Book Image

QGIS Python Programming Cookbook

Book Image

QGIS Python Programming Cookbook

Overview of this book

Table of Contents (16 chapters)
QGIS Python Programming Cookbook
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

Labeling features


Once your map layers are styled, the next step to creating a complete map is labeling features. We'll explore the basics of labeling in this recipe.

Getting ready

Download the following zipped shapefile from https://geospatialpython.googlecode.com/files/MSCities_Geo_Pts.zip.

Extract the shapefile to a directory named ms in your qgis_data shapefile.

How to do it...

We will load the point shapefile layer, create a label object, set its properties, apply it to the layer, and then add the layer to the map. To do this, we need to perform the following steps:

  1. First, to save space, we'll specify the path to the shapefile:

    src = "/Users/joellawhead/qgis_data/ms/MSCities_Geo_Pts.shp"
    
  2. Next, we'll load the layer:

    lyr = QgsVectorLayer(src, "Museums", "ogr")
    
  3. Then, we'll create the labeling object:

    label = QgsPalLayerSettings()
    
  4. Now, we'll configure the labels, starting with the current layer settings being read:

    label.readFromLayer(lyr)
    label.enabled = True
    
  5. Then, we specify the attribute for the...