Appendix B. Working with PostGIS

This section focusses on the use of PostGIS in the Thuban framework. For installation and maintenance of spatial databases we refer to the PostGIS Homepage. The Thuban PostGIS support requires the psycopg module.

Working with PostGIS Databases is seperated into two steps:

B.1. Opening a Database Connection

Before a data layer can be loaded from a PostGIS database a connection with the database has to be established. Session->Database Connections ... opens a dialog for database connection management. In the dialog new connections can be added and existing ones can be removed. Removing a database connection is not possible if the map still displays a layer provided by this database connection.

Figure B-1. Database Management Dialog

To add a new database connection to the session a dialog is opened to specify the relevant connection data. Enter all data relevant for your connection. If the connection fails the dialog remains open and provides some hints on the failure.

Figure B-2. Add Database Dialog

It is important to note that information on database connections are also stored with the session. Passwords are NOT stored. If you load a session with database connections you are asked to enter these passwords again where required.