v.in.db - GRASS GIS manual
Author: GRASS Development Team
Description: v.in.db: Creates new vector (points) map from database table containing coordinates.
Keywords: vector, import, database, points

## NAME

v.in.db - Creates new vector (points) map from database table containing coordinates.

## KEYWORDS

vector, import, database, points

## SYNOPSIS

v.in.db
v.in.db --help
v.in.db [-t] table=name [driver=name] [database=name] x=name y=name [z=name] [key=name] [where=sql_query] output=name [--overwrite] [--help] [--verbose] [--quiet] [--ui]

### Flags:

-t
  Use imported table as attribute table for new map
--overwrite
  Allow output files to overwrite existing files
--help
  Print usage summary
--verbose
  Verbose module output
--quiet
  Quiet module output
--ui
  Force launching GUI dialog

### Parameters:

table=name [required]
  Input table name
driver=name
  Name of database driver
  Options: dbf, ogr, pg, sqlite
  Default: sqlite
database=name
  Name of database
  Default: $GISDBASE/$LOCATION_NAME/$MAPSET/sqlite/sqlite.db
x=name [required]
  Name of column containing x coordinate
y=name [required]
  Name of column containing y coordinate
z=name
  Name of column containing z coordinate
key=name
  Name of column containing category number
  Must refer to an integer column
where=sql_query
  WHERE conditions of SQL statement without 'where' keyword
  Example: income < 1000 and population >= 10000
output=name [required]
  Name for output vector map

## DESCRIPTION

v.in.db creates a new vector point map from database table or file containing coordinates.

## NOTES

If GRASS comes with OGR support than v.in.db allows importing data from different input files, eg. CSV or MS Excel (assuming that GDAL/OGR library is compiled with this support).

v.in.db creates key column "cat" automatically when key option is not given. Note that this operation is possible to perform only when -t flag is not given. Currently, automated creation of key column is supported only when default DB driver for output vector map is SQLite driver otherwise key option must be specified by the user. Default DB driver is defined by db.connect.

## EXAMPLES

### Creating a map from PostgreSQL table

    v.in.db driver=pg database="host=myserver.itc.it,dbname=mydb" \
            table=pat_stazioni x=east y=north z=quota key=id output=pat_stazioni

If an ID column is not present in the PostgreSQL table, a new column should be added. See PostgreSQL DB driver page for details.

### Creating a map from PostGIS

To extract coordinate values from PostGIS, functions have to be used:

    v.in.db driver=pg database="host=myserver.itc.it,dbname=mydb" \
            table=station x="x(geom)" y="y(geom)" z="z(geom)" key=id out=meteostations

If an ID column is not present in the PostgreSQL table, a new column should be added. See PostgreSQL DB driver page for details.

Alternatively a vector point map can be imported from PostGIS database using v.in.ogr.

### Creating a map from Open Document spreadsheet (ODS) file

A new vector point map is created from given sheet in ODS file. The database option points to the ODS file. Option table is the name of selected spreadsheet list, the key option is the identifier column:

    # preview table structure with OGR tool (table name is "Layer name" here):
    ogrinfo -al -so meteodata.ods

    # import sheet from ODS into map
    v.in.db key=ID table=mysheet x=long y=lat z=height output=meteodata \
             driver=ogr database=meteodata.ods

### Creating a map from MS Excel file

A new vector point map is created from given sheet in MS Excel file. The database option points to the file in MS Excel format. Option table is name of the selected spreadsheet "List1":

    v.in.db table=List1 x=long y=lat z=height output=meteodata \
             driver=ogr database=meteodata.xls

Note that in this example the key option is omitted. In this case v.in.db tries to add key column automatically. This requires SQLite to be a default DB driver.

### Creating a map from DBF table

A new 3D point vector map is created from DBF table. Column 'idcol' contains unique row IDs. The database option is the directory where the DBF file is stored.

    v.in.db driver=dbf database=/home/user/tables/ table=pointsfile x=x y=y z=z \
            key=idcol out=dtmpoints

To check result:

    v.info dtmpoints
    v.info -c dtmpoints

If DB driver for output vector map is different from SQLite driver and an ID column is missing in the DBF file, it has to be added beforehand, e.g. with OpenOffice. Alternatively, import the table with db.in.ogr into GRASS and then with v.in.db from the imported table (db.in.ogr optionally adds an unique ID column).

### Creating a point map from DBF table for selected records only

The user can import only selected vector points from a table using the where parameter (see above for general DBF handling):

    v.in.db driver=dbf  database=/home/user/tables/ table=pointsfile x=x y=y z=z \
            key=idcol out=dtmpoints where="x NOT NULL and z > 100"

### Creating a map from SQLite table

A new vector point map is created from table in SQLite database file. Column 'idcol' contains unique row IDs. The database option is the the SQLite database file.

    v.in.db driver=sqlite database=/home/user/tables/mysqlite.db table=pointsfile x=x y=y z=z \
            key=idcol out=dtmpoints

## SEE ALSO

db.execute, db.in.ogr, v.info, v.in.geonames, v.in.ogr, v.to.db

SQL support in GRASS GIS

## AUTHORS

Radim Blazek
Various updates for GRASS 7 by Martin Landa, Czech Technical University in Prague, Czech Republic

## SOURCE CODE

Available at: v.in.db source code (history)

Accessed: Sunday Jun 28 03:49:32 2026

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