Use¶
Open the panel from Web > Portolan Registry or the toolbar button.
Find a catalog¶
The panel opens on the registry's catalogs. Each row shows a small map with the catalog's extent, its collection count, size, and licenses, and its logo when the registry has one. A catalog whose extent covers most of the world tints the land instead of drawing a box. Filter the list by text, by status, or to catalogs that overlap the map extent.
The list shows 25 catalogs at a time. Select Show 25 more at the end of the list to see the next ones.
Select a catalog to open it. The header shows the catalog, and the tree below lists its collections. Each collection shows its own icon when the catalog publishes one. The tree lists 50 entries at a time, with a Show 50 more row for the rest. All catalogs goes back to the list.
Select a node to see its thumbnail, or a map of its extent when it has no thumbnail. The details also show its description, license, and assets. Select the header to see the catalog's own details again.
Add data to the map¶
Select one or more assets, then select Add to map. A double-click on an asset adds it too. A badge on each asset shows its format.
| Asset | Layer |
|---|---|
| PMTiles link or asset | Vector tile layer, with the style chosen under Tile style |
| GeoParquet | Memory layer, read with DuckDB |
| COG | Raster layer, read over HTTP |
| GeoJSON, FlatGeobuf | Vector layer, read over HTTP |
Tile style lists the collection's MapLibre styles, with the default style first. QGIS default style skips them.
Read GeoParquet in the map extent only sends the map extent to DuckDB. When a file has a GeoParquet bbox column, DuckDB uses its statistics to skip row groups outside the extent. Every read stops at 1,000,000 features.
PMTiles layers read through a loopback server that the plugin runs on 127.0.0.1. A saved project reconnects them when it reopens.
Download¶
Download > Selected assets saves the selected assets. Download > Everything in saves the chosen node and everything below it, after it shows the file count and the known size.
The plugin saves each file in the folder you pick, at the same relative path as in the catalog, so the copy opens as a local STAC catalog. After each download, the plugin checks the file against its file:checksum when the catalog gives one. A second run skips files that are already complete, so it resumes an interrupted download.
Use another registry¶
The plugin reads the Portolan registry export at exports/catalogs.json. To point it at a mirror, set the QGIS setting PortolanRegistry/registry_url in Settings > Options > Advanced and reopen the panel.