Introduction to GIS Applications

GIS and QGIS

The Work environment in QGIS.

This section will help you to understand where the different elements on the desktop give acces to or what they are used for. It will not provide detailed information on the interface of the software, for that, you are advised to visit QGIS online documentation.

What to find where in QGIS

For detailed information on all interface elements and processing options you are advised to use the QGIS HELP-pages: QGIS User Guide.

The numbers used in the figure above will be referred to in the paragraphs below. The interface of QGIS on your laptop may be different from the figure above, you may have another version and using another Operating System. The basic elements will all be there!

Menu-bars

QGIS has two different menus to access options, processes, settings, actions etc. The Main Menu bar  2  provides access to QGIS functions using the standard hierarchical menus. The Tool bar  3  can contain different types of command-buttons, tools, palettes, combo boxes, edit boxes. Each command has code associated with it.

Data management

Data management means a multitude of different things: Access to data (local and external); data formats (vector, raster, tabular); data storage (GeoDatabase, files); data quality and many more. The Browser window  4  is used to organize and manage various types of geographic information as logical collection. It shows you a list of folder connections, geodatabases and web services.

Map area

In the Map area  9  you have a geographic window to explore, display and query the data of your map and interact, using tools from the Tool bar.

Layer-controll

The Layers window  5  shows the data and its stacking order in the map. Each layer refers to a dataset that is stored in a geodatabase, a coverage, a shapefile, rasterfile and so on. Layers can be easily added, by dragging them from the Browser window  4  into the Map area.
Changing the order of the layers in the Layers window will affect the order of the data in the map as well.
When you add a new layer to a map, it will be drawn using a default set of drawing properties. One of the first steps will be to set the symbology and other properties of that layer.

Processing Toolbox

Working in a GIS often involves processing data, either to get it ready for use or to analyse it. Geoprocessing tools perform small operations of geographic data, such as extracting data; change projections; calculate optimal routes; create buffers and so on. These tools are stored and organized in toolboxes. The toolboxes are located in the Processing toolbox  15 .

Layouts

The print layout provides access to map layout and printing facilities. It allows to add elements like titles, scale bar, legend, along with maps displaying the visualized data. The Layout window can be opened through the Main menu > Projects > Layouts, a separate window will open where specific tools and functions are available.

Plug-ins

To enhance the basic functionality of QGIS, it is possible to install additional plugins. These are sets of advanced tools added to the application. A set of extensions gives options to analyze spatial relationships for specific purposes, improve productivity. There is a wide variety of plugins ready to be used, many of them can be installed directly from the Plugin Manager within the QGIS application. Most of the plugins can be downloaded and installed for free. You can write your own plugins using the Python programming language.

Help

For detailed information on all interface elements and processing options you are advised to use the online QGIS HELP-pages: QGIS User Guide. You can also access the help contents through Main Menu > Help > Help. When having a question, always first try to find an answer there. Besides these there are many forums online, where you will find support. Not to forget the many video tutorials that will help you in "getting the job done!".