Provided by: gdal-bin_3.12.0+dfsg-1_amd64 
NAME
gdal-vector-partition - Partition a vector dataset into multiple files
Added in version 3.12.
SYNOPSIS
Usage: gdal vector partition [OPTIONS] <INPUT> <OUTPUT>
Partition a vector dataset into multiple files.
Positional arguments:
-i, --input <INPUT> Input vector datasets [required]
-o, --output <OUTPUT> Output directory [required]
Common Options:
-h, --help Display help message and exit
--json-usage Display usage as JSON document and exit
--config <KEY>=<VALUE> Configuration option [may be repeated]
-q, --quiet Quiet mode (no progress bar)
Options:
--overwrite Whether overwriting existing output is allowed
Mutually exclusive with --append
--append Whether appending to existing layer is allowed
Mutually exclusive with --overwrite
-f, --of, --format, --output-format <OUTPUT-FORMAT> Output format
--co, --creation-option <KEY>=<VALUE> Creation option [may be repeated]
--lco, --layer-creation-option <KEY>=<VALUE> Layer creation option [may be repeated]
--field <FIELD> Field(s) on which to partition [may be repeated] [required]
--scheme <SCHEME> Partitioning scheme. SCHEME=hive|flat (default: hive)
--pattern <PATTERN> Filename pattern ('part_%010d' for scheme=hive, '{LAYER_NAME}_{FIELD_VALUE}_%010d' for scheme=flat)
--feature-limit <FEATURE-LIMIT> Maximum number of features per file
--max-file-size <MAX-FILE-SIZE> Maximum file size (MB or GB suffix can be used)
--omit-partitioned-field Whether to omit partitioned fields from target layer definition
--skip-errors Skip errors when writing features
Advanced Options:
--if, --input-format <INPUT-FORMAT> Input formats [may be repeated]
--oo, --open-option <KEY>=<VALUE> Open options [may be repeated]
DESCRIPTION
gdal vector partition dispatches features into different files, depending on the values the feature take
on a subset of fields specified by the user.
Two partitioning schemes are available:
• hive, corresponding to Apache Hive partitioning, is the default one.
Each partitioning field corresponds to a nested directory. Let's consider a layer with fields
"continent" and "country", chosen as partitioning fields. All features where "continent" evaluates to
"Europe" and "country" evaluates to "France", will be written in the "continent=Europe/country=France/"
subdirectory of the output directory.
NULL values for partitioning fields are encoded as __HIVE_DEFAULT_PARTITION__ in the directory name.
Non-ASCII characters, space, equal sign, or characters not compatible with directory name constraints
are percent-encoded (e.g. %20 for space).
• flat where files are written directly under the output directory using a default filename pattern of
{LAYER_NAME}_{FIELD_VALUE}_%10d.
By default, the format of the input dataset will be used for the output, if it can be determined and the
input driver supports writing. Otherwise, --format must be used.
gdal vector partition can be used as the last step of a pipeline.
The following options are available:
Standard options
--output <OUTPUT-DIRECTORY>
Root of the output directory. [required]
--field <FIELD-NAME>
Fields(s) on which to partition. [required]
Only fields of type String, Integer and Integer64 are allowed. The order into which fields are
specified matter to determine the directory hierarchy.
-f, --of, --format, --output-format <OUTPUT-FORMAT>
Which output vector format to use. Allowed values may be given by gdal --formats | grep vector |
grep rw | sort
--co <NAME>=<VALUE>
Many formats have one or more optional dataset creation options that can be used to control
particulars about the file created. For instance, the GeoPackage driver supports creation options
to control the version.
May be repeated.
The dataset creation options available vary by format driver, and some simple formats have no
creation options at all. A list of options supported for a format can be listed with the --formats
command line option but the documentation for the format is the definitive source of information
on driver creation options. See Vector drivers format specific documentation for legal creation
options for each format.
Note that dataset creation options are different from layer creation options.
--layer-creation-option <NAME>=<VALUE>
Many formats have one or more optional layer creation options that can be used to control
particulars about the layer created. For instance, the GeoPackage driver supports layer creation
options to control the feature identifier or geometry column name, setting the identifier or
description, etc.
May be repeated.
The layer creation options available vary by format driver, and some simple formats have no layer
creation options at all. A list of options supported for a format can be listed with the --formats
command line option but the documentation for the format is the definitive source of information
on driver creation options. See Vector drivers format specific documentation for legal creation
options for each format.
Note that layer creation options are different from dataset creation options.
--overwrite
Allow program to overwrite existing target file or dataset. Otherwise, by default, gdal errors
out if the target file or dataset already exists.
--append
Whether the output directory must be opened in append mode. Implies that it already exists and
that the output format supports appending.
This mode is useful when adding new features to an already an existing partitioned dataset.
--scheme hive|flat
Partitioning scheme. Defaults to hive.
--pattern <PATTERN>
Filename pattern. User chosen string, with substitutions for:
• {LAYER_NAME}, when found, is substituted with the layer name (percent encoded where needed).
• {FIELD_VALUE}, when found, is substituted with the partitioning field value (percent encoded
where needed). If several partitioning fields are used, each value is separated by underscore
(_). Empty strings are substituted with __EMPTY__ and null fields with __NULL__.
• %[0?][0-9]?[0]?d: C-style integer formatter for the part number. Valid values are for example
%d or %05d. One and only one part number specifier must be present in the pattern.
Default values for the pattern are part_%010d for the hive scheme, and
{LAYER_NAME}_{FIELD_VALUE}_%010d for the flat scheme.`
--feature-limit <FEATURE-LIMIT>
Maximum number of features per file. By default, unlimited. If the limit is exceeded, several
parts are created.
--max-file-size <MAX-FILE-SIZE>
Maximum file size (MB or GB suffix can be used). By default, unlimited. If the limit is exceeded,
several parts are created.
Note that the maximum file size is used as a hint, and might not be strictly respected, because
the evaluation of the file size corresponding to a feature is based on a heuristics, as the file
size itself cannot be reliably used when it is under writing. In particular, the heuristics does
not assume any compression, so for compressed formats, the actual size of a part can be
significantly smaller than the specified limit.
--omit-partitioned-field
Whether to omit partitioned fields from the target layer definition. Automatically set for
Parquet output format and Hive partitioning.
--skip-errors
Whether failures to write feature(s) should be ignored. Note that this option sets the size of the
transaction unit to one feature at a time, which may cause severe slowdown when inserting into
databases.
Advanced options
--oo <NAME>=<VALUE>
Dataset open option (format specific).
May be repeated.
--if <format>
Format/driver name to be attempted to open the input file(s). It is generally not necessary to
specify it, but it can be used to skip automatic driver detection, when it fails to select the
appropriate driver. This option can be repeated several times to specify several candidate
drivers. Note that it does not force those drivers to open the dataset. In particular, some
drivers have requirements on file extensions.
May be repeated.
EXAMPLES
Example 1: Create a partition based on the "continent" and "country" fields
$ gdal vector partition world_cities.gpkg out_directory --field continent,country --format Parquet
Example 2: Create a partition based on the "country" field, filtering on cities with population bigger than 1
million, with a flat partitioning scheme
$ gdal pipeline ! read world_cities.gpkg ! filter --where "pop > 1e6" ! partition out_directory --field country --format GPKG --scheme flat
AUTHOR
Even Rouault <even.rouault@spatialys.com>
COPYRIGHT
1998-2025
Nov 07, 2025 GDAL-VECTOR-PARTITION(1)