The QGIS Browser is a panel in QGIS that lets you easily navigate in your filesystem and manage geodata. You can have access to common vector files (e.g., ESRI shapefiles or MapInfo files), databases (e.g., PostGIS, Oracle, SpatiaLite or MS SQL Spatial) and WMS/WFS connections. You can also view your GRASS data (to get the data into QGIS, see GRASS GIS Integration).
Figure browser 1:
Use the QGIS Browser to preview your data. The drag-and-drop function makes it easy to get your data into the map view and the map legend.
There is a second browser available under Settings ‣ Panels. This is handy when you need to move files or layers between locations.
QGIS automatically looks for the coordinate reference system (CRS) and zooms to the layer extent if you work in a blank QGIS project. If there are already files in your project, the file will just be added, and in the case that it has the same extent and CRS, it will be visualized. If the file has another CRS and layer extent, you must first right-click on the layer and choose Set Project CRS from Layer. Then choose Zoom to Layer Extent.
The Filter files function works on a directory level. Browse to the folder where you want to filter files and enter a search word or wildcard. The Browser will show only matching filenames – other data won’t be displayed.
It’s also possible to run the QGIS Browser as a stand-alone application.
Start the QGIS browser
In figure_browser_standalone_metadata, you can see the enhanced functionality of the stand-alone QGIS Browser. The Param tab provides the details of your connection-based datasets, like PostGIS or MSSQL Spatial. The Metadata tab contains general information about the file (see Metadata Menu). With the Preview tab, you can have a look at your files without importing them into your QGIS project. It’s also possible to preview the attributes of your files in the Attributes tab.