Introduction ¶

The piece explains how GeoServer’s REST API facilitates “remote interactions with GeoServer, thereby enhancing automation.”

Problem Statement ¶

The tutorial describes a scenario involving teams digitizing features in desktop GIS applications like QGIS into PostgreSQL layers served through GeoServer. Frontend applications consume WMS endpoints, and users expect real-time layer updates.

GeoServer reads bounding box data during layer publication but lacks automatic mechanisms to refresh configurations when PostgreSQL layers change. The system doesn’t periodically check the database for modifications.

Solution Overview ¶

Two approaches are presented:

• Setting up cron jobs with custom scripts for periodic updates
• Sending signals to GeoServer when database layers change via Python functions and database triggers

Implementation Steps ¶

1. Clone the docker-geoserver repository and launch services
2. Install Python dependencies (requests library) in PostgreSQL container
3. Create a PL/Python3 trigger function that calls GeoServer’s REST API
4. Set database triggers to execute the function on INSERT, UPDATE, or DELETE operations
5. Test by digitizing features in QGIS and observing bounding box updates in GeoServer

The solution demonstrates how backend automation enables frontend applications to reflect layer modifications instantly.