db.in.ogr - GRASS manual
Author: GRASS Development Team
Description: db.in.ogr: Imports attribute tables in various formats.
Keywords: database, import, attribute table

## NAME

db.in.ogr - Imports attribute tables in various formats.

## KEYWORDS

database, import, attribute table

## SYNOPSIS

db.in.ogr
db.in.ogr --help
db.in.ogr input=name [gdal_config=string] [gdal_doo=string] [db_table=name] [output=name] [key=string] [encoding=string] [--overwrite] [--help] [--verbose] [--quiet] [--ui]

### Flags:

--overwrite
  Allow output files to overwrite existing files
--help
  Print usage summary
--verbose
  Verbose module output
--quiet
  Quiet module output
--ui
  Force launching GUI dialog

### Parameters:

input=name [required]
  Table file to be imported or DB connection string
gdal_config=string
  GDAL configuration options
  Comma-separated list of key=value pairs
gdal_doo=string
  GDAL dataset open options
  Comma-separated list of key=value pairs
db_table=name
  Name of table from given DB to be imported
output=name
  Name for output table
key=string
  Name for auto-generated unique key column
encoding=string
  Encoding value for attribute data

## DESCRIPTION

db.in.ogr imports attribute tables in various formats as supported by the OGR library on the local system (DBF, CSV, PostgreSQL, SQLite, MySQL, ODBC, etc.). Optionally a unique key (ID) column can be added to the table.

## EXAMPLES

### Import CSV file

Limited type recognition can be done for Integer, Real, String, Date, Time and DateTime columns through a descriptive file with same name as the CSV file, but .csvt extension (see details here).

    # NOTE: create koeppen_gridcode.csvt first for automated type recognition
    db.in.ogr input=koeppen_gridcode.csv output=koeppen_gridcode gdal_doo="AUTODETECT_TYPE=YES"
    db.describe koeppen_gridcode -c
    db.select table=koeppen_gridcode

### Import DBF table

Import of a DBF table with additional unique key column (e.g., needed for v.in.db).

    db.in.ogr input=/path/to/mydata.dbf output=census_raleigh key=myid
    db.describe -c census_raleigh

### Import of a SQLite table

    db.in.ogr input=/path/to/sqlite.db db_table=census_raleigh output=census_raleigh

### Import of a PostgreSQL table

    # HINT: if the database contains spatial tables, but you want to import a non-spatial
    table, set the environmental variable PG_LIST_ALL_TABLES to YES before importing

    db.in.ogr input="PG:host=localhost dbname=ecad user=neteler" \
              db_table=ecad_verona_tmean output=ecad_verona_tmean
    db.select table=ecad_verona_tmean
    db.describe -c ecad_verona_tmean

### Import XLS file

To force reading headers, define environmental variable `OGR_XLS_HEADERS='FORCE'`. Parameter db_table refers to the list within XLS file.

    export OGR_XLS_HEADERS='FORCE'
    db.in.ogr input=address.xls db_table=address_data

## SEE ALSO

db.select, v.in.ogr, v.in.db

GRASS SQL interface

## AUTHOR

Markus Neteler

## SOURCE CODE

Available at: db.in.ogr source code (history)

Accessed: Monday May 11 17:55:41 2026

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