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Suppose I have QGIS server up and running with some vector data. Now a user accesses this data from a webpage. Would it be possible in some ways for the user to send a request to the QGIS Server and make it do some Vector Geo-processing at the server side and return the results? (For example user sends a select query on a point layer. The Server will calculate the Convex Hull and return the WKT.)

As per the QGIS website,

QGIS Server provides a web map service (WMS) using the same libraries as the Quantum GIS (QGIS) desktop application.

If it is not possible at present, would it be possible to create something like a REST service(i got the term from ArcGIS REST API) which can hold communication between user and QGIS server? What are the difficulties in implementing them?

vinayan
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3 Answers3

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Seems like you are looking for a WPS Server. QGIS Server is a WMS&WFS Server but it does not handle WPS. If you're interested in adding WPS support to QGIS Server (programming yourself or supporting a programmer), contact the developer mailing list.

underdark
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You are trying to use a snowplow to win a go-kart race. As underdark said, you are probably looking for a WPS server (several out there).

On the other hand, depending on your use case, you may be better of just writing a thin layer (say python/django) on top of postgis

Community
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Ragi Yaser Burhum
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You have many options:

  1. run the operation directly in the browser with the ever-improving Javascript Topology Suite, which btw support the ConvexHull operation you cite

  2. other than using a WPS server you can also roll your own lightweight version which just runs on top of JTS, like this one I have coded some time ago.

  3. as in 2, but with different technology: if you're feeling adventurous and want to be cool you could also use nodejs (which for sure is more lightweight that the complete java stack required by my previous suggestion), as I hint in this gist

Note that item 3 is essentially the same as 1, only running server-side instead of running in the browser

unicoletti
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