Skip site navigation (1)Skip section navigation (2)

FreeBSD Manual Pages

  
 
  

home | help 
GDAL-VECTOR-LAYER-ALGEBRA(1)	      GDAL	    GDAL-VECTOR-LAYER-ALGEBRA(1)

NAME
     gdal-vector-layer-algebra - Perform algebraic operation between 2 layers

     Added in version 3.12.

SYNOPSIS
	Usage: gdal vector layer-algebra [OPTIONS] <OPERATION> <INPUT> <METHOD> <OUTPUT>

	Perform algebraic operation between 2 layers.

	Positional arguments:
	  --operation <OPERATION>			       Operation to perform. OPERATION=union|intersection|sym-difference|identity|update|clip|erase [required]
	  -i, --input <INPUT>				       Input vector dataset [required]
	  --method <METHOD>				       Method vector dataset [required]
	  -o, --output <OUTPUT> 			       Output vector dataset [required]

	Common Options:
	  -h, --help					       Display help message and exit
	  --json-usage					       Display usage as JSON document and exit
	  --config <KEY>=<VALUE>			       Configuration option [may be repeated]
	  -q, --quiet					       Quiet mode (no progress bar or warning message) [not available in pipelines]

	Options:
	  -f, --of, --format, --output-format <OUTPUT-FORMAT>  Output format
	  --co, --creation-option <KEY>=<VALUE> 	       Creation option [may be repeated]
	  --lco, --layer-creation-option <KEY>=<VALUE>	       Layer creation option [may be repeated]
	  --overwrite					       Whether overwriting existing output dataset is allowed
	  --update					       Whether to open existing dataset in update mode
	  --overwrite-layer				       Whether overwriting existing output layer is allowed
	  --append					       Whether appending to existing layer is allowed
	  --input-layer <INPUT-LAYER>			       Input layer name
	  --method-layer <METHOD-LAYER> 		       Method layer name
	  --output-layer <OUTPUT-LAYER> 		       Output layer name
	  --geometry-type <GEOMETRY-TYPE>		       Geometry type

	Advanced Options:
	  --oo, --open-option <KEY>=<VALUE>		       Open options [may be repeated]
	  --if, --input-format <INPUT-FORMAT>		       Input formats [may be repeated]
	  --input-prefix <INPUT-PREFIX> 		       Prefix for fields corresponding to input layer
	  --input-field <INPUT-FIELD>			       Input field(s) to add to output layer [may be repeated]
							       Mutually exclusive with --no-input-field, --all-input-field
	  --no-input-field				       Do not add any input field to output layer
							       Mutually exclusive with --input-field, --all-input-field
	  --all-input-field				       Add all input fields to output layer
							       Mutually exclusive with --input-field, --no-input-field
	  --method-prefix <METHOD-PREFIX>		       Prefix for fields corresponding to method layer
	  --method-field <METHOD-FIELD> 		       Method field(s) to add to output layer [may be repeated]
							       Mutually exclusive with --no-method-field, --all-method-field
	  --no-method-field				       Do not add any method field to output layer
							       Mutually exclusive with --method-field, --all-method-field
	  --all-method-field				       Add all method fields to output layer
							       Mutually exclusive with --method-field, --no-method-field

DESCRIPTION
     gdal  vector  layer-algebra  performs various vector layer algebraic opera-
     tions.  The  command takes a vector input source and a  method  source  and
     generates the output of the operation in the specified output file.

PROGRAM-SPECIFIC OPTIONS
     --geometry-type <GEOMETRY-TYPE>
	    Change  the  geometry type to be one of GEOMETRY, POINT, LINESTRING,
	    POLYGON, MULTIPOINT, MULTILINESTRING, MULTIPOLYGON,  GEOMETRYCOLLEC-
	    TION,  CURVE,  CIRCULARSTRING, COMPOUNDCURVE, SURFACE, CURVEPOLYGON,
	    MULTICURVE, MULTISURFACE, POLYHEDRALSURFACE or TIN.  Z, M or ZM suf-
	    fixes can be appended to the above values to indicate the dimension-
	    ality.

     --input-layer <INPUT-LAYER>
	    Name of the input vector layer.

     --operation union|intersection|sym-difference|identity|update|clip|erase
	    Select the operation to perform among:

	    * union
		 A union is a set of features, which represent areas that are in
		 either of the operand layers.	The operation is symmetric,  and
		 input and method layers can be interchanged.  [image]

	    * intersection
		 An  intersection is a set of features, which represent the com-
		 mon areas of two layers.  The operation is symmetric, and input
		 and method layers can be interchanged.  [image]

	    * sym-difference
		 A symmetric difference is a set of  features,	which  represent
		 areas	that  are  in operand layers but which do not intersect.
		 The operation is symmetric, and input and method layers can  be
		 interchanged.	[image]

	    * identity
		 The identity method identifies features in the input layer with
		 features  in  the method layer possibly splitting features into
		 several features.  By default the result layer  has  attributes
		 from both operand layers.  [image]

	    * update
		 The  update method creates a layer, which add features into the
		 input layer from the method layer possibly cutting features  in
		 the  input  layer.   By default the result layer has attributes
		 only from the input layer.  [image]

	    * clip
		 The clip method creates a layer, which has  features  from  the
		 input	layer clipped to the areas of the features in the method
		 layer.  By default the result layer has attributes of the input
		 layer.  [image]

	    * erase
		 The erase method creates a layer, which has features  from  the
		 input	layer  whose  areas  are  erased  by the features in the
		 method layer.	By default the result layer  has  attributes  of
		 the input layer.  [image]

     --method-layer <METHOD-LAYER>
	    Name of the method vector layer.

   Advanced options
     --all-input-field
	    Add  all  input  fields  to  output  layer.  Mutually exclusive with
	    --input-field, --no-input-field.

     --all-method-field
	    Add all method fields to  output  layer.   Mutually  exclusive  with
	    --method-field, --no-method-field.

     --input-field <INPUT-FIELD>
	    Input field(s) to add to output layer [may be repeated] Mutually ex-
	    clusive with --no-input-field, --all-input-field.

     --input-prefix <INPUT-PREFIX>
	    Prefix  for  fields corresponding to input layer. Defaults to input_
	    if there are both input and method fields, otherwise empty string.

     --method-field <METHOD-FIELD>
	    Input field(s) to add to output layer [may be repeated] Mutually ex-
	    clusive with --no-method-field, --all-method-field.

     --method-prefix <METHOD-PREFIX>
	    Prefix for fields corresponding to method layer. Defaults to method_
	    if there are both input and method fields, otherwise empty string.

     --no-input-field
	    Do not add any input field to output layer.  Mutually exclusive with
	    --input-field, --all-input-field.

     --no-method-field
	    Do not add any method field to  output  layer.   Mutually  exclusive
	    with --method-field, --all-method-field.

STANDARD OPTIONS
     --append
	    Whether  appending	features  to existing layer(s) is allowed.  This
	    also creates the output dataset if it does not exist yet.

     --co, --creation-option <NAME>=<VALUE>
	    Many formats have one or more optional dataset creation options that
	    can be used to control particulars about the file created.	For  in-
	    stance,  the  GeoPackage driver supports creation options to control
	    the version.

	    May be repeated.

	    The dataset creation options available vary by  format  driver,  and
	    some  simple  formats have no creation options at all. A list of op-
	    tions supported for a format can be listed with the  --formats  com-
	    mand line option but the documentation for the format is the defini-
	    tive  source  of information on driver creation options.  See Vector
	    drivers format specific documentation for legal creation options for
	    each format.

	    Note that dataset creation options are different from layer creation
	    options.

     --if, --input-format <format>
	    Format/driver name to be attempted to open the input file(s). It  is
	    generally  not  necessary  to specify it, but it can be used to skip
	    automatic driver detection, when it fails to select the  appropriate
	    driver.   This  option can be repeated several times to specify sev-
	    eral candidate drivers.  Note that it does not force  those  drivers
	    to	open  the dataset. In particular, some drivers have requirements
	    on file extensions.

	    May be repeated.

     --lco, --layer-creation-option <NAME>=<VALUE>
	    Many formats have one or more optional layer creation  options  that
	    can  be used to control particulars about the layer created. For in-
	    stance, the GeoPackage driver supports  layer  creation  options  to
	    control  the feature identifier or geometry column name, setting the
	    identifier or description, etc.

	    May be repeated.

	    The layer creation options available vary by format driver, and some
	    simple formats have no layer creation options at all. A list of  op-
	    tions  supported  for a format can be listed with the --formats com-
	    mand line option but the documentation for the format is the defini-
	    tive source of information on driver creation options.   See  Vector
	    drivers format specific documentation for legal creation options for
	    each format.

	    Note that layer creation options are different from dataset creation
	    options.

     --oo, --open-option <NAME>=<VALUE>
	    Dataset open option (format specific).

	    May be repeated.

     -f, --of, --format, --output-format <OUTPUT-FORMAT>
	    Which  output  vector  format to use. Allowed values may be given by
	    gdal --formats | grep vector | grep rw | sort

     --output-layer <NAME>
	    Specifies the name of the layer to which features will  be	written.
	    If not specified, output layer names will be the same as input layer
	    names.

     --overwrite
	    Allow  program to overwrite existing target file or dataset.  Other-
	    wise, by default, gdal errors out if the target file or dataset  al-
	    ready exists.

     --overwrite-layer
	    Whether overwriting the existing output vector layer is allowed.

     --update
	    Whether to open an existing output dataset in update mode.

RETURN STATUS CODE
     The  program returns status code 0 in case of success, and non-zero in case
     of error (non-blocking errors emitted as warnings are considered as a  suc-
     cessful execution).

EXAMPLES
   Example 1: Performs a union between both input and method layers.
	$ gdal vector layer-algebra union input.shp method.shp output.shp

AUTHOR
     Even Rouault <even.rouault@spatialys.com>

COPYRIGHT
     1998-2026

				  Jun 05, 2026	    GDAL-VECTOR-LAYER-ALGEBRA(1)

Want to link to this manual page? Use this URL:
<https://man.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=gdal-vector-layer-algebra&sektion=1&manpath=FreeBSD+Ports+15.1.quarterly>

home | help