Filtering and Extracting vector data¶

WFS also defines mechanisms to only retrieve a subset of the data that matches some specified constraints.

Get Feature by ID

http://localhost:8083:/geoserver/wfs?
service=wfs&
version=2.0.0&
request=GetFeature&
typeNames=<namespace>:<featuretype>&
featureID=<id>

Example:

http://localhost:8083:/geoserver/wfs?service=wfs&version=2.0.0&request=GetFeature&typeNames=geosolutions:WorldCountries&featureID=WorldCountries.1

Limit Features

If the ID of the feature is unknown but you still want to limit the number of features returned, use the count parameter for WFS 2.0.0 or the maxFeatures parameter for earlier WFS versions

http://localhost:8083:/geoserver/wfs?
service=wfs&
version=2.0.0&
request=GetFeature&
typeNames=<namespace>:<featuretype>&
count=<N>

or

http://localhost:8083:/geoserver/wfs?
service=wfs&
version=1.1.0&
request=GetFeature&
typeNames=<namespace>:<featuretype>&
maxFeatures=<N>

Example:

http://localhost:8083:/geoserver/wfs?service=wfs&version=2.0.0&request=GetFeature&typeNames=geosolutions:WorldCountries&count=3

Sorting

Exactly which N features will be returned depends in the internal structure of the data. However, you can sort the returned selection based on an attribute value.

http://localhost:8083:/geoserver/wfs?
service=wfs&
version=2.0.0&
request=GetFeature&
typeNames=<namespace>:<featuretype>&
count=<N>&
sortBy=<attribute>[+D]

Optionally you can add “+D” to the name of the attribute to sort in descending order

Example:

http://localhost:8083:/geoserver/wfs?service=wfs&version=2.0.0&request=GetFeature&typeNames=geosolutions:WorldCountries&count=3&sortBy=POP_EST

http://localhost:8083:/geoserver/wfs?service=wfs&version=2.0.0&request=GetFeature&typeNames=geosolutions:WorldCountries&count=3&sortBy=POP_EST+D

Specifying Attributes of interest

To restrict a GetFeature request by attribute rather than feature, use the propertyName key in the form propertyName=attribute. You can specify a single attribute, or multiple attributes separated by commas.

http://localhost:8083:/geoserver/wfs?
service=wfs&
version=2.0.0&
request=GetFeature&
typeNames=<namespace>:<featuretype>&
propertyName=<attribute>

Example:

http://localhost:8083/geoserver/wfs?service=wfs&version=1.1.0&request=GetFeature&typeNames=geosolutions:WorldCountries&propertyName=NAME

For a single property from just 1 feature, use both featureID and propertyName:

http://localhost:8083:/geoserver/wfs?
service=wfs&
version=2.0.0&
request=GetFeature&
typeNames=<namespace>:<featuretype>&
feaureID=<id>&
propertyName=<attribute>

Example:

http://localhost:8083/geoserver/wfs?service=wfs&version=1.1.0&request=GetFeature&typeNames=geosolutions:WorldCountries&featureID=WorldCountries.1&propertyName=NAME

To obtain the attributes NAME and POP_EST you can use:

http://localhost:8083/geoserver/wfs?service=wfs&version=1.1.0&request=GetFeature&typeNames=geosolutions:WorldCountries&featureID=WorldCountries.1&propertyName=NAME,POP_EST

../_images/wms-getfeature-attributes.png

BBOX filter

The BBOX parameter allows you to search for features that are contained (or partially contained) inside a box of user-defined coordinates.

http://example.com/geoserver/wfs?
service=wfs&
version=2.0.0&
request=GetFeature&
typeNames=<namespace>:<featuretype>&
srsName=<CRS>&
bbox=<a1>,<b1>,<a2>,<b2>

Example:

http://localhost:8083/geoserver/wfs?service=wfs&version=1.1.0&request=GetFeature&typeNames=geosolutions:WorldCountries&bbox=40,10,42,12&srsName=EPSG:4326&propertyName=NAME