Importing DataFormatsGIS Formats

GIS Formats

  1. Shapefile
  2. GeoJSON
  3. KML
  4. GeoPackage
  5. ESRI Geodatabase
  6. PostGIS
  7. OpenStreetMap

Importing with ogr2ogr

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Prerequisite: You must have ogr2ogr installed on your system. It’s part of the GDAL package:

  • macOS: brew install gdal
  • Ubuntu/Debian: sudo apt-get install gdal-bin
  • Windows: Download from GDAL binaries

ogr2ogr is a powerful command-line tool for converting various geospatial formats into PostGIS. Here’s the general command structure for importing data into Geobase:

Note: You can find your connection details in the Geobase dashboard under Project Settings > Connection Info.

Important: Always specify a concrete geometry type (e.g., POINT, MULTIPOLYGON) instead of using the abstract GEOMETRY type. This is required for proper spatial indexing and visualization.

ogr2ogr -f "PostgreSQL" \
  PG:"host=YOUR_PROJECT_REF.geobase.app port=6443 dbname=postgres user=supabase_admin password=YOUR_DB_PASSWORD" \
  input_file.extension \
  -nln schema_name.table_name \
  -nlt MULTIPOLYGON \
  -lco GEOMETRY_NAME=geom \
  -lco FID=id \
  -lco PRECISION=NO

Parameters Explained

  • -f "PostgreSQL": Output format (PostGIS)
  • PG:"...": Connection string using your Geobase project details from Settings
    • YOUR_PROJECT_REF: Your project reference from Connection Info
    • YOUR_DB_PASSWORD: Database password from Connection Info
  • input_file.extension: Your input file (e.g., data.shp, data.geojson)
  • -nln schema_name.table_name: Output table name (e.g., public.my_data)
  • -nlt GEOMETRY_TYPE: Specify concrete geometry type:
    • POINT for point data
    • MULTIPOINT for multiple points
    • LINESTRING or MULTILINESTRING for lines
    • POLYGON or MULTIPOLYGON for polygons
  • -lco GEOMETRY_NAME=geom: Name of the geometry column
  • -lco FID=id: Name of the primary key column
  • -lco PRECISION=NO: Disable precision for floating-point numbers

Examples

Import Building Polygons:

ogr2ogr -f "PostgreSQL" \
  PG:"host=YOUR_PROJECT_REF.geobase.app port=6443 dbname=postgres user=supabase_admin password=YOUR_DB_PASSWORD" \
  buildings.geojson \
  -nln public.buildings \
  -nlt MULTIPOLYGON \
  -lco GEOMETRY_NAME=geom

Import Point Locations:

ogr2ogr -f "PostgreSQL" \
  PG:"host=YOUR_PROJECT_REF.geobase.app port=6443 dbname=postgres user=supabase_admin password=YOUR_DB_PASSWORD" \
  locations.shp \
  -nln public.locations \
  -nlt POINT \
  -lco GEOMETRY_NAME=geom

Import from PostGIS to PostGIS:

ogr2ogr -f "PostgreSQL" \
  PG:"host=YOUR_PROJECT_REF.geobase.app port=6443 dbname=postgres user=supabase_admin password=YOUR_DB_PASSWORD" \
  PG:"host=source-host port=5432 dbname=source_db user=source_user password=source_password" \
  -sql "SELECT * FROM source_schema.source_table" \
  -nln target_schema.target_table \
  -nlt MULTIPOLYGON \
  -lco GEOMETRY_NAME=geom \
  -skipfailures

Common Options

  • -t_srs EPSG:4326: Reproject to WGS84
  • -s_srs EPSG:XXXX: Specify source projection
  • -where "COLUMN='VALUE'": Filter input features
  • -select "column1,column2": Select specific columns
  • -skipfailures: Skip failed features
  • -overwrite: Replace existing table
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