since some improvements involve upstream MovingPandas functionality, I recommend to also update MovingPandas while you’re at it.

If you have installed QGIS and MovingPandas via conda / mamba, you can simply: 

conda activate qgis
mamba install movingpandas=0.18

Afterwards, you can check that the library was correctly installed using:

import movingpandas as mpd
mpd.show_versions()

Trajectools 2.1

The new Trajectools algorithms are:

  • Trajectory overlay — Intersect trajectories with polygon layer
  • Privacy — Home work attack (requires scikit-mobility)
    • This algorithm determines how easy it is to identify an individual in a dataset. In a home and work attack the adversary knows the coordinates of the two locations most frequently visited by an individual.
  • GTFS — Extract segments (requires gtfs_functions)
  • GTFS — Extract shapes (requires gtfs_functions)

Furthermore, we have fixed issue with previously ignored minimum trajectory length settings.

Scikit-mobility and gtfs_functions are optional dependencies. You do not need to install them, if you do not want to use the corresponding algorithms. In any case, they can be installed using mamba and pip: 

mamba install scikit-mobility
pip install gtfs_functions

MovingPandas 0.18

This release adds multiple new features, including

  • Method chaining support for add_speed(), add_direction(), and other functions
  • New TrajectoryCollection.get_trajectories(obj_id) function
  • New trajectory splitter based on heading angle
  • New TrajectoryCollection.intersection(feature) function
  • New plotting function hvplot_pts()
  • Faster TrajectoryCollection operations through multi-threading
  • Added moving object weights support to trajectory aggregator

For the full change log, check out the release page.

Learn More

(Fr) [Equipe Oslandia] Gwendoline, développeur QGIS web

Sorry, this entry is only available in French.

Learn More