GIS for Geotechs

I have recently been informed that the New Zealand Geotechnical Database can be connected to via web services. This is a fantastic achievement and I will present a step by step instruction on how to connect to it as it can be a little difficult. I am more than happy if the NZGD custodians use these on their website and please let me know if I have made a mistake or if there is a better way. Web connections can be pretty frustrating at times and assume prior knowledge. I dont pretend to understand all the flavours! Firstly, it is important to work out what kind of the service this is. The URL can be found on the NZGD website with a bit of hunting if you know what to look for. The URL below suggests it is an 'ArcGIS FeatureServer layer' using QGIS terminology. (BTW I am using QGIS 3.10.2) https://services2.arcgis.com/4xCbYRzn07xe64Sn/arcgis/rest/services/NewZealandGeotechnicalDatabase/FeatureServer Knowing what type of service makes the next step easy. However, why not do...

A frequent request of MRT is whether we have a symbology file for the geology polygon layers that can be imported into QGIS to replicate the map images. It so happens that an RGB text file has been made available that has the correct colours. Unfortunately patterns are not available but in a subsequent blog I will outline how to create them in QGIS There are two ways to do this: A) The simple way (but does not create a useful legend) 1.        Join a RGB table of values to the matching geology layer based on a common field. The table can be something like this (space delimited example):   Code R G B 9502 24 38 240 9500 32 62 10 etc 2.        In the Symbology window for the geology layer choose single symbol option (at the top of the screen). Not exactly  intuitive! 3.        Press the data defined override expression button to the right of the Fill Co...