Using the GUI



1.0 Navigation and tabs Revenir au titre


You have tabs on the left side of the interface to navigate through the different areas of metadata entry.

These tabs are synchronized with the drop-down list (reminiscent of the current tab) and two buttons to navigate between tabs located in the lower part of the main window of the extension.



The first 8 tabs relate to the metadata information covered by the INSPIRE Directive.

The last tab is not used in the production of ISO 19139 file in the current version of the extension (whom layer structure).

2.0 Buttons and actions Revenir au titre


The main action buttons are located in the lower part of the main interface.

These buttons are used to :
  • to query a layer in the current session of QGIS (tab "metadata QGIS" layer is updated with information from the layer and the influence of the tab line "Situation Geographic "also. whichever the coordinate system of the examined layer, terminals of the extent of the layer are rendered in longitude / latitude) ;
  • to move to the previous tab ;
  • to select the tab to reach ;
  • to move to the next tab ;
  • to create a new sheet QSphere ;
  • to open ...
    • a sheet QSphere ;
    • import from an XML ISO 19139 file ;
    • view for an XML ISO 19139 file.

  • to save a sheet QSphere ;
  • to save as a sheet QSphere ;
  • to export ...
    • an XML Iso 19139 file ;
    • an XML ISO attribut's dictionnary file.

  • to display help for the GUI ;
  • to close the main window QSphere.
  All input fields metadata have a button to access the section of the guide Mission Geographic Information for the implementation INSPIRE.
These HTML pages are provided only in French.



  For entry areas where repeatable metadata information are possible, two action buttons are added to the access section of the Guide to the Mission Geographical Information button to implementation Directive of ISNPIRE.
they allow :
  • to add an information ;
  • to delete the last line of information.

Note: in some cases, one or more information can be required (s). A message is returned to the upper part of the interface to inform the impossibility to remove the last element.



The next button is used to check the consistency of a URL locator.
Verification of the regular expression syntax in the table "Locator(s) for the resource" could be supplemented by the accessibility audit of the address provided.
In some boxes under tables, the next button is used to call assistants input selection :

  • a format providing a data set ;
  • a reference coordinate system.


This button is placed in the table rows "Bounding box" (tab "Geographic" to visualize the exact extent with Web service) :




These buttons "Web Links" are located in the "Classification & keywords" and "QGIS Metadata" tabs and provide access to resources "GéoVOC" (http://geocat.fr/index.php) and the "ressources_qsphere.html"(located in the subdirectory \resources\html extension QSphere) :

Proxy Web access, if you define one, must be a "DefaultProxy" in QGIS settings "Options/Network".
If you do not have ACLs (permissions) required, Web pages will not be accessible (white screen in the web interface QSphere navigation).


3.0 Web browser interface for QSphere Revenir au titre


You have in QSphere an interface for displaying help files (GUI, INSPIRE informations) but also web browsing.

In this interface, you have :



  • the "Page" tab (viewing the HTML page) ;
  • the "Analyzer" tab (introspection of the content of the HTML page) ;
  • a previous page button (action solely on historical web browsing) ;
  • a next page button (action solely on historical web browsing) ;
  • a button "Go to url" ;
  • a button back to the home page (initial page navigation: using HMI help topic INSPIRE or QSphere(always local) ;
  • a button to reload the current url ;
  • a button to "Save as HTML file ..." (only when viewing XML ISO 19139 files) ;
  • a "Print" button the current page (preview) ;
  • a "Close" button for closing the browser Web QSphere.

A context menu is available by right-clicking in the browser interface.

 or 

You can browse "GeoVOC", copy your keyword (for example) and paste it directly into the optional "keywords" table.

Some screenshots of web browsing :





Proxy Web access, if you define one, must be a "DefaultProxy" in QGIS settings "Options/Network".
If you do not have ACLs (permissions) required, Web pages will not be accessible (white screen in the web interface QSphere navigation).


4.0 Controls and assistants inside QSphere Revenir au titre


Many areas of metadata capture feature content controls.

These checks are carried out either :
  • from regular expression pattern (URL, email addresses, postal codes and EPSG codes) ;
  • by validity checks additives or not (EPSG codes - code validation by the engine QGIS QgsCoordinateReferenceSystem, dates) ;
  • by using (possible) entry assistants (eg formats and coordinate system reference) ;
  • the implementation of specifics Widgets (QCalendarWidget, QDoubleSpinBox).
Some areas are marked in red if the entry is incorrect or incomplete.

Coherence between several dates rows of a table is not verified (eg new publication date after the previous one).
Even an incorrect status of a seizure does not prohibit saving a record QSphere nor its export XML ISO 19139.

If the content is correct and complete, the area turns into green.



Some have other assistants board: for example the URL box above, whites are automatically replaced by "%20".

5.0 Save, reload and export Revenir au titre


The QSP files(QSphere Projects) are structured text files.
Since the first version of QSphere, these files have undergone profound changes.
It is therefore not advisable to attempt to load QSP files from older versions.
Internal controls in place will lead to an incomplete loading old files.

For export, backup or load messages are displayed in the upper part of the interface in case of successful execution of the operation.



Above message on a backup of a file QSP. The title bar of the main interface QSphere indicates the project name.



Above message on an export XML Iso 19139 a QSP file.



The location of the QSP and XML files is free.
The extension offers a default repository for these resources ("xml").


6.0 Personalize QSphere Revenir au titre


QSphere's resources files are CSV files. You can change inside informations easily.
QSphere's help topic files are HTML files and could be easily modify too.
Some informations about special tags (placed between [ ]):
  • %DIR% : return qsphere "icons" directory ([%DIR%]) ;
  • %CSS% : return qsphere "ressources/html" directory ([%CSS%]) ;
  • %IMG% : return qsphere "ressources/html/images" directory ([%IMG%]).



Help topic - Update October 10, 2014.