Quantum GIS 0.8.0 Titan |
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| Developer(s) | QGIS Development Team |
| Initial release | January 2009 |
| Stable release | 1.7.2 (Wroclaw) / November 13, 2011 |
| Written in | C++ |
| Platform | Cross-platform |
| Type | Geographic information system |
| License | GPL |
| Website | http://qgis.org/ |
Quantum GIS (often abbreviated to QGIS) is a free software desktop Geographic Information Systems (GIS) application that provides data viewing, editing, and analysis capabilities.
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Gary Sherman began development of Quantum GIS in early 2002, and it became an incubator project of the Open Source Geospatial Foundation in 2007.[1] Version 1.0 was released in January 2009.[2]
Quantum GIS is written in C++, and its GUI uses the Qt library.[3] Quantum GIS allows integration of plugins developed using either C++ or Python. In addition to Qt, required dependencies of Quantum GIS include GEOS and SQLite. GDAL, GRASS GIS, PostGIS, and PostgreSQL are also recommended.[4]
Quantum GIS is a multi-platform application and runs on different operating systems including Mac OS X, Linux, UNIX, and Microsoft Windows. For Mac users, the advantage of Quantum GIS over GRASS GIS is that it does not require the X11 windowing system in order to run, and all around the interface is much cleaner and faster. Quantum GIS can also be used as a graphical user interface to GRASS. Quantum GIS has a small file size compared to commercial GIS's and requires less RAM and processing power; hence it can be used on older hardware or running simultaneously with other applications where CPU power may be limited.
Quantum GIS is continually maintained by an active group of volunteer developers who regularly release updates and bug fixes. Currently, developers have converted Quantum GIS into 31 languages and the application is used internationally in academic and professional environments.
| Version | Codename | Release date | Significant changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.0.1-alpha | July 2002 | Import and view data from PostGIS[5] | |
| 0.0.3-alpha | August 10, 2002 | Added support for shapefiles and other vector formats.[5] | |
| 0.0.4-alpha | August 15, 2002 | Improvements in layers handling, colorize layers, and view properties in a dialog box.[5] | |
| 0.0.5-alpha | October 5, 2002 | Bug fixes and improved stability, ability to set line widths, and improved zoom in/out functionality.[5] | |
| 0.0.6 | November 24, 2002 | Improvements to PostGIS connections, layer identify function added, and ability to view and sort attribute tables.[5] | |
| 0.0.7 | November 30, 2002 | [1] | |
| 0.0.8 | December 11, 2002 | [2] | |
| 0.0.9 | January 25, 2003 | [3] | |
| 0.0.10 | May 13, 2003 | [4] | |
| 0.0.11 | June 10, 2003 | [5] | |
| 0.0.12 | June 10, 2003 | [6] | |
| 0.0.13 | December 8, 2003 | [7] | |
| 0.1pre1 | February 14, 2004 | Added support for raster data; single, continuous, and graduated shading for vector data; ability to create buffers, implemented as a PostGIS plugin.[6][7] | |
| 0.1 | Moroz | February 25, 2004 | [8] |
| 0.2 | Pumpkin | April 26, 2004 | [9] [10] [11] |
| 0.3 | Madison | May 28, 2004 | [12] [13] |
| 0.4 | Baby | July 4, 2004 | [14] [15] |
| 0.5 | Bandit | October 5, 2004 | [16] [17] |
| 0.6 | Simon | December 19, 2004 | [18] [19] |
| 0.7 | Seamus | [20] | |
| 0.7.3 | October 11, 2005 | [21] [22] | |
| 0.8 | January 7, 2007 | [23] [24] | |
| 0.8.1 | "Titan" | June 15, 2007 | [25] [26] |
| 0.9.0 | October 26, 2007 | [27] [28] [29] | |
| 0.9.1 | "Ganymede" | January 6, 2008 | [30] [31] [32] |
| 0.10 | "Io" | May 3, 2008 | [33] [34] |
| 0.11.0 | "Metis" | July 21, 2008 | [35] [36] |
| 1.0.0 | "Kore" | January 5, 2009 | [37] [38] |
| 1.1.0 | "Pan" | May 12, 2009 | [39] [40] |
| 1.2.0 | "Daphnis" | September 1, 2009 | [41] [42] |
| 1.3.0 | "Mimas" | September 20, 2009 | [43] [44] |
| 1.4.0 | "Enceladus" | January 10, 2010 | [45] [46] |
| 1.5.0 | "Tethys" | July 29, 2010 | [47] |
| 1.6.0 | "Copiapó" | November 27, 2010 | [48] [49] |
| 1.7.0 | "Wrocław" | June 19, 2011 | [50] |
Because it is distributed as a free software application under the GNU distribution license, Quantum GIS can be reprogrammed to perform different or more specialized tasks. There are also plug-ins available to expand compatibility and functionality.
Quantum GIS allows use of shapefiles, coverages, and personal geodatabases. MapInfo, PostGIS, and a number of other formats are supported in Quantum GIS.[8] Web services, including Web Map Service and Web Feature Service, are also supported to allow use of data from external sources.[3]
Quantum GIS provides integration with other open source GIS packages, including PostGIS, GRASS, and MapServer to give users extensive functionality.[3]
Plugins, written in Python, extend the capabilities of QGIS. There are plugins to geocode using the Google Geocoding API, perform geoprocessing (fTools) similar to the standard tools found in ArcGIS, as well as plugins that interface with PostgreSQL and MySQL databases.