GDAL-VECTOR-GEOM-SET-TYPE(1) GDAL GDAL-VECTOR-GEOM-SET-TYPE(1) NAME gdal-vector-geom-set-type - Modify the geometry type of a vector dataset Added in version 3.11. SYNOPSIS Usage: gdal vector geom set-type [OPTIONS] Modify the geometry type of a vector dataset. Positional arguments: -i, --input Input vector datasets [required] -o, --output Output vector dataset [required] Common Options: -h, --help Display help message and exit --json-usage Display usage as JSON document and exit --config = Configuration option [may be repeated] --progress Display progress bar Options: -l, --layer, --input-layer Input layer name(s) [may be repeated] -f, --of, --format, --output-format Output format ("GDALG" allowed) --co, --creation-option = Creation option [may be repeated] --lco, --layer-creation-option = Layer creation option [may be repeated] --overwrite Whether overwriting existing output is allowed --update Whether to open existing dataset in update mode --overwrite-layer Whether overwriting existing layer is allowed --append Whether appending to existing layer is allowed --output-layer Output layer name --active-layer Set active layer (if not specified, all) --active-geometry Geometry field name to which to restrict the processing (if not specified, all) --layer-only Only modify the layer geometry type Mutually exclusive with --feature-only --feature-only Only modify the geometry type of features Mutually exclusive with --layer-only --geometry-type Geometry type --multi Force geometries to MULTI geometry types Mutually exclusive with --single --single Force geometries to non-MULTI geometry types Mutually exclusive with --multi --linear Convert curve geometries to linear types Mutually exclusive with --curve --curve Convert linear geometries to curve types Mutually exclusive with --linear --dim Force geometries to the specified dimension. DIM=XY|XYZ|XYM|XYZM --skip Skip feature when change of feature geometry type failed Advanced Options: --if, --input-format Input formats [may be repeated] --oo, --open-option = Open options [may be repeated] DESCRIPTION gdal vector geom set-type can be used to modify the geometry type of geometry fields at the layer and/or feature level. It can also be used as a step of gdal vector pipeline. The following groups of options can be combined together: - --multi / --single - --linear / --curve - --dim Standard options -f, --of, --format, --output-format Which output vector format to use. Allowed values may be given by gdal --formats | grep vector | grep rw | sort --co = Many formats have one or more optional dataset creation options that can be used to control particulars about the file created. For instance, the GeoPackage driver supports creation options to control the version. May be repeated. The dataset creation options available vary by format driver, and some simple formats have no creation options at all. A list of options supported for a format can be listed with the --formats command line option but the documentation for the format is the definitive source of information on driver creation options. See Vector drivers format specific documentation for legal creation options for each format. Note that dataset creation options are different from layer creation options. -lco = Layer creation option (format specific) --overwrite Allow program to overwrite existing target file or dataset. Otherwise, by default, gdal errors out if the target file or dataset already exists. --active-layer Set the active layer. When it is specified, only the layer specified by its name will be subject to the processing. Other layers will be not modified. If this option is not specified, all layers will be subject to the processing. --active-geometry Set the active geometry field from its name. When it is specified, only the specified geometry field will be subject to the processing. Other geometry fields will be not modified. If this option is not specified, all geometry fields will be subject to the processing. This option can be combined together with --active-layer. --layer-only Only modify the layer geometry type. A typical use case is if the layer geometry type is set to unknown and the user knows that the layer only contains geometry of a given type. --feature-only Only modify the geometry type of features. --geometry-type Change the geometry type to be one of GEOMETRY, POINT, LINESTRING, POLYGON, MULTIPOINT, MULTILINESTRING, MULTIPOLYGON, GEOMETRYCOLLECTION, CURVE, CIRCULARSTRING, COMPOUNDCURVE, SURFACE, CURVEPOLYGON, MULTICURVE, MULTISURFACE, POLYHEDRALSURFACE or TIN. Z, M or ZM suffixes can be appended to the above values to indicate the dimensionality. This option is mutually exclusive with --multi, --single, --linear, --curve, and --dim. --multi Force geometries to MULTI geometry types. e.g. POINT ==> MULTIPOINT. This option is mutually exclusive with --single. --single Force geometries to non-MULTI geometry types. e.g. MULTIPOINT ==> POINT. This option is mutually exclusive with --multi. MultiPoint or MultiLinestring with more than one component will be kept unmodified. MultiPolygon with more than one component will be merged into a (likely invalid according to OGC Simple Features rule) single polygon, merging all their rings. --linear Force geometries to linear/non-curve geometry types, approximating arcs with linear segments. The linear approximation can be controlled with configuration options OGR_ARC_STEPSIZE and OGR_ARC_MAX_GAP (specified using --config). e.g. COMPOUNDCURVE ==> LINESTRING. This option is mutually exclusive with --curve. --curve Force geometries to curve geometry types. e.g. LINESTRING ==> COMPOUNDCURVE or POLYGON ==> CURVEPOLYGON. Points are kept unmodified. This option is mutually exclusive with --linear. --dim Force geometries to the specified dimension (XY, XYZ, XYM, or XYZM). If the input geometry lacks Z or M components, they will be set to 0. This option is mutually exclusive with --geometry-type. --skip Skip feature when change of feature geometry type failed (e.g. attempting to force a Point geometry type for a LineString geometry). Otherwise the source geometry will be kept unmodified (which may make it incompatible with the output layer if it does not support mix of geometry types). This option applies both when the target geometry type is defined with --geometry-type, or with any of --multi, --single, --linear, and --curve. Advanced options --oo = Dataset open option (format specific). May be repeated. --if Format/driver name to be attempted to open the input file(s). It is generally not necessary to specify it, but it can be used to skip automatic driver detection, when it fails to select the appropriate driver. This option can be repeated several times to specify several candidate drivers. Note that it does not force those drivers to open the dataset. In particular, some drivers have requirements on file extensions. May be repeated. GDALG OUTPUT (ON-THE-FLY / STREAMED DATASET) This program supports serializing the command line as a JSON file using the GDALG output format. The resulting file can then be opened as a vector dataset using the GDALG: GDAL Streamed Algorithm driver, and apply the specified pipeline in a on-the-fly / streamed way. EXAMPLES Example 1: Convert a shapefile mixing polygons and multipolygons to a GeoPackage with multipolygons. $ gdal vector geom set-type --geometry-type=MULTIPOLYGON in.shp out.gpkg --overwrite Example 2: Convert a GeoPackage with curve geometries to a Shapefile (that does not support them). $ gdal vector geom set-type --linear in.gpkg out.shp --overwrite AUTHOR Even Rouault COPYRIGHT 1998-2025 May 6, 2025 GDAL-VECTOR-GEOM-SET-TYPE(1)