Services¶

Web Map Service (WMS)
Web Feature Service (WFS)
- GetFeature
Web Map Tile Service (WMTS)
Extra parameters supported by all request types
REDLINING
External WMS layers

QGIS Server is able to serve data according to standard protocols as described by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC):

WMS 1.1.0 and 1.3.0
WFS 1.0.0 and 1.1.0
WCS 1.1.1
WMTS 1.0.0

Extra vendor parameters and requests are supported in addition to the original standard that greatly enhance the possibilities of customizing its behavior thanks to the QGIS rendering engine.

Web Map Service (WMS)¶

The 1.1.0 and 1.3.0 WMS standards implemented in QGIS Server provide a HTTP interface to request map or legend images generated from a QGIS project. A typical WMS request defines the QGIS project to use, the layers to render as well as the image format to generate. Basic support is also available for the Styled Layer Descriptor (SLD) standard.

Specifications document according to the version number of the service:

Standard requests provided by QGIS Server:

Request	Description
GetCapabilities	Return XML metadata with information about the server
GetMap	Return a map
GetFeatureInfo	Retrieves data (geometry and values) for a pixel location
GetLegendGraphics	Returns legend symbols

Vendor requests provided by QGIS Server:

Request	Description
GetPrint	Returns a QGIS composition
GetProjectSettings	Returns specific information about QGIS Server

GetMap ¶

Standard parameters for the GetMap request according to the OGC WMS 1.1.0 and 1.3.0 specifications:

Parameter	Required	Description
SERVICE	Yes	Name of the service (WMS)
VERSION	No	Version of the service
REQUEST	Yes	Name of the request (GetMap)
LAYERS	No	Layers to display
STYLES	No	Layers’ style
SRS / CRS	Yes	Coordinate reference system
BBOX	No	Map extent
WIDTH	Yes	Width of the image in pixels
HEIGHT	Yes	Height of the image in pixels
FORMAT	No	Image format
TRANSPARENT	No	Transparent background

In addition to the standard ones, QGIS Server supports the following extra parameters:

Parameter	Required	Description
MAP	Yes	Specify the QGIS project file
BGCOLOR	No	Specify the background color
DPI	No	Specify the output resolution
IMAGE_QUALITY	No	JPEG compression
OPACITIES	No	Opacity for layer or group
FILTER	No	Subset of features
SELECTION	No	Highlight features
FILE_NAME	No	Only for `FORMAT=application/dxf` File name of the downloaded file
FORMAT_OPTIONS	No	Only for `FORMAT=application/dxf` key:value pairs separated by semicolon. SCALE: to be used for symbology rules, filters and styles (not actual scaling of the data - data remains in the original scale). MODE:NOSYMBOLOGY\|FEATURESYMBOLOGY\|SYMBOLLAYERSYMBOLOGY: corresponds to the three export options offered in the QGIS Desktop DXF export dialog. LAYERSATTRIBUTES:yourcolumn_with_values_to_be_used_for_dxf_layernames if not specified, the original QGIS layer names are used. USE_TITLE_AS_LAYERNAME: if enabled, the title of the layer will be used as layer name.

URL example:

http://localhost/qgis_server?
SERVICE=WMS
&VERSION=1.3.0
&REQUEST=GetMap
&MAP=/home/user/project.qgs
&LAYERS=mylayer1,mylayer2,mylayer3
&STYLES=style1,default,style3
&OPACITIES=125,200,125
&CRS=EPSG:4326
&WIDTH=400
&HEIGHT=400
&FORMAT=image/png
&TRANSPARENT=TRUE
&DPI=300

SERVICE¶

This parameter has to be WMS in case of the GetMap request.

VERSION¶

This parameter allows to specify the version of the service to use. Available values for the VERSION parameter are:

1.1.0
1.3.0

If no version is indicated in the request, then 1.3.0 is used by default.

According to the version number, slight differences have to be expected as explained later for the next parameters:

CRS / SRS
BBOX

REQUEST¶

This parameter is GetMap in case of the GetMap request.

LAYERS¶

This parameter allows to specify the layers to display on the map. Names have to be separated by a comma.

In addition, QGIS Server introduced some options to select layers by:

a short name
the layer id

The short name of a layer may be configured through Properties ‣ Metadata in layer menu. If the short name is defined, then it’s used by default instead of the layer’s name:

http://localhost/qgis_server?
SERVICE=WMS
&REQUEST=GetMap
&LAYERS=mynickname1,mynickname2
&...

Moreover, there’s a project option allowing to select layers by their id in OWS Server ‣ WMS capabilities menu of the Project ‣ Properties… dialog. To activate this option, the checkbox Use layer ids as names has to be selected.

http://localhost/qgis_server?
SERVICE=WMS
&REQUEST=GetMap
&LAYERS=mylayerid1,mylayerid2
&...

STYLES¶

This parameter can be used to specify a layer’s style for the rendering step. Styles have to be separated by a comma. The name of the default style is default.

SRS / CRS¶

This parameter allows to indicate the map output Spatial Reference System in WMS 1.1.0 and has to be formed like EPSG:XXXX. Note that CRS is also supported if current version is 1.1.0.

For WMS 1.3.0, CRS parameter is preferable but SRS is also supported.

Note that if both CRS and SRS parameters are indicated in the request, then it’s the current version indicated in VERSION parameter which is decisive.

In the next case, the SRS parameter is kept whatever the VERSION parameter because CRS is not indicated:

http://localhost/qgis_server?
SERVICE=WMS
&REQUEST=GetMap
&VERSION=1.3.0
&SRS=EPSG:2854
&...

In the next case, the SRS parameter is kept instead of CRS because of the VERSION parameter:

http://localhost/qgis_server?
SERVICE=WMS
&REQUEST=GetMap
&VERSION=1.1.0
&CRS=EPSG:4326
&SRS=EPSG:2854
&...

In the next case, the CRS parameter is kept instead of SRS because of the VERSION parameter:

http://localhost/qgis_server?
SERVICE=WMS
&REQUEST=GetMap
&VERSION=1.3.0
&CRS=EPSG:4326
&SRS=EPSG:2854
&...

BBOX¶

This parameter allows to specify the map extent with units according to the current CRS. Coordinates have to be separated by a comma.

However, a slight difference has to be noticed according to the current VERSION parameter. Actually, in WMS 1.1.0, coordinates are formed like minx,miny,maxx,maxy or minlong,minlat,maxlong,maxlat. For example:

http://localhost/qgis_server?
SERVICE=WMS
&REQUEST=GetMap
&VERSION=1.1.0
&SRS=epsg:4326
&BBOX=-180,-90,180,90
&...

But the axis is reversed in WMS 1.3.0, so coordinates are formed like: miny,minx,maxy,maxx or minlat,minlong,maxlat,maxlong. For example:

http://localhost/qgis_server?
SERVICE=WMS
&REQUEST=GetMap
&VERSION=1.3.0
&CRS=epsg:4326
&BBOX=-90,-180,90,180
&...

WIDTH¶

This parameter allows to specify the width in pixels of the output image.

HEIGHT¶

This parameter allows to specify the height in pixels of the output image.

FORMAT¶

This parameter may be used to specify the format of map image. Available values are:

jpg
jpeg
image/jpeg
image/png
image/png; mode=1bit
image/png; mode=8bit
image/png; mode=16bit

application/dxf Only layers that have read access in the WFS service are exported in the DXF format.

URL example:

http://localhost/qgis_server?
SERVICE=WMS&VERSION=1.3.0
&REQUEST=GetMap
&FORMAT=application/dxf
&LAYERS=Haltungen,Normschacht,Spezialbauwerke
&STYLES=
&CRS=EPSG%3A21781&BBOX=696136.28844801,245797.12108743,696318.91114315,245939.25832905
&WIDTH=1042
&HEIGHT=811
&FORMAT_OPTIONS=MODE:SYMBOLLAYERSYMBOLOGY;SCALE:250&FILE_NAME=plan.dxf

TRANSPARENT¶

This boolean parameter can be used to specify the background transparency. Available values are (not case sensitive):

TRUE
FALSE

However, this parameter is ignored if the format of the map image indicated with FORMAT is different from PNG.

MAP¶

This parameter allows to define the QGIS project file to use.

As mentioned in GetMap parameters table, MAP is mandatory because a request needs a QGIS project to actually work. However, the QGIS_PROJECT_FILE environment variable may be used to define a default QGIS project. In this specific case, MAP is not longer a required parameter. For further information you may refer to Advanced configuration.

BGCOLOR¶

This parameter allows to indicate a background color for the map image. However it cannot be combined with TRANSPARENT parameter in case of PNG images (transparency takes priority). The colour may be literal or in hexadecimal notation.

URL example with the literal notation:

http://localhost/qgis_server?
SERVICE=WMS
&REQUEST=GetMap
&VERSION=1.3.0
&BGCOLOR=green
&...

URL example with the hexadecimal notation:

http://localhost/qgis_server?
SERVICE=WMS
&REQUEST=GetMap
&VERSION=1.3.0
&BGCOLOR=0x00FF00
&...

DPI¶

This parameter can be used to specify the requested output resolution.

IMAGE_QUALITY¶

This parameter is only used for JPEG images. By default, the JPEG compression is -1.

You can change the default per QGIS project in the OWS Server ‣ WMS capabilities menu of the Project ‣ Properties… dialog. If you want to override it in a GetMap request you can do it using the IMAGE_QUALITY parameter.

OPACITIES¶

Opacity can be set on layer or group level. Allowed values range from 0 (fully transparent) to 255 (fully opaque).

FILTER¶

A subset of layers can be selected with the FILTER parameter. Syntax is basically the same as for the QGIS subset string. However, there are some restrictions to avoid SQL injections into databases via QGIS Server. If a dangerous string is found in the parameter, QGIS Server will return the next error:

Indeed, text strings need to be enclosed with quotes (single quotes for strings, double quotes for attributes). A space between each word / special character is mandatory. Allowed Keywords and special characters are 'AND','OR','IN','=','<','>=','>','>=','!=*,'(',')'. Semicolons in string expressions are not allowed

URL example:

http://localhost/qgis_server?
SERVICE=WMS
&REQUEST=GetMap
&LAYERS=mylayer1,mylayer2
&FILTER=mylayer1:"OBJECTID" = 3;mylayer2:'text' = 'blabla'
&...

Note

It is possible to make attribute searches via GetFeatureInfo and omit the X/Y parameter if a FILTER is there. QGIS Server then returns info about the matching features and generates a combined bounding box in the xml output.

SELECTION¶

The SELECTION parameter can highlight features from one or more layers. Vector features can be selected by passing comma separated lists with feature ids.

http://localhost/qgis_server?
SERVICE=WMS
&REQUEST=GetMap
&LAYERS=mylayer1,mylayer2
&SELECTION=mylayer1:3,6,9;mylayer2:1,5,6
&...

The following image presents the response from a GetMap request using the SELECTION option e.g. http://myserver.com/...&SELECTION=countries:171,65.

As those features id’s correspond in the source dataset to France and Romania they’re highlighted in yellow.

../../../../_images/server_selection_parameter.png

Server response to a GetMap request with SELECTION parameter¶

GetFeatureInfo ¶

Standard parameters for the GetFeatureInfo request according to the OGC WMS 1.1.0 and 1.3.0 specifications:

Parameter	Required	Description
SERVICE	Yes	Name of the service (WMS)
VERSION	No	See GetMap
REQUEST	Yes	See GetMap
LAYERS	No	See GetMap
STYLES	No	See GetMap
SRS / CRS	Yes	See GetMap
BBOX	No	See GetMap
WIDTH	Yes	See GetMap
HEIGHT	Yes	See GetMap
TRANSPARENT	No	See GetMap
INFO_FORMAT	No	Output format
QUERY_LAYERS	Yes	Layers to query
FEATURE_COUNT	No	Maximum number of features to return
I	No	Pixel column of the point to query
X	No	Same as I parameter, but in WMS 1.1.0
J	No	Pixel row of the point to query
Y	No	Same as J parameter, but in WMS 1.1.0

In addition to the standard ones, QGIS Server supports the following extra parameters:

Parameter	Required	Description
MAP	Yes	See GetMap
FILTER	No	See GetMap
FI_POINT_TOLERANCE	No	Tolerance in pixels for point layers
FI_LINE_TOLERANCE	No	Tolerance in pixels for line layers
FI_POLYGON_TOLERANCE	No	Tolerance in pixels for polygon layers
FILTER_GEOM	No	Geometry filtering
WITH_MAPTIP	No	Add map tips to the output
WITH_GEOMETRY	No	Add geometry to the output

URL example:

http://localhost/qgis_server?
SERVICE=WMS
&VERSION=1.3.0
&REQUEST=GetMap
&MAP=/home/user/project.qgs
&LAYERS=mylayer1,mylayer2,mylayer3
&CRS=EPSG:4326
&WIDTH=400
&HEIGHT=400
&INFO_FORMAT=text/xml
&TRANSPARENT=TRUE
&QUERY_LAYERS=mylayer1
&FEATURE_COUNT=3
&I=250
&J=250

INFO_FORMAT¶

This parameter may be used to specify the format of the result. Available values are:

text/xml
text/html
text/plain
application/vnd.ogc.gml
application/json

QUERY_LAYERS¶

This parameter specifies the layers to display on the map. Names are separated by a comma.

In addition, QGIS Server introduces options to select layers by:

short name
layer id

See the LAYERS parameter defined in See GetMap for more information.

FEATURE_COUNT¶

This parameter specifies the maximum number of features per layer to return. For example if QUERY_LAYERS is set to layer1,layer2 and FEATURE_COUNT is set to 3 then a maximum of 3 features from layer1 will be returned. Likewise a maximun of 3 features from layer2 will be returned.

By default, only 1 feature per layer is returned.

I¶

This parameter, defined in WMS 1.3.0, allows you to specify the pixel column of the query point.

X¶

Same parameter as I, but defined in WMS 1.1.0.

J¶

This parameter, defined in WMS 1.3.0, allows you to specify the pixel row of the query point.

Y¶

Same parameter as J, but defined in WMS 1.1.0.

FI_POINT_TOLERANCE¶

This parameter specifies the tolerance in pixels for point layers.

FI_LINE_TOLERANCE¶

This parameter specifies the tolerance in pixels for line layers.

FI_POLYGON_TOLERANCE¶

This parameter specifies the tolerance in pixels for polygon layers.

FILTER_GEOM¶

This parameter specifies a WKT geometry with which features have to intersect.

WITH_MAPTIP¶

This parameter specifies whether to add map tips to the output.

Available values are (not case sensitive):

TRUE
FALSE

WITH_GEOMETRY¶

This parameter specifies whether to add geometries to the output.

Available values are (not case sensitive):

TRUE
FALSE

GetPrint ¶

QGIS Server has the capability to create print layout output in pdf or pixel format. Print layout windows in the published project are used as templates. In the GetPrint request, the client has the possibility to specify parameters of the contained layout maps and labels.

Parameters for the GetPrint request:

Parameter	Required	Description
MAP	Yes	Specify the QGIS project file
SERVICE	Yes	Name of the service (WMS)
VERSION	No	See GetMap
REQUEST	Yes	Name of the request (GetPrint)
LAYERS	No	See GetMap
TEMPLATE	Yes	Layout template to use
SRS / CRS	Yes	See GetMap
FORMAT	Yes	Output format
STYLES	No	See GetMap
TRANSPARENT	No	See GetMap
OPACITIES	No	See GetMap
SELECTION	No	See GetMap
mapX:EXTENT	No	Extent of the map ‘X’
mapX:LAYERS	No	Layers of the map ‘X’
mapX:STYLES	No	Layers’ style of the map ‘X’
mapX:SCALE	No	Layers’ scale of the map ‘X’
mapX:ROTATION	No	Rotation of the map ‘X’
mapX:GRID_INTERVAL_X	No	Grid interval on x axis of the map ‘X’
mapX:GRID_INTERVAL_Y	No	Grid interval on y axis of the map ‘X’

URL example:

http://localhost/qgis_server?
SERVICE=WMS
&VERSION=1.3.0
&REQUEST=GetPrint
&MAP=/home/user/project.qgs
&CRS=EPSG:4326
&FORMAT=png
&map0:EXTENT=-180,-90,180,90
&map0:LAYERS=mylayer1,mylayer2,mylayer3
&map0:OPACITIES=125,200,125
&map0:ROTATION=45

Note that the layout template may contain more than one map. In this way, if you want to configure a specific map, you have to use mapX: parameters where X is a positive number that you can retrieve thanks to the GetProjectSettings request.

For example:

<WMS_Capabilities>
...
<ComposerTemplates xsi:type="wms:_ExtendedCapabilities">
<ComposerTemplate width="297" height="210" name="Druckzusammenstellung 1">
<ComposerMap width="171" height="133" name="map0"/>
<ComposerMap width="49" height="46" name="map1"/></ComposerTemplate>
</ComposerTemplates>
...
</WMS_Capabilities>

SERVICE¶

This parameter has to be WMS.

REQUEST¶

This parameter has to be GetPrint for the GetPrint request.

TEMPLATE¶

This parameter can be used to specify the name of a layout template to use for printing.

FORMAT¶

This parameter specifies the format of map image. Available values are:

jpg
jpeg
image/jpeg
png
image/png
svg
image/svg
image/svg+xml
pdf
application/pdf

If the FORMAT parameter is different from one of these values, then an exception is returned.

mapX:EXTENT¶

This parameter specifies the extent for a layout map item as xmin,ymin,xmax,ymax.

mapX:ROTATION¶

This parameter specifies the map rotation in degrees.

mapX:GRID_INTERVAL_X¶

This parameter specifies the grid line density in the X direction.

mapX:GRID_INTERVAL_Y¶

This parameter specifies the grid line density in the Y direction.

mapX:SCALE¶

This parameter specifies the map scale for a layout map item. This is useful to ensure scale based visibility of layers and labels even if client and server may have different algorithms to calculate the scale denominator.

mapX:LAYERS¶

This parameter specifies the layers for a layout map item. See See GetMap for more information on this parameter.

mapX:STYLES¶

This parameter specifies the layers’ styles defined in a specific layout map item. See See GetMap for more information on this parameter.

GetLegendGraphics ¶

Several additional parameters are available to change the size of the legend elements:

BOXSPACE space between legend frame and content (mm)
LAYERSPACE vertical space between layers (mm)
LAYERTITLESPACE vertical space between layer title and items following (mm)
SYMBOLSPACE vertical space between symbol and item following (mm)
ICONLABELSPACE horizontal space between symbol and label text (mm)
SYMBOLWIDTH width of the symbol preview (mm)
SYMBOLHEIGHT height of the symbol preview (mm)

These parameters change the font properties for layer titles and item labels:

LAYERFONTFAMILY / ITEMFONTFAMILY font family for layer title / item text
LAYERFONTBOLD / ITEMFONTBOLD TRUE to use a bold font
LAYERFONTSIZE / ITEMFONTSIZE Font size in point
LAYERFONTITALIC / ITEMFONTITALIC TRUE to use italic font
LAYERFONTCOLOR / ITEMFONTCOLOR Hex color code (e.g. #FF0000 for red)
LAYERTITLE / RULELABEL set them to FALSE to get only the legend graphics without labels

Content based legend. These parameters let the client request a legend showing only the symbols for the features falling into the requested area:

BBOX the geographical area for which the legend should be built
CRS / SRS the coordinate reference system adopted to define the BBOX coordinates
WIDTH / HEIGHT if set these should match those defined for the GetMap request, to let QGIS Server scale symbols according to the map view image size.

Content based legend features are based on the UMN MapServer implementation:

SHOWFEATURECOUNT if set to TRUE adds in the legend the feature count of the features like in the following image:

GetProjectSettings ¶

This request type works similar to GetCapabilities, but it is more specific to QGIS Server and allows a client to read additional information which is not available in the GetCapabilities output:

initial visibility of layers
information about vector attributes and their edit types
information about layer order and drawing order
list of layers published in WFS

Web Feature Service (WFS)¶

The 1.0.0 and 1.1.0 WFS standards implemented in QGIS Server provide a HTTP interface to query geographic features from a QGIS project. A typical WFS request defines the QGIS project to use and the layer to query.

Specifications document according to the version number of the service:

Standard requests provided by QGIS Server:

Request	Description
GetCapabilities	Returns XML metadata with information about the server
GetFeature	Returns a selection of features
DescribeFeatureType	Returns a description of feature types and properties
Transaction	Allows features to be inserted, updated or deleted

GetFeature ¶

Standard parameters for the GetFeature request according to the OGC WFS 1.0.0 and 1.1.0 specifications:

Parameter	Required	Description
SERVICE	Yes	Name of the service
VERSION	No	Version of the service
REQUEST	Yes	Name of the request
TYPENAME	No	Name of layers
OUTPUTFORMAT	No	Output Format
RESULTTYPE	No	Type of the result
PROPERTYNAME	No	Name of properties to return
MAXFEATURES	No	Maximum number of features to return
SRSNAME	No	Coordinate reference system
FEATUREID	No	Filter the features by ids
FILTER	No	OGC Filter Encoding
BBOX	No	Map Extent
SORTBY	No	Sort the results

In addition to the standard ones, QGIS Server supports the following extra parameters:

Parameter	Required	Description
MAP	Yes	Specify the QGIS project file
STARTINDEX	No	Paging
GEOMETRYNAME	No	Type of geometry to return
EXP_FILTER	No	Expression filtering

SERVICE¶

This parameter has to be WFS in case of the GetFeature request.

For example:

http://localhost/qgis_server?
SERVICE=WFS
&...

VERSION¶

This parameter allows to specify the version of the service to use. Available values for the VERSION parameter are:

1.0.0
1.1.0

If no version is indicated in the request, then 1.1.0 is used by default.

URL example:

http://localhost/qgis_server?
SERVICE=WFS
&VERSION=1.1.0
&...

REQUEST¶

This parameter is GetFeature in case of the GetFeature request.

URL example:

http://localhost/qgis_server?
SERVICE=WFS
&VERSION=1.1.0
&REQUEST=GetFeature
&...

RESULTTYPE¶

This parameter may be used to specify the kind of result to return. Available values are:

results: the default behavior
hits: returns only a feature count

URL example:

http://localhost/qgis_server?
SERVICE=WFS
&VERSION=1.1.0
&REQUEST=GetFeature
&RESULTTYPE=hits
&...

GEOMETRYNAME¶

This parameter can be used to specify the kind of geometry to return for features. Available values are:

extent
centroid
none

URL example:

http://localhost/qgis_server?
SERVICE=WFS
&VERSION=1.1.0
&REQUEST=GetFeature
&GEOMETRYNAME=centroid
&...

STARTINDEX¶

This parameter is standard in WFS 2.0, but it’s an extension for WFS 1.0.0. Actually, it can be used to skip some features in the result set and in combination with MAXFEATURES, it provides the ability to page through results.

URL example:

http://localhost/qgis_server?
SERVICE=WFS
&VERSION=1.1.0
&REQUEST=GetFeature
&STARTINDEX=2
&...

Web Map Tile Service (WMTS)¶

The 1.0.0 WMTS standard implemented in QGIS Server provides a HTTP interface to request tiled map images generated from a QGIS project. A typical WMTS request defined the QGIS project to use, some WMS parameters like layers to render, as well as tile parameters.

Specifications document of the service:

WMTS 1.0.0

Standard requests provided by QGIS Server:

Request	Description
GetCapabilities	Returns XML metadata with information about the server
GetTile	Returns a tile
GetFeatureInfo	Retrieves data (geometry and values) for a pixel location

GetCapabilities ¶

Standard parameters for the GetCapabilities request according to the OGC WMTS 1.0.0 specifications:

Parameter	Required	Description
SERVICE	Yes	Name of the service (WMTS)
REQUEST	Yes	Name of the request (GetCapabilities)

In addition to the standard ones, QGIS Server supports the following extra parameters:

Parameter	Required	Description
MAP	Yes	Specify the QGIS project file

URL example:

http://localhost/qgis_server?
SERVICE=WMTS
&REQUEST=GetCapabilities
&MAP=/home/user/project.qgs

SERVICE¶

This parameter has to be WMTS in case of the GetCapabilities request.

REQUEST¶

This parameter is GetCapabilities in case of the GetCapabilities request.

MAP¶

This parameter allows to define the QGIS project file to use.

GetTile ¶

Standard parameters for the GetTile request according to the OGC WMTS 1.0.0 specifications:

Parameter	Required	Description
SERVICE	Yes	Name of the service (WMTS)
REQUEST	Yes	Name of the request (GetTile)
LAYER	Yes	Layer identifier
FORMAT	Yes	Output format of the tile
TILEMATRIXSET	Yes	Name of the pyramid
TILEMATRIX	Yes	Meshing
TILEROW	Yes	Row coordinate in the mesh
TILECOL	Yes	Column coordinate in the mesh

In addition to the standard ones, QGIS Server supports the following extra parameters:

Parameter	Required	Description
MAP	Yes	Specify the QGIS project file

URL example:

http://localhost/qgis_server?
SERVICE=WMTS
&REQUEST=GetTile
&MAP=/home/user/project.qgs
&LAYER=mylayer
&FORMAT=image/png
&TILEMATRIXSET=EPSG:4326
&TILEROW=0
&TILECOL=0

SERVICE¶

This parameter has to be WMTS in case of the GetTile request.

REQUEST¶

This parameter is GetTile in case of the GetTile request.

LAYER¶

This parameter allows to specify the layer to display on the tile.

In addition, QGIS Server introduced some options to select a layer by:

a short name
the layer id

The short name of a layer may be configured through Properties ‣ Metadata in layer menu. If the short name is defined, then it’s used by default instead of the layer’s name:

http://localhost/qgis_server?
SERVICE=WMTS
&REQUEST=GetTile
&LAYER=mynickname
&...

Moreover, there’s a project option allowing to select layers by their id in OWS Server ‣ WMS capabilities menu of the Project ‣ Project Properties dialog. To activate this option, the checkbox Use layer ids as names has to be selected.

http://localhost/qgis_server?
SERVICE=WMTS
&REQUEST=GetTile
&LAYER=mylayerid1
&...

FORMAT¶

This parameter may be used to specify the format of tile image. Available values are:

jpg
jpeg
image/jpeg
image/png

If the FORMAT parameter is different from one of these values, then the default format PNG is used instead.

TILEMATRIXSET¶

This parameter allows to define the CRS to use to compute the underlying pyramid and has to be formed like EPSG:XXXX.

TILEMATRIX¶

This parameter allows to define the matrix to use for the output tile.

TILEROW¶

This parameter allows to select the row of the tile to get within the matrix.

TILECOL¶

This parameter allows to select the column of the tile to get within the matrix.

MAP¶

This parameter allows to define the QGIS project file to use.

As mentioned in GetMap parameters table, MAP is mandatory because a request needs a QGIS project to actually work. However, the QGIS_PROJECT_FILE environment variable may be used to define a default QGIS project. In this specific case, MAP is not longer a required parameter. For further information you may refer to Advanced configuration.

GetFeatureInfo ¶

Standard parameters for the GetFeatureInfo request according to the OGC WMTS 1.0.0 specifications:

WMS 1.1.0

Parameter	Required	Description
SERVICE	Yes	Name of the service (WMTS)
REQUEST	Yes	Name of the request (GetFeatureInfo)
LAYER	Yes	Layer identifier
INFOFORMAT	No	Output format
I	No	X coordinate of a pixel
J	No	Y coordinate of a pixel
TILEMATRIXSET	Yes	See GetTile
TILEMATRIX	Yes	See GetTile
TILEROW	Yes	See GetTile
TILECOL	Yes	See GetTile

In addition to the standard ones, QGIS Server supports the following extra parameters:

Parameter	Required	Description
MAP	Yes	Specify the QGIS project file

URL example:

http://localhost/qgis_server?
SERVICE=WMTS
&REQUEST=GetFeatureInfo
&MAP=/home/user/project.qgs
&LAYER=mylayer
&INFOFORMAT=image/html
&I=10
&J=5

SERVICE¶

This parameter has to be WMTS in case of the GetFeatureInfo request.

REQUEST¶

This parameter is GetFeatureInfo in case of the GetFeatureInfo request.

MAP¶

This parameter allows to define the QGIS project file to use.

As mentioned in GetMap parameters table, MAP is mandatory because a request needs a QGIS project to actually work. However, the QGIS_PROJECT_FILE environment variable may be used to define a default QGIS project. In this specific case, MAP is not longer a required parameter. For further information you may refer to Advanced configuration.

LAYER¶

This parameter allows to specify the layer to display on the tile.

In addition, QGIS Server introduced some options to select a layer by:

a short name
the layer id

The short name of a layer may be configured through Properties ‣ Metadata in layer menu. If the short name is defined, then it’s used by default instead of the layer’s name:

http://localhost/qgis_server?
SERVICE=WMTS
&REQUEST=GetFeatureInfo
&LAYER=mynickname
&...

Moreover, there’s a project option allowing to select layers by their id in OWS Server ‣ WMS capabilities menu of the Project ‣ Project Properties dialog. To activate this option, the checkbox Use layer ids as names has to be selected.

http://localhost/qgis_server?
SERVICE=WMTS
&REQUEST=GetFeatureInfo
&LAYER=mylayerid1
&...

INFOFORMAT¶

This parameter allows to define the output format of the result. Available values are:

text/xml
text/html
text/plain
application/vnd.ogc.gml

The default value is text/plain.

I¶

This parameter allows to define the X coordinate of the pixel for which we want to retrieve underlying information.

J¶

This parameter allows to define the Y coordinate of the pixel for which we want to retrieve underlying information.

Extra parameters supported by all request types ¶

FILE_NAME parameter: if set, the server response will be sent to the client as a file attachment with the specified file name.
MAP parameter: Similar to MapServer, the MAP parameter can be used to specify the path to the QGIS project file. You can specify an absolute path or a path relative to the location of the server executable (qgis_mapserv.fcgi). If not specified, QGIS Server searches for .qgs files in the directory where the server executable is located.

Example:
```
http://localhost/cgi-bin/qgis_mapserv.fcgi?\
  REQUEST=GetMap&MAP=/home/qgis/mymap.qgs&...
```

Note

You can define a QGIS_PROJECT_FILE as an environment variable to tell the server executable where to find the QGIS project file. This variable will be the location where QGIS will look for the project file. If not defined it will use the MAP parameter in the request and finally look at the server executable directory.

REDLINING ¶

This feature is available and can be used with GetMap and GetPrint requests.

The redlining feature can be used to pass geometries and labels in the request which are overlapped by the server over the standard returned image (map). This permits the user to put emphasis or maybe add some comments (labels) to some areas, locations etc. that are not in the standard map.

The request is in the format:

http://qgisplatform.demo/cgi-bin/qgis_mapserv.fcgi?map=/world.qgs&SERVICE=WMS&VERSION=1.3.0&
REQUEST=GetMap
...
&HIGHLIGHT_GEOM=POLYGON((590000 5647000, 590000 6110620, 2500000 6110620, 2500000 5647000, 590000 5647000))
&HIGHLIGHT_SYMBOL=<StyledLayerDescriptor><UserStyle><Name>Highlight</Name><FeatureTypeStyle><Rule><Name>Symbol</Name><LineSymbolizer><Stroke><SvgParameter name="stroke">%23ea1173</SvgParameter><SvgParameter name="stroke-opacity">1</SvgParameter><SvgParameter name="stroke-width">1.6</SvgParameter></Stroke></LineSymbolizer></Rule></FeatureTypeStyle></UserStyle></StyledLayerDescriptor>
&HIGHLIGHT_LABELSTRING=Write label here
&HIGHLIGHT_LABELSIZE=16
&HIGHLIGHT_LABELCOLOR=%23000000
&HIGHLIGHT_LABELBUFFERCOLOR=%23FFFFFF
&HIGHLIGHT_LABELBUFFERSIZE=1.5

Here is the image outputed by the above request in which a polygon and a label are drawn on top of the normal map:

../../../../_images/server_redlining.png

Server response to a GetMap request with redlining parameters¶

You can see there are several parameters in this request:

HIGHLIGHT_GEOM: You can add POINT, MULTILINESTRING, POLYGON etc. It supports multipart geometries. Here is an example: HIGHLIGHT_GEOM=MULTILINESTRING((0 0, 0 1, 1 1)). The coordinates should be in the CRS of the GetMap/GetPrint request.
HIGHLIGHT_SYMBOL: This controls how the geometry is outlined and you can change the stroke width, color and opacity.
HIGHLIGHT_LABELSTRING: You can pass your labeling text to this parameter.
HIGHLIGHT_LABELSIZE: This parameter controls the size of the label.
HIGHLIGHT_LABELCOLOR: This parameter controls the label color.
HIGHLIGHT_LABELBUFFERCOLOR: This parameter controls the label buffer color.
HIGHLIGHT_LABELBUFFERSIZE: This parameter controls the label buffer size.

External WMS layers ¶

QGIS Server allows including layers from external WMS servers in WMS GetMap and WMS GetPrint requests. This is especially useful if a web client uses an external background layer in the web map. For performance reasons, such layers should be directly requested by the web client (not cascaded via QGIS server). For printing however, these layers should be cascaded via QGIS server in order to appear in the printed map.

External layers can be added to the LAYERS parameter as EXTERNAL_WMS:<layername>. The parameters for the external WMS layers (e.g. url, format, dpiMode, crs, layers, styles) can later be given as service parameters <layername>:<parameter>. In a GetMap request, this might look like this:

http://localhost/qgis_server?
SERVICE=WMS&REQUEST=GetMap
...
&LAYERS=EXTERNAL_WMS:basemap,layer1,layer2
&STYLES=,,
&basemap:url=http://externalserver.com/wms.fcgi
&basemap:format=image/jpeg
&basemap:dpiMode=7
&basemap:crs=EPSG:2056
&basemap:layers=orthofoto
&basemap:styles=default

Similarly, external layers can be used in GetPrint requests:

http://localhost/qgis_server?
SERVICE=WMS
...
&REQUEST=GetPrint&TEMPLATE=A4
&map0:layers=EXTERNAL_WMS:basemap,layer1,layer2
&map0:EXTENT=<minx,miny,maxx,maxy>
&basemap:url=http://externalserver.com/wms.fcgi
&basemap:format=image/jpeg
&basemap:dpiMode=7
&basemap:crs=EPSG:2056
&basemap:layers=orthofoto
&basemap:styles=default