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GeoPackage Format

Description​

GeoPackage is an open, standards-based, platform-independent, portable, self-describing, compact format for transferring geospatial information. It's built on SQLite and can contain multiple layers (tables) of geographic data. GeoPackage is an OGC standard and is increasingly used as an alternative to shapefiles.

File Extensions​

  • .gpkg - GeoPackage files
  • .geopackage - GeoPackage files (alias)

Implementation Details​

Reading​

The GeoPackage implementation:

  • Reads GeoPackage files using fiona library
  • Supports multiple layers (tables) in a single file
  • Extracts geometry and attributes
  • Converts to GeoJSON-like feature format
  • Uses GDAL/OGR drivers through fiona

Writing​

Writing support:

  • Writes GeoPackage files with geometry and attributes
  • Automatically determines schema from first record
  • Supports multiple geometry types
  • Creates proper GeoPackage structure
  • Uses WGS84 (EPSG:4326) coordinate system by default

Key Features​

  • OGC standard: Official OGC standard
  • SQLite-based: Built on SQLite database
  • Multiple layers: Can contain multiple feature layers
  • Self-contained: Single file contains all data and metadata
  • Efficient: More efficient than shapefiles for large datasets

Usage​

from iterable import open_iterable

# Basic reading
source = open_iterable('data.gpkg')
for feature in source:
    print(feature)  # Each feature is a dict with geometry and properties
    # feature['type'] == 'Feature'
    # feature['geometry'] contains geometry data
    # feature['properties'] contains attributes
source.close()

# List available layers
from iterable.datatypes.geopackage import GeoPackageIterable

# Discover layers before opening
layers = GeoPackageIterable('data.gpkg').list_tables('data.gpkg')
print(f"Available layers: {layers}")  # e.g., ['roads', 'buildings', 'parcels']

# Reading specific layer
source = open_iterable('data.gpkg', iterableargs={'layer': 'layer_name'})
for feature in source:
    print(feature)
source.close()

# Process all layers
for layer_name in layers:
    source = open_iterable('data.gpkg', iterableargs={'layer': layer_name})
    print(f"Processing layer: {layer_name}")
    for feature in source:
        process(feature)
    source.close()

# Writing
dest = open_iterable('output.gpkg', mode='w')
feature = {
    'type': 'Feature',
    'geometry': {'type': 'Point', 'coordinates': [102.0, 0.5]},
    'properties': {
        'id': '1',
        'name': 'Location'
    }
}
dest.write(feature)
dest.close()

Parameters​

  • layer (str): Layer name to read/write (optional, uses first layer if not specified)
  • encoding (str): File encoding (default: utf8)

Limitations​

  1. fiona dependency: Requires fiona package (which requires GDAL)
  2. File path required: Requires filename, not stream
  3. GDAL dependency: fiona requires GDAL/OGR libraries
  4. Memory usage: All features are loaded into memory during reading
  5. CRS: Defaults to WGS84; CRS transformations not handled

Compression Support​

GeoPackage files are already compressed (SQLite format), so additional compression is typically not needed. However, they can be compressed with all supported codecs if needed:

  • GZip (.gpkg.gz)
  • BZip2 (.gpkg.bz2)
  • LZMA (.gpkg.xz)
  • LZ4 (.gpkg.lz4)
  • ZIP (.gpkg.zip)
  • Brotli (.gpkg.br)
  • ZStandard (.gpkg.zst)

Use Cases​

  • Modern GIS: Preferred format in modern GIS applications
  • Mobile applications: Used in mobile mapping applications
  • Data exchange: Standard format for exchanging geographic data
  • Multi-layer data: When you need multiple layers in one file
  • Large datasets: More efficient than shapefiles for large datasets
  • Shapefile - ESRI Shapefile format
  • GeoJSON - JSON-based geographic format
  • KML - Keyhole Markup Language
  • GML - Geography Markup Language
  • SQLite - Base SQLite format