## Key changes for QGIS 2.0

### Monday September 0, 2013

# Whats new in Version 2.0.0 'Dufour'?

This is a new major release. Building on the foundation of QGIS 1.x.x releases, QGIS Dufour introduces many new features, improvements and bug fixes. Here is a summary of some of the key new features.

- We have updated out icon theme to use the 'GIS' theme which introduces an improved level of consistency and professionalism to the QGIS user interface.
- The new symbol layer overview uses a clear, tree-structured layout which allows for easy and fast access to all symbol layers.
- QGIS 2.0 now includes Oracle Spatial support.
- With the new data defined properties, it is possible to control symbol type, size, color, rotation, and many other properties through feature attributes.
- You can now place html elements onto your map.
- Having nicely aligned map items is critical to making nice printed maps. Auto snapping lines have been added to allow for easy composer object alignment by simply dragging an object close to another.
- Sometimes you need to align objects a curtain distance on the composer. With the new manual snapping lines you are able to add manual snap lines which allow for better align objects using a common alignment. Simply drag from the top or side ruler to add new guide line.
- Ever needed to generate a map series? Of course you have. The composer now includes built in map series generation using the atlas feature. Coverage layers can be points, lines, polygons, and the current feature attribute data is available in labels for on the fly value replacement.
- A single composer window can now contain more then one page.
- The composer label item in 1.8 was quite limited and only allowed a single token $CURRENT_DATE to be used. In 2.0 full expression support has been added too greater power and control of the final labels.
- The map frame now contains the ability to show the extents of another map and will update when moved. Using this with the atlas generation feature now core in the composer allows for some slick map generation. Overview frame style uses the same styling as a normal map polygo n object so your creativity is never restricted.
- Layer blending makes it possible to combine layers in new and exciting ways. While in older versions, all you could do was to make the layer transparent, you can now choose between much more advanced options such as "multiply", "darken only", and many more. Blending can be used in the normal map view as well as in print composer.
- HTML support has been added map composer label item to give you even more control over your final maps. HTML labels support full css styles sheets, html, and even javascript if you are that way inclined.
- The labelling system has been totally overhauled - it now includes many new features such as drop shadows, 'highway shields', many more data bound options, and various performance enhancements. We are slowly doing away with the 'old labels' system, although you will still find that functionality available for this release, you should expect that it will disappear in a follow up release.
- The full power of normal label and rule expressions can now be used for label properties. Nearly every property can be defined with an expression or field value giving you more control over the label result. Expressions can refer to a field (e.g. set the font size to the value of the field 'font') or can include more complex logic. Examples of bindable properties include: Font, Size, Style and Buffer size.
- With the expression engine being used more and more though out QGIS to allow for things like expression based labels and symbol, many more functions have been added to the expression builder and are all accessible though the expression builder. All functions include comprehensive help and usage guides for ease of use.
- If the expression engine doesn't have the function that you need. Not to worry. New functions can be added via a plugin using a simple Python API.
- The Python API has been revamped to allow for a more cleaner, more pythonic, programming experience. The QGIS 2.0 API uses SIP V2 which removes the messy toString(), toInt() logic that was needed when working with values. Types are now converted into native Python types making for a much nicer API. Attributes access is now done on the feature itself using a simple key lookup, no more index lookup and attribute maps.

  Note:Most plugins written for QGIS < 1.x will need to be ported to work correctly in QGIS 2.x. Please consult this guide for more details.

- The raster data provider system has been completely overhauled. One of the best new features stemming from this work is the ability to 'Layer -> Save As...' to save any raster layer as a new layer. In the process you can clip, resample, and reproject the layer to a new Coordinate Reference System. You can also save a raster layer as a rendered image so if you for example have single band raster that you have applied a colour palette to, you can save the rendered layer out to a georeferenced RGB layer.
- There are many, many more new features in QGIS 2.0 - we invite you to explore the software and discover them all!