What is a Web Feature Service (WFS)

A Web Feature Service (WFS) is an Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standard protocol for serving geographic features (vector data with geometry and attributes) over the web, allowing clients to query, create, update, and delete features.

Key Concepts

OGC Standard

WFS is an open standard defined by the OGC for serving geographic features.

Vector Data

WFS deals with vector data, which represents geographic features as points, lines, and polygons, along with their attributes.

Data Manipulation

WFS enables clients to perform data manipulation operations, including querying, creating, updating, and deleting features.

WFS-T

A transactional Web Feature Service (WFS-T) allows clients to make changes to the data, such as creating, deleting, or updating features.

GML Encoding

WFS uses Geography Markup Language (GML) to encode the feature data, which is a standard XML-based format for representing geographic information.

Clients

WFS services can be consumed by any client that supports WFS, including web browsers and GIS software.

1 - How WFS Works

Client Request: A client (e.g., a GIS application or web browser) sends a request to a WFS server using HTTP.
Server Processing: The WFS server receives the request and processes it, typically using GML.
Data Retrieval/Manipulation: Based on the request, the server retrieves, creates, updates, or deletes features.
Response: The server sends a response back to the client, containing the requested data or the results of the operation.

2 - Benefits of Using WFS

Data Sharing: WFS allows for easy sharing of geographic data over the web.
Data Integration: Clients can integrate WFS data with other data sources and applications.
Data Analysis: WFS enables clients to perform geospatial analysis on the data.
Data Editing: WFS-T allows clients to edit the data directly through the service.

3 - Examples of WFS Usage

ArcGIS Server: ArcGIS Server can publish WFS services, allowing users to access and edit geographic data through the web.
QGIS: QGIS, a free and open-source GIS software, supports WFS connections, allowing users to view and interact with WFS data.
Web Browsers: Web browsers can be used to access and interact with WFS services.

We hope that this article has been helpful! If you have any feedback or questions, please feel free to send us an email or connect with us for a chat. The NTGISC team is here to assist you further!