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PolarDB:ST_RasterDrivers

Last Updated:Mar 28, 2026

Returns all raster drivers supported by Ganos. Use can_read, can_export, and can_asfile to check whether a driver supports a specific operation before passing it to ST_CreateRast, ST_ImportFrom, ST_ExportTo, or ST_AsDatasetFile.

Syntax

setof record ST_RasterDrivers(out idx integer,
                     out short_name text,
                     out long_name text,
                     out can_read boolean,
                     out can_export boolean,
                     out can_asfile boolean,
                     out create_options text);

Output parameters

ParameterTypeDescription
idxintegerThe ID of the driver.
short_nametextThe abbreviated driver name.
long_nametextThe full driver name.
can_readbooleantrue: the driver's file formats are supported by ST_CreateRast and ST_ImportFrom. false: using these formats in ST_CreateRast or ST_ImportFrom returns an error.
can_exportbooleantrue: the driver's file formats are supported by ST_ExportTo. false: using these formats in ST_ExportTo returns an error.
can_asfilebooleantrue: the driver's file formats are supported by ST_AsDatasetFile. false: using these formats in ST_AsDatasetFile returns an error.
create_optionstextDriver-specific creation options for use in ST_ExportTo and ST_AsDatasetFile. Returned as XML in the format <CreationOptionList><Option name='...' type='...' .../></CreationOptionList>. Parse this field to discover available options such as compression format, chunking, and pixel type before building your export calls.

Examples

Query a specific driver

The following example retrieves full details for the netCDF driver, including its create_options XML.

SELECT * FROM st_rasterdrivers()
WHERE short_name = 'netCDF';

Example output:

 idx | short_name |         long_name          | can_read | can_export | can_asfile | create_options
-----+------------+----------------------------+----------+------------+------------+----------------
  36 | netCDF     | Network Common Data Format | t        | t          | t          | <CreationOptionList>...

Parse create_options into a readable table

The create_options field returns XML. Use xpath() to extract option names and types as a structured table, which you can then reference when setting parameters in ST_ExportTo or ST_AsDatasetFile.

SELECT
    (xpath('@name', opt))[1]::text AS option_name,
    (xpath('@type', opt))[1]::text AS option_type,
    (xpath('@description', opt))[1]::text AS description
FROM (
    SELECT unnest(xpath('/CreationOptionList/Option', create_options::xml)) AS opt
    FROM st_rasterdrivers()
    WHERE short_name = 'netCDF'
) AS opts;

Example output:

  option_name   | option_type |                   description
----------------+-------------+--------------------------------------------------
 FORMAT         | string-select |
 COMPRESS       | string-select |
 ZLEVEL         | int         | DEFLATE compression level 1-9
 WRITE_BOTTOMUP | boolean     |
 WRITE_GDAL_TAGS| boolean     |
 WRITE_LONLAT   | string-select |
 TYPE_LONLAT    | string-select |
 PIXELTYPE      | string-select | only used in Create()
 CHUNKING       | boolean     | define chunking when creating netcdf4 file
 MULTIPLE_LAYERS| string-select | Behaviour regarding multiple vector layer creation
 CONFIG_FILE    | string      | Path to a XML configuration file (or content inlined)

Filter drivers by capability

Query drivers by which operations they support.

-- Drivers compatible with ST_ImportFrom and ST_CreateRast
SELECT short_name FROM st_rasterdrivers()
WHERE can_read = true;

-- Drivers compatible with ST_ExportTo
SELECT short_name FROM st_rasterdrivers()
WHERE can_export = true;

-- Drivers compatible with ST_AsDatasetFile
SELECT short_name FROM st_rasterdrivers()
WHERE can_asfile = true;