Geov Format & MiniGISimple

📦 What is Geov Format?

A .geov file is a ZIP package containing project.json (layer list, styles, map camera) and layers/*.geojson feature data. It is designed for lightweight exchange of vector projects with symbology, not as a full QGIS project replacement.

Open the Geov tab in GeoInbox

In the main GeoInbox window, select 📦 Geov Format in the left sidebar.

Import Geov Format (into QGIS)

Prerequisites

Set a Download folder in Settings. Imports are unpacked under <Download folder>/geov/<project>_<timestamp>/ and layers are added to the current QGIS project with styles from project.json.

Ways to import

Drop zone — drag a .geov file onto the blue import box (highlighted while dragging).
Browse for .geov… — pick a file from disk.
Paste from clipboard — after copying a .geov file in Explorer (Ctrl+C), click the button or right-click the drop zone → Paste (Ctrl+V). Useful when chat apps do not support drag-and-drop.
Drop on the panel — you can also drop onto the Geov Format page outside the box.

⚠️ Outlook / WhatsApp tips

Outlook: drag the attachment, not the whole message.
WhatsApp: save the file first, then copy from Explorer or browse.

After a successful import, the status line shows how many layers were loaded and the extract folder path. A QGIS message bar confirmation appears.

Export to Geov (from QGIS)

Enter a Project name (used in project.json and the suggested file name).
Optionally enable Only layers checked visible in the layer tree.
Use Refresh layers / Select all and choose vector layers in the list.
Click Export to Geov… and save the .geov file.

The export uses the current map extent and CRS. Packages are MiniGISimple-compatible (same ZIP layout and style fields).

MiniGISimple (Firefox) — companion viewer

MiniGISimple is a lightweight MapLibre-based GIS in a Firefox extension (v1.0.3 and later). Use it to view and analyse Geov projects without QGIS.

Task	GeoInbox (QGIS)	MiniGISimple (Firefox)
Open full `.geov` project	Geov Format → Import (all layers)	Drop on map or Project → Load
Add some layers only	Import loads all layers from package	Project → Import Layer from Geov — pick layers, keep current project
Create `.geov`	Geov Format → Export to Geov	Project → Save to Geov File
Field analysis (buffer, select by location, stats, …)	QGIS tools	Simple analysis menu (distances use Measure units)
3D building-style view	QGIS 3D / other	Layer styling → 3D extrusion on polygons

Typical round trip

QGIS → field → QGIS: Export Geov in GeoInbox → email or copy file → open in MiniGISimple for quick map review or light edits → export updated Geov or send back → Import in GeoInbox.

Partial merge in MiniGISimple: User opens an existing MiniGISimple session and uses Import Layer from Geov to add selected layers (with colors and classified symbology) from a package you exported.

Styles and symbology

Single-symbol colors and stroke settings are stored in each layer’s style block in project.json.
Categorized and graduated symbology are supported when exported with materialized classes/breaks (MiniGISimple symbology schema).
GeoInbox applies styles when loading layers into QGIS via apply_geov_symbology.
MiniGISimple may embed an optional settings.json sidecar (labels, clustering, layout); GeoInbox ignores this file for the portable Geov contract.