So back in November I started talking about the new ability of QGIS to edit ESRI File Based Geodatabases. Technically it could before that date with an ESRI library add-on. Luckily more work went into the OpenFileGDB driver and here we are.
I’m pretty sure when I wrote that 3.28.1 was out – and I didn’t realize there was more to come. With 3.28.3 you can export a layer by right clicking on that layer and creating a file based geodatabase. Previously I was creating a file based geodatabase and dragging and dropping data into it.
So now you have this great bit of functionality:
The second thing – there was a bug in my drag and drop philosophy. Luckily due to this all being open and I like filing bug reports…..https://github.com/qgis/QGIS/issues/51435. The Developers rock. So I hope the fix makes it into 3.28.4
Lastly – I’ve been spending more time this month with GDAL. Yesterday I ended up with the command line: ogr2ogr -f openfilegdb test.gdb -nln addresses address_points.shp
With some small complaining (due to column types) I created a functional ESRI file Based Geodatabase out of a shapefile. Why is this a big deal for me? For the last 5 years I’ve been delivering a geopackage to the state of TN’s Enterprise 911 system. In general it’s worked but there’s always fear of ESRI intentionally/accidentally breaking geopackage. I mean – once you’re the 800 lb Gorilla you can do what you want – so now I have a backup plan in case that happens.
Anyway – Happy QGIS’ing.
