GDAL-VECTOR-READ(1)

📦 version 3.13.3, in alpine 3.24, arch rolling, ubuntu stonking

💖 GDAL-VECTOR-READ(1) 💖

okay bestie, welcome to the gdal-vector-read page — it lives in the GDAL manual and honestly? it's giving "small but mighty". 💅

✨ NAME ✨

gdal-vector-read — read a vector dataset (pipeline only, no cap)

Added in version 3.11. 🎀

🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

so the read operation is literally only for use inside a gdal pipeline, okay? it reads one single input vector dataset, that's it, that's the whole job. and it's the first step of a pipeline — the opening act, the main character walking on stage, the vibe-setter for everything that comes after. 🦋

💜 SYNOPSIS 💜

* read [OPTIONS] <INPUT>
------------------------

Read a vector dataset.

Positional arguments:
  -i, --input <INPUT>                       Input vector datasets [required]

Options:
  -l, --layer, --input-layer <INPUT-LAYER>  Input layer name(s) [may be repeated]

Advanced Options:
  --if, --input-format <INPUT-FORMAT>       Input formats [may be repeated]
  --oo, --open-option <KEY>=<VALUE>         Open options [may be repeated]

🌈 STANDARD OPTIONS 🌈

  • --if, --input-format <format> — the format/driver name you want it to attempt when opening the input file(s). ngl you usually do not need to specify this at all 🙈, but it's there for when automatic driver detection is being messy and fails to pick the right driver — then you can step in and skip the auto-detection entirely. you can repeat this option several times to list several candidate drivers. ⚠️ but heads up: it does not force those drivers to open the dataset. in particular, some drivers have requirements on file extensions. so yeah, it's a suggestion, not a command. 💀
    • May be repeated.
  • --oo, --open-option <NAME>=<VALUE> — a dataset open option (format specific, so like… check your driver's docs bestie). 🔥
    • May be repeated.

🫶 EXAMPLES 🫶

🎀 Example 1: Read a GeoPackage file

$ gdal vector pipeline read input.gpkg ! ... [other commands here] ...

see how read kicks off the pipeline and then ! pipes the vibe along to the next command? iconic. ⭐

👑 AUTHOR 👑

Even Rouault <even.rouault@spatialys.com> — we stan. 💖

1998-2026

okay so that's the whole page bestie, no skips, no shortcuts, every flag accounted for. go read some vectors. slay. 💅✨

this was the GDAL manual's GDAL-VECTOR-READ(1) page, from GDAL, dated Aug 18, 2026 — mwah, bye! 🎀🦋

📦 where this page comes from