GDAL-VECTOR-EDIT(1) GDAL GDAL-VECTOR-EDIT(1)
gdal-vector-edit - Edit metadata of a vector dataset
Added in version 3.11.
Usage: gdal vector edit [OPTIONS] <INPUT> <OUTPUT>
Edit metadata of a vector dataset.
Positional arguments:
-i, --input <INPUT> Input vector datasets [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)
Options:
-l, --layer, --input-layer <INPUT-LAYER> Input layer name(s) [may be repeated]
-f, --of, --format, --output-format <OUTPUT-FORMAT> Output format ("GDALG" allowed)
--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 is allowed
--update Whether to open existing dataset in update mode
--overwrite-layer Whether overwriting existing output is allowed
--append Whether appending to existing layer is allowed
Mutually exclusive with --upsert
--output-layer <OUTPUT-LAYER> Output layer name
--skip-errors Skip errors when writing features
--active-layer <ACTIVE-LAYER> Set active layer (if not specified, all)
--geometry-type <GEOMETRY-TYPE> Layer geometry type
--crs <CRS> Override CRS (without reprojection)
--metadata <KEY>=<VALUE> Add/update dataset metadata item [may be repeated]
--unset-metadata <KEY> Remove dataset metadata item [may be repeated]
--layer-metadata <KEY>=<VALUE> Add/update layer metadata item [may be repeated]
--unset-layer-metadata <KEY> Remove layer metadata item [may be repeated]
--unset-fid Unset the identifier of each feature and the FID column name
Advanced Options:
--if, --input-format <INPUT-FORMAT> Input formats [may be repeated]
--oo, --open-option <KEY>=<VALUE> Open options [may be repeated]
--output-oo, --output-open-option <KEY>=<VALUE> Output open options [may be repeated]
--upsert Upsert features (implies 'append')
Mutually exclusive with --append
gdal vector edit can be used to edit metadata of a vector dataset:
its CRS, the layer geometry type, dataset and layer metadata.
edit can also be used as a step of gdal vector pipeline.
Features are not modified.
-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
--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 instance, 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 options supported for a format can be listed with the
--formats command line option but the documentation for the
format is the definitive 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.
--overwrite
Allow program to overwrite existing target file or dataset.
Otherwise, by default, gdal errors out if the target file or
dataset already exists.
--active-layer <ACTIVE-LAYER>
Set the active layer. When it is specified, only the layer
specified by its name will be subject to the processing. Other
layers will be not modified. If this option is not specified,
all layers will be subject to the processing.
--geometry-type <GEOMETRY-TYPE>
Change the layer geometry type to be one of GEOMETRY, POINT,
LINESTRING, POLYGON, MULTIPOINT, MULTILINESTRING,
MULTIPOLYGON, GEOMETRYCOLLECTION, CURVE, CIRCULARSTRING,
COMPOUNDCURVE, SURFACE, CURVEPOLYGON, MULTICURVE,
MULTISURFACE, POLYHEDRALSURFACE or TIN. Z, M or ZM suffixes
can be appended to the above values to indicate the
dimensionality. Note that feature geometries themselves are
not modified. Thus this option can be used to fix an
inappropriate geometry type at the layer level.
--crs <CRS>
Override CRS, without reprojecting.
The coordinate reference systems that can be passed are
anything supported by the
OGRSpatialReference::SetFromUserInput() call, which includes
EPSG Projected, Geographic or Compound CRS (i.e. EPSG:4296), a
well known text (WKT) CRS definition, PROJ.4 declarations, or
the name of a .prj file containing a WKT CRS definition.
null or none can be specified to unset an existing CRS.
--metadata <KEY>=<VALUE>
Add/update metadata item, at the dataset level.
--unset-metadata <KEY>
Remove metadata item, at the dataset level.
--layer-metadata <KEY>=<VALUE>
Add/update metadata item, at the layer level.
--unset-layer-metadata <KEY>
Remove metadata item, at the layer level.
--unset-fid
Added in version 3.12.
Can be specified to prevent the name of the source FID column
and source feature IDs from being reused for the target layer.
This option can for example be useful if selecting source
features with a ORDER BY clause.
--oo, --open-option <NAME>=<VALUE>
Dataset open option (format specific).
May be repeated.
--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 several 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.
GDALG OUTPUT (ON-THE-FLY / STREAMED DATASET)
This program supports serializing the command line as a JSON file
using the GDALG output format. The resulting file can then be opened
as a vector dataset using the GDALG: GDAL Streamed Algorithm driver,
and apply the specified pipeline in a on-the-fly / streamed way.
Example 1: Change the CRS of a GeoPackage file (without reprojecting it)
and its geometry type
$ gdal vector edit --crs=EPSG:4326 --geometry-type=POLYGONZM in.gpkg out.gpkg --overwrite
Even Rouault <even.rouault@spatialys.com>
1998-2026
March 20, 2026 GDAL-VECTOR-EDIT(1)
NAME
gdal-vector-edit - Edit metadata of a vector dataset
Added in version 3.11.
SYNOPSIS
Usage: gdal vector edit [OPTIONS] <INPUT> <OUTPUT>
Edit metadata of a vector dataset.
Positional arguments:
-i, --input <INPUT> Input vector datasets [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)
Options:
-l, --layer, --input-layer <INPUT-LAYER> Input layer name(s) [may be repeated]
-f, --of, --format, --output-format <OUTPUT-FORMAT> Output format ("GDALG" allowed)
--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 is allowed
--update Whether to open existing dataset in update mode
--overwrite-layer Whether overwriting existing output is allowed
--append Whether appending to existing layer is allowed
Mutually exclusive with --upsert
--output-layer <OUTPUT-LAYER> Output layer name
--skip-errors Skip errors when writing features
--active-layer <ACTIVE-LAYER> Set active layer (if not specified, all)
--geometry-type <GEOMETRY-TYPE> Layer geometry type
--crs <CRS> Override CRS (without reprojection)
--metadata <KEY>=<VALUE> Add/update dataset metadata item [may be repeated]
--unset-metadata <KEY> Remove dataset metadata item [may be repeated]
--layer-metadata <KEY>=<VALUE> Add/update layer metadata item [may be repeated]
--unset-layer-metadata <KEY> Remove layer metadata item [may be repeated]
--unset-fid Unset the identifier of each feature and the FID column name
Advanced Options:
--if, --input-format <INPUT-FORMAT> Input formats [may be repeated]
--oo, --open-option <KEY>=<VALUE> Open options [may be repeated]
--output-oo, --output-open-option <KEY>=<VALUE> Output open options [may be repeated]
--upsert Upsert features (implies 'append')
Mutually exclusive with --append
DESCRIPTION
gdal vector edit can be used to edit metadata of a vector dataset:
its CRS, the layer geometry type, dataset and layer metadata.
edit can also be used as a step of gdal vector pipeline.
Features are not modified.
Standard options
-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
--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 instance, 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 options supported for a format can be listed with the
--formats command line option but the documentation for the
format is the definitive 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.
--overwrite
Allow program to overwrite existing target file or dataset.
Otherwise, by default, gdal errors out if the target file or
dataset already exists.
--active-layer <ACTIVE-LAYER>
Set the active layer. When it is specified, only the layer
specified by its name will be subject to the processing. Other
layers will be not modified. If this option is not specified,
all layers will be subject to the processing.
--geometry-type <GEOMETRY-TYPE>
Change the layer geometry type to be one of GEOMETRY, POINT,
LINESTRING, POLYGON, MULTIPOINT, MULTILINESTRING,
MULTIPOLYGON, GEOMETRYCOLLECTION, CURVE, CIRCULARSTRING,
COMPOUNDCURVE, SURFACE, CURVEPOLYGON, MULTICURVE,
MULTISURFACE, POLYHEDRALSURFACE or TIN. Z, M or ZM suffixes
can be appended to the above values to indicate the
dimensionality. Note that feature geometries themselves are
not modified. Thus this option can be used to fix an
inappropriate geometry type at the layer level.
--crs <CRS>
Override CRS, without reprojecting.
The coordinate reference systems that can be passed are
anything supported by the
OGRSpatialReference::SetFromUserInput() call, which includes
EPSG Projected, Geographic or Compound CRS (i.e. EPSG:4296), a
well known text (WKT) CRS definition, PROJ.4 declarations, or
the name of a .prj file containing a WKT CRS definition.
null or none can be specified to unset an existing CRS.
--metadata <KEY>=<VALUE>
Add/update metadata item, at the dataset level.
--unset-metadata <KEY>
Remove metadata item, at the dataset level.
--layer-metadata <KEY>=<VALUE>
Add/update metadata item, at the layer level.
--unset-layer-metadata <KEY>
Remove metadata item, at the layer level.
--unset-fid
Added in version 3.12.
Can be specified to prevent the name of the source FID column
and source feature IDs from being reused for the target layer.
This option can for example be useful if selecting source
features with a ORDER BY clause.
Advanced options
--oo, --open-option <NAME>=<VALUE>
Dataset open option (format specific).
May be repeated.
--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 several 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.
GDALG OUTPUT (ON-THE-FLY / STREAMED DATASET)
This program supports serializing the command line as a JSON file
using the GDALG output format. The resulting file can then be opened
as a vector dataset using the GDALG: GDAL Streamed Algorithm driver,
and apply the specified pipeline in a on-the-fly / streamed way.
EXAMPLES
Example 1: Change the CRS of a GeoPackage file (without reprojecting it)
and its geometry type
$ gdal vector edit --crs=EPSG:4326 --geometry-type=POLYGONZM in.gpkg out.gpkg --overwrite
AUTHOR
Even Rouault <even.rouault@spatialys.com>
COPYRIGHT
1998-2026
March 20, 2026 GDAL-VECTOR-EDIT(1)