Windows installation instructions

1 Download and install DB Browser for SQLite

2 Download and uncompress libspatialite. Use the “current stable version”, either 64 or 32 bit. You will only need mod_spatialite. You may need to install 7-zip or a utility which supports .7z archives to uncompress the files. Place the contents somewhere permanent where you can find them.

2a Optional raster support. Install librasterlite2. You will need to compile this yourself, which goes well beyond the scope of this workshop. However, you don’t actually need rasterlite2 for the workshop. You only need it if at some indefinite time in the future you want to work with imagery.

3 Add extensions. In DB Browser for SQLite, go to Preferences/Extensions. Under Select extensions to load for every database, select the puzzle piece with the plus symbol (the top icon), navigate to mod_spatialite.dll, select it then Save.

For rasterlite support, do the same thing with the rasterlite file (which you laboriously compiled), which will (probably) be called something like mod_rasterlite2.dll.

3a

Install proj. In the same directory that contains mod_spatialite.dll you should (ideally) see a file called proj.db. If, and only if, you do not see proj.db, you will need to install proj manually. Installation instructions are available here: https://proj.org/en/stable/install.html

3b Optional: To set DB Browser to open GeoPackage files by default:

• Go to Preferences/General/DB File Extensions near the bottom of the window and select Manage.
  
• On the next screen, select Add.
• Double-click on description and type GeoPackage.
• Double-click on *.extension and type *.gpkg.
• When it looks like the above, hit OK.
• Save your changes.

4 Set Windows environment variables

Environment variables are buried deep in the Windows operating system. There are many ways to navigate to the environment variables window but the fastest is:

• In the search box, start typing Environment, then select Edit the system environment variables

• In the System Properties window, at the bottom right corner, click the Environment Variables . . . button.

• The Environment Variables window will pop up. You will now add variables to make yours look similar to the screenshot.

There are (at least) three environment variables you will need to add/edit. PATH, PROJ_DATA and PROJ_LIB. You will need two values, which may be the same. The path (ie, the directory contains) mod_spatialite.dll and proj.db.

4.1 Edit PATH

Your PATH display will almost certainly not be the same, but what’s important is adding to your PATH.

• First, edit the PATH variable. Select the PATH user variable and select Edit. On the subsequent screen, select New. Add the directory which contains mod_spatialite.dll

Once you’re done, select OK to close the window

4.2 Add other environment variables

Now, you will need to add new variables, called PROJ_DATA and PROJ_LIB

• In the top section of the Environment Variables window, User variables for [account], Select New.
• In the New User Variable window:
  • In Variable name, type PROJ_DATA.
  • In Variable value, add the path to the directory which contains proj.db.
  • Hit OK.
• Repeat this procedure for a variable called PROJ_LIB

• Once you’ve done adding and editing variables hit OK until all the windows disappear.

There are other ways to set and unset environment variables.

4.3 Optional: relax the security when you run DB Browser.

If you want to export some kinds of data, such as GeoJSON files, you must set the SPATIALITE_SECURITY environment variable to relaxed. This will allow DB Browser to write to your system from within an SQL session. The functions that require this setting are noted in the Spatialite documentation

Note that both ArcGIS and QGIS support Well-Known Text (WKT) imports, so if your intention is to export to a GIS system you don’t have to do this. But for pure GeoJSON exports and Shapefile Exports, you do.

• In the top section of the Environment Variables window, User variables for [account], Select New.
• In the New User Variable window:
  • In Variable name, type SPATIALITE_SECURITY.
  • In Variable value, type relaxed.

To unset the variable, go through this procedure again, except this time Edit the variable and replace relaxed with something else, typically nothing. Or, to get rid of it entirely, delete the environment variable.

5 Restart DB Browser for SQLite

If DB Browser is open, close it and reopen it. You need to do this because if you set the environment variables after opening it, they haven’t been read.

---

Now you can start working with GeoPackages.