Book Image

Learning QGIS 2.0

By : Anita Graser
Book Image

Learning QGIS 2.0

By: Anita Graser

Overview of this book

QGIS is a user friendly open source geographic information system (GIS) that runs on Linux, Unix, Mac OSX, and Windows. The popularity of open source geographic information systems and QGIS in particular has been growing rapidly over the last few years. More and more companies and institutions are adopting QGIS and even switching to QGIS as their main GIS. Learning QGIS 2.0 is a practical, hands-on guide that provides you with clear, step-by-step exercises that will help you to apply your GIS knowledge to QGIS. Containing a number of clear, practical exercises, this book will introduce you to working with QGIS, quickly and painlessly. If you want to take advantage of the wide range of functionalities that QGIS offers, then this is the book for you. This book takes you from installing and configuring QGIS, through handling spatial data to creating great maps. You will learn how to load and visualize existing spatial data and how to create data from scratch. You will perform common geoprocessing and spatial analysis tasks and automate them. We will cover how to achieve great cartographic output and print maps. You will learn everything you need to know to handle spatial data management, processing, and visualization tasks in QGIS.
Table of Contents (12 chapters)

Vector geoprocessing with Processing


The most comprehensive set of spatial analysis tools is accessible via the Processing plugin, which we can also enable in Plugin Manager. When the plugin is enabled, we find an Analysis menu where we can activate the toolbox, as shown in the following screenshot. In the toolbox, it is easy to find spatial analysis tools by their name thanks to the dynamic search box at the top. This makes finding tools in the toolbox easier than in the vector or raster menu. Another advantage of getting accustomed to the Processing tools is that they can be automated in Python and in geoprocessing models.

Note that the preceding screenshot shows the advanced interface of the toolbox. You can switch from the simplified interface to the advanced interface using the drop-down button at the bottom of the toolbox. I prefer using the advanced version as it exposes all available algorithms and clearly displays how individual tools are related to the different components such...