QGIS » QGIS Application

It's also wrong for WCS.

But seems to be right for WFS.

The WMS query shown is wrong on a number of levels:

1) It doesn't start with the URL, but ends with it as a parameter.
2) There's no notion of "featureCount" in WMS
3) Many required parameters are missing.
4) In QGIS Master I'm seeing an extra parameter - &dpiMode=4. Something else that's not in the spec as best I can tell.

If this is not meant to be a valid URL, then why is it displayed to the user? What can the user do with it?

The information in the field is actually right - for all data providers it displays the internal resource identifier. For some providers it is a file name, for others (such as WMS) it is a more complex, cryptic looking sequence. The question really is, if it makes sense to display that information - it is already shown also in metadata tab.

I'd suggest therefore that it shouldn't be shown. Instead it should show the server name that has been connected to. I know that's hidden away on the metadata page, but putting it somewhere obvious would be nice too.

I also think that unless "featureCount" means something special for QGIS, it may be indicative of something not-quite-right in the WMS reader.

Jonathan Moules wrote:

I'd suggest therefore that it shouldn't be shown. Instead it should show the server name that has been connected to. I know that's hidden away on the metadata page, but putting it somewhere obvious would be nice too.

I also think that unless "featureCount" means something special for QGIS, it may be indicative of something not-quite-right in the WMS reader.

if the source is a vector then "featurecount" has a meaning. When you add a wms layer you see an option "feature limit for getfeatureinfo", and this number is the one displayed as "featurecount".

Then to avoid more confusion I suggest to just remove the whole "Layer source" field.

Currently the is no universal way to extract the "important" part of the layer source (e.g. file name, server name). Even then, one could argue whether or not display also further information such as original layer name (as used by server), sub-layer identification (data provider specific).

Removing is seems like an idea, at least as long as it doesn't mean anything to the user.
Adding a layer-source that has meaning would be a suggestion, but that's a separate ticket.

Note - also seems like it should be removed from the "Browser" layer-properties too.