Trouble using ogr2ogr -sql commands from QGIS to rename attribute fields

Question

I have a large number of files whose attribute fields are named consistently, but incorrectly. I would ordinarily use ogr2ogr.exe to fix this from the command line using something like:

ogr2ogr "C:\Temp1\OutDataSet.shp" "C:\Temp1\asdf\InDataSet.shp" -sql "SELECT End AS LineEnd, begin AS Begin FROM InDataSet"

This creates a new .shp file, renames attribute fields from End to LineEnd and from begin to Begin , also drops many unwanted attribute fields from the original shapefile.

I was hoping that I could achieve the same thing from QGIS 2.18 processing toolbox> [OGR] Miscellaneous> Execute SQL, as It is easy to set up a batch by using the QGIS forms. Has anyone had any success with this tool for this task?

• Germán Carrillo: Which version of QGIS are you using?
• DB9: QGIS version 2.18
• neuhausr: worked for me on a single layer and as a batch. are you getting an error or something?
• DB9: Yes, it throws up an error for me! neuhausr if you get a sec, please post up a screen grab of your snyntax, maybe I'm doing something stupid! Thanks!

Answer 1

I'd use ogrinfo instead of ogr2ogr updating the input shapefile without creating a new one:

ogrinfo "C:\Temp1\asdf\InDataSet.shp" -sql "ALTER TABLE InDataSet RENAME COLUMN oldcolumnname TO newcolumnname"

But Execute SQL of the Processing toolbox is based only on ogr2ogr command, so it's convenient to execute a loop over your based on ogrinfo in the OSGeo4W Shell.

Answer 2

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Did you try

ogr2ogr "C:\Temp1\OutDataSet.shp" "C:\Temp1\asdf\InDataSet.shp" -sql "SELECT *, End AS LineEnd, begin AS Begin FROM InDataSet"