[Qgis-developer] Get rid of Shapefiles ! Go SpatiaLite !

[kimaidou]

Hi again

I am coming back after more thinking :). I changed the subject into Go
Spatialite !

List of modifications which would help to use spatialite instead of
Shapefile as the default format :

* Create a new vector layer : should allow to choose between shapefile and
Spatialite. Let the use choose an existing spatialite connection or easily
create a new spatialite file and connection, and create a new table there.
* Tab fields, if the layer provider is spatialite :
 - add the ability to delete columns : currently it is not possible
 - add the ability to rename a column with the appropriate SQL command
- add the ability to change the type of a column when it is possible

* Tab General
 - add the ability to create/remove a spatial index for spatialite tables,
as QSpatialite does

* FTools and another vector processing tools :
 - add the ability to choose between shapefile and spatialite to create the
processed layers.

I think it would be a big break for QGIS if we facilitate more the use of
spatialite. I know it is already possible to achieve many things with
DBManager or QSpatialite, but we could help the users by letting them edit
spatialite tables without a dedicated tool.

Cheers

Michael


2012/11/26 kimaidou <kimaidou at gmail.com>

> Hi Yves,
>
> I totally agree with you and Bary on the superiority of spatialite VS
> GeoJson considering performance, geoprocessing methods, capabilities, etc.
> But I am still not sure beginner would be comfortable enough using Sqlite
> to replace Shapefiles. I think they will be more comfortable with the idea
> to keep the one layer / one file architecture. They can off course use one
> sqlite file containing only one layer, so this question could be answered.
>
> But still, I think users should be able to use the "Field" tab of the
> layer properties dialog to easily edit the layer structure, not another
> dedicated tool in another QGIS menu (or plugin)
> We could probably find a way to use the tools of the Fields tab to modify
> the structure of the related sqlite table. This would help a lot people to
> use more the spatialite format, no ?
>
> I need more thinking :)
>
> Thanks all for your comments
>
>
> 2012/11/26 Yves Jacolin (Free) <yjacolin at free.fr>
>
> Hello,
>>
>> I agreed with all you said, I am sure Spatialite format is the future of
>> Geo"file" format:
>> * easy to share (one file)
>> * easy to use, edit
>> * a lot of better capabities than Shapefile
>> * use same OGC Standard as PostGIS does
>>
>> Y.
>> Le lundi 26 novembre 2012 15:35:24 Barry Rowlingson a écrit :
>> > [apologies for empty previous message, I blame google for putting
>> > [...] next to 'Send'. This message has real content:
>> >
>> > On Mon, Nov 26, 2012 at 3:12 PM, kimaidou <kimaidou at gmail.com> wrote:
>> > > Hi list,
>> > >
>> > > The subject is a bit polemical, on purpose. I am used to playing with
>> > > Postgis, spatialite and GeoJson, which are all open-source ways to
>> store
>> > > spatial data.
>> > >
>> > > I am very frustrated by the limitations of the Shapefile format, and
>> much
>> > > more by the quasi obligation to use it as the default vector format in
>> > > QGIS. I mean for non power users who do not use PostGIS or spatialite.
>> >
>> >  Why is spatialite seen as a "power user" option when ESRI users have
>> > been using something similar for years? Its just a file, you connect
>> > to it, you add spatial data to it.
>> >
>> >  GeoJSON is always going to be pretty verbose unless you gzip it - I
>> > wouldn't want to use it for anything too big.
>> >
>> > Barry
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > Qgis-developer mailing list
>> > Qgis-developer at lists.osgeo.org
>> > http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/qgis-developer
>>
>
>
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