t.vect.import(1grass)

💖 t.vect.import — the manual page, but make it cute 💖

okay bestie, so this is t.vect.import from the GRASS User's Manual — one of the GRASS GIS modules, and she is that girl. Basically: she takes a space time vector dataset that got packed up as a GRASS-specific archive file and ✨ brings it back to life ✨ inside your project. Rehoming queen behavior.

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🌸 KEYWORDS 🌸

temporal, import, vector, time, create project

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

t.vect.import
t.vect.import --help
t.vect.import [-eoc] input=name output=name  [basename=string]
directory=name  [title=string]   [description=string]   [project=string]
[--overwrite]  [--help]  [--verbose]  [--quiet]  [--ui]

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🎀 Flags 🎀

• -e — Extend project extents based on new dataset. like, stretch the ol' boundaries to fit the new stuff in 💅
• -o — Override projection check (use current project's CRS). This one says: assume that the dataset has same coordinate reference system as the current project. basically gossiping "yeah yeah it matches, don't check" 🙈
• -c — Create the project specified by the "project" parameter and exit. Do not import the space time vector datasets. she does one job and dips 🚪
• --overwrite — Allow output files to overwrite existing files. (careful, babes — she will not be gentle 💀)
• --help — Print usage summary
• --verbose — Verbose module output. give me all the tea ☕
• --quiet — Quiet module output. not a single word, we're being mysterious 🤫
• --ui — Force launching GUI dialog

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🦋 Parameters 🦋

• input=name [required] — Name of input file
• output=name [required] — Name of the output space time vector dataset
• basename=string — Basename of the new generated output maps. A numerical suffix separated by an underscore will be attached to create a unique identifier. so like map becomes map_1, map_2, etc. cutie patootie naming scheme fr fr
• directory=name [required] — Path to the extraction directory
• title=string — Title of the new space time dataset
• description=string — Description of the new space time dataset
• project=string — Create a new project (location) and import the data into it.

⚠️ Do not run this module in parallel or interrupt it when a new project should be created. seriously bestie, no multitasking, no Ctrl+C mid-vibe. let her cook 🔥

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💜 DESCRIPTION 💜

t.vect.import imports a space time vector dataset archive that was exported with t.vect.export. that's it, that's the whole job. in-and-out, clean, iconic, no notes 👑

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🌈 NOTES 🌈

Optionally a base map name can be provided to avoid that existing vector maps are overwritten by the map names that are used in the STRDS archive. translation: if you don't hand her a basename, she'll use the names from the archive and could steamroll your existing vector maps. not the vibe. protect yourself 🫶

The directory is used as work directory in case of import but can also be used as a data directory when using GML for the data exchange. so she'll camp out there while working, and it doubles as a lil hangout spot for GML data exchange 🏕️

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🍓 EXAMPLE 🍓

In this example, five vector maps are created and registered in a single space time vector dataset named random_locations. Each vector map represents random locations within the boundary of the state taken at 1 month intervals. The space time dataset is then exported and re-imported. watch her do a little full-circle moment 💫

db.connect -d
for i in `seq 1 5` ; do
    v.random output=map_$i n=500 restrict=boundary_state@PERMANENT
    echo map_$i >> map_list.txt
done
t.create type=stvds temporaltype=absolute \
         output=random_locations \
         title="Random locations" \
         description="Vector test dataset with random locations"
t.register -i type=vector input=random_locations \
           file=map_list.txt start="2012-01-01" increment="1 months"
t.vect.list random_locations
t.vect.export input=random_locations output=random_locations.tar.gz \
              compression=gzip
t.vect.import input=random_locations.tar.gz output=new_random_locations \
              basename=new_map directory=/tmp
t.vect.list new_random_locations

and the output she gives back:

id|name|layer|mapset|start_time|end_time
new_map_1@user1|new_map_1|None|user1|2012-01-01 00:00:00|2012-02-01 00:00:00
new_map_2@user1|new_map_2|None|user1|2012-02-01 00:00:00|2012-03-01 00:00:00
new_map_3@user1|new_map_3|None|user1|2012-03-01 00:00:00|2012-04-01 00:00:00
new_map_4@user1|new_map_4|None|user1|2012-04-01 00:00:00|2012-05-01 00:00:00
new_map_5@user1|new_map_5|None|user1|2012-05-01 00:00:00|2012-06-01 00:00:00

look at that clean lil table. the timestamps go up by exactly one month every time. she ate and left no crumbs 🍽️✨

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👀 SEE ALSO 👀

go bother her friends next: t.vect.export, t.create, t.info, v.in.ogr, v.pack, t.rast.import

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👑 AUTHOR 👑

Sören Gebbert, Thünen Institute of Climate-Smart Agriculture

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📜 SOURCE CODE 📜

Available at: t.vect.import source code (history)

Latest change: Friday Aug 08 09:39:19 2025 in commit: ed72c71d8580e872cd6fd345c84a15c324764465

Main index | Temporal index | Topics index | Keywords index | Graphical index | Full index

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and that's the whole page bestie!! 💖 this bad girl is part of the GRASS 8.5.0 Reference Manual, © 2003-2026 GRASS Development Team — and yes the footer's own banner says GRASS 8.5.0 too, so we're double-documented, double-fabulous. stay groovy, go import something cute 🦋🎀💅