QGIS: Becoming a GIS Power User

Creating spatial indexes

Spatial indexes are methods to speed up queries of geometries. This includes speeding up the display of database layers in QGIS when you zoom in close (it has no effect on viewing entire layers).

This recipe applies to SpatiaLite and PostGIS databases. In the event that you've made a new table or you have imported some data and didn't create a spatial index, it's usually a good idea to add this.

Tip

You can also create a spatial index for shapefile layers. Take a look at Layer Properties | General for the Create Spatial Index button. This will create a .qix file that works with QGIS, Mapserver, GDAL/OGR, and other open source applications. Refer to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shapefile.

Getting ready

You'll need a SpatiaLite ...