Loading WMS layer using PyQGIS

Question

Although there are some posts on this matter, there is no answer in any one of them. This is why I am asking it again.

One post I found was https://gis.stackexchange.com/questions/68032/raster-layer-invalid

I read information from the following link: https://hub.qgis.org/wiki/17/Arcgis_rest

I used the command:

gdal_translate "http://server.arcgisonline.com/ArcGIS/rest/services/World_Imagery/MapServer?f=json&pretty=true" s.xml -of WMS

And it generated the file successfully. However, when I try to open the file and assuming the provider is WMS, the code report layer is invalid.

The code I used is:

 file = QFileDialog.getOpenFileName(self, 
 "Open WMS", ".", "WMS (*.xml)")
 fileInfo = QFileInfo(file)
 # Add the layer
 layer = QgsRasterLayer(file, fileInfo.fileName(),"wms")
 if not layer.isValid():
 print "Failed to load."
 return

I just choose the file from the dialog box.

I also tried the other command:

qgis.utils.iface.addRasterLayer("http://server.arcgisonline.com/ArcGIS/rest/services/World_Imagery/MapServer?f=json&pretty=true","raster")

by using the following code:

layer = QgsRasterLayer("http://server.arcgisonline.com/ArcGIS/rest/services/World_Imagery/MapServer?f=json&pretty=true", "layer")
if not layer.isValid():
 print "Failed to load."
 return

It also report "Failed to load". The original command can be run successfully in QGIS python command line. Also, if I try to enter the code in python console, the layer.isValid() would return true. It is just not working in standalone script.

• Gabor Farkas: possible duplicate of WMS layer in a QGIS 2.4 stand alone Python script
• user3547305: @GaborFarkas I think I am doing the exact thing as the answer in the post suggests. The only difference is that he is using an url and I am using a local file. And my second tried solution is also url. However, since I do not know the data provider, I just left it null.
• Gabor Farkas: as the comment states in the answer, the method of adding a WMS layer doesn't work in a standalone script. It might be a QGIS issue. What version do you use? QGIS 2.6 has just been released, you might try with that.
• user3547305: @GaborFarkas I did not just try the WMS layer. The second solution I tried, if I am not mistaken, it is a gdal layer. So maybe it just does not support adding any layers in standalone script? I will try 2.6 now.
• user3547305: Also, just out of curiosity, why is it not possible to run it in a standalone script? I have setup the environment such that the python paths are all pointing to the python in QGIS installation fold. So basically, it should be using the same things as the Python Console in QGIS.

Answer 1

Apparently, the newest version 2.6 solve this problem. Also, make sure you have the correct environment variables setup. The one which is throwing me off is the QGISHOME one, I setup it as C:\Program Files\QGIS Brighton,円 but should be C:\Program Files\QGIS Brighton\apps\qgis.