GeoPackage files

A GeoPackage is a single .gpkg file that holds vector layers, attributes and metadata together. AddisDB reads it, decodes the geometry, and puts it on the Map view — with the attributes queryable as a normal table.

Who it is for

GeoPackage is the OGC standard designed to replace the shapefile, and it fixes the format’s well-known limitations: no ten-character column names, no 2 GB ceiling, no set of sibling files to lose track of, and proper Unicode.

It is a SQLite database underneath, with the OGC specification defining which tables hold geometry and which hold metadata. That is why one file can carry several layers, an explicit coordinate reference system, and real column types — none of which a shapefile can.

Use it for modern GIS exchange, for datasets too large or too richly attributed for a shapefile, and for anything you need to hand to someone as one self-contained file.

Getting a file

1. QGIS exports GeoPackage natively — it is the default save format for new layers.
2. ogr2ogr converts almost anything into one: ogr2ogr -f GPKG out.gpkg in.shp.
3. A growing number of open-data portals publish .gpkg alongside (or instead of) shapefiles.
4. One GeoPackage can hold several layers — AddisDB reads the layer it finds.
5. ogrinfo out.gpkg lists the layers a file contains if you are not sure what is inside it.

# Convert a shapefile set into a single GeoPackage
ogr2ogr -f GPKG parcels.gpkg parcels.shp

Open it in AddisDB

1. New Connection → Files → Map → GeoPackage.
2. Choose the .gpkg file, name the connection, and Save.

What AddisDB gives you

• The Map view — geometry decoded and drawn on an interactive map with a live basemap switcher.
• SQL over the attributes, so the map shows exactly the subset your query returns.
• The Chart view for aggregating attributes, and the JSON tab for raw geometry.
• Notebooks and AI chat grounded in the layer’s real columns.
• ⌘K search across every connection, and a file that is only ever read.