3.1. Basics

This section describes concepts and parameters mutually shared by services. Some of these are standard and defined in OGC specifications while others are very specific to QGIS Server.

Standard concepts:

Concept	Description
SERVICE	Name of the service
REQUEST	Name of the request

Vendor concepts:

Concept	Description
MAP	QGIS project file
FILE_NAME	File name of the downloaded file
Short name	Short name definition

3.1.1. SERVICE

This standard parameter allows to specify the name of the service to use for a specific request and has to be formed like SERVICE=NAME.

URL example for the WMS service:

http://localhost/qgisserver?
SERVICE=WMS
&...

Note

Not available for REST based services like WFS3 (OGC API Features).

3.1.2. REQUEST

This standard parameter allows to specify the name of the request to execute for a specific service and has to be formed like REQUEST=RequestName.

URL example for the GetCapabilities request:

http://localhost/qgisserver?
REQUEST=GetCapabilities
&...

Note

Not available for REST based services like WFS3 (OGC API Features).

3.1.3. MAP

This vendor parameter allows to define the QGIS project file to use. It may be an absolute path or a path relative to the location of the server executable qgis_mapserv.fcgi. MAP is mandatory by default 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 no longer a required parameter. For further information you may refer to the Advanced configuration chapter.

URL example:

http://localhost/qgisserver?
MAP=/tmp/QGIS-Training-Data/exercise_data/qgis-server-tutorial-data/world.qgs
&...

3.1.4. FILE_NAME

If this vendor parameter is set, the server response will be sent to the client as a file attachment with the specified file name.

URL example to save an XML GetCapabilities document:

http://localhost/qgisserver?
SERVICE=WMS
&REQUEST=GetCapabilities
&FILE_NAME=wms_capabilities.xml
&...

Note

Not available for REST based services like WFS3 (OGC API Features).

3.1.5. Short name

A number of elements have both a short name and a title. The short name is a text string used for machine-to-machine communication while the title is for the benefit of humans. For example, a dataset might have the descriptive title “Maximum Atmospheric Temperature” and be requested using the abbreviated short name “ATMAX”. You can set title, short name and abstract for:

Layers: right-click on a layer and choose Properties… ► QGIS Server ► Description.
Groups: right-click on a group and select Set Group WMS data
Project: go to Project ► Properties… ► QGIS Server ► Service Capabilities.

../../../_images/set_group_wms_data.png — Fig. 3.1 Set group WMS data dialog

Thus, the short name may be used to identify these items when interacting with QGIS Server. For example with the standard LAYERS parameter:

http://localhost/qgisserver?
SERVICE=WMS
&REQUEST=GetMap
&LAYERS=shortname1,shortname2
&...