Filter Function Reference¶

This reference describes all filter functions that can be used in WFS/WMS filtering or in SLD expressions.

The list of functions available on a GeoServer instance can be determined by browsing to http://localhost:8080/geoserver/wfs?request=GetCapabilities and searching for ogc:FunctionNames in the returned XML. If a function is described in the Capabilities document but is not in this reference, then it might mean that the function cannot be used for filtering, or that it is new and has not been documented. Ask for details on the user mailing list.

Unless otherwise specified, none of the filter functions in this reference are understood natively by the data stores, and thus expressions using them will be evaluated in-memory.

Function argument type reference¶

Type	Description
Double	Floating point number, 8 bytes, IEEE 754. Ranges from 4.94065645841246544e-324d to 1.79769313486231570e+308d
Float	Floating point number, 4 bytes, IEEE 754. Ranges from 1.40129846432481707e-45 to 3.40282346638528860e+38. Smaller range and less accurate than Double.
Integer	Integer number, ranging from -2,147,483,648 to 2,147,483,647
Long	Integer number, ranging from -9,223,372,036,854,775,808 to +9,223,372,036,854,775,807
Number	A numeric value of any type
Object	A value of any type
String	A sequence of characters
Timestamp	Date and time information

Comparison functions¶

Name	Arguments	Description
between	`num`:Number, `low`:Number, `high`:Number	returns true if `low` <= `num` <= `high`
equalTo	`a`:Object, `b`:Object	Can be used to compare for equality two numbers, two strings, two dates, and so on
greaterEqualThan	`x`:Object, `y`:Object	Returns true if `x` >= `y`. Parameters can be either numbers or strings (in the second case lexicographic ordering is used)
greaterThan	`x`:Object, `y`:Object	Returns true if `x` > `y`. Parameters can be either numbers or strings (in the second case lexicographic ordering is used)
in2, in3, in4, in5, in6, in7, in8, in9, in10	`candidate`:Object, `v1`:Object, …, `v9`:Object	Returns true if `candidate` is equal to one of the `v1`, …, `v9` values. Use the function name matching the number of arguments specified.
in	`candidate`:Object, `v1`:Object, `v2`:Object, …	Works exactly the same as the in2, …, in10 functions described above, but takes any number of values as input.
isLike	`string`:String, `pattern`:String	Returns true if the string matches the specified pattern. For the full syntax of the pattern specification see the Java Pattern class javadocs
isNull	`obj`:Object	Returns true the passed parameter is `null`, false otherwise
lessThan	`x`:Object, `y`:Object	Returns true if `x` < `y`. Parameters can be either numbers or strings (in the second case lexicographic ordering is used
lessEqualThan	`x`:Object, `y`:Object	Returns true if `x` <= `y`. Parameters can be either numbers or strings (in the second case lexicographic ordering is used
not	`bool`:Boolean	Returns the negation of `bool`
notEqual	`x`:Object, `y`:Object	Returns true if `x` and `y` are equal, false otherwise

Control functions¶

Name	Arguments	Description
if_then_else	`condition`:Boolean, `x`:Object, `y`: Object	Returns `x` if the condition is true, `y` otherwise

Environment function¶

This function returns the value of environment variables defined in various contexts. WMS GetMap automatically defines somes variables SLD rendering, while others can be provided using the env request parameter. Example usage in e.g. a dynamic symbolizer:

${env('size', 20)}

Example usage in a default Symbolizer:

<PointSymbolizer uom="http://www.opengeospatial.org/se/units/metre">
  <Graphic>
  ...
    <Size>
      <ogc:Function name="env">
        <ogc:Literal>size</ogc:Literal>
        <ogc:Literal>20</ogc:Literal>
      </ogc:Function>
    </Size>
  </Graphic>
</PointSymbolizer>

Name	Arguments	Description
env	`variable`:String	Returns the value of the environment variable `variable`.

Feature functions¶

Name	Arguments	Description
id	`feature`:Feature	returns the identifier of the feature
PropertyExists	`f`:Feature, `propertyName`:String	Returns `true` if `f` has a property named `propertyName`
property	`f`:Feature, `propertyName`:String	Returns the value of the property `propertyName`. Allows property names to be computed or specified by Variable substitution in SLD.
mapGet	`f`:Feature, `map`:Map, `key`:String	Get the value of the map `map` related to the specified `key`.

Spatial Relationship functions¶

For more information about the precise meaning of the spatial relationships consult the OGC Simple Feature Specification for SQL

Name	Arguments	Description
contains	`a`:Geometry, `b`:Geometry	Returns true if the geometry `a` contains `b`
crosses	`a`:Geometry, `b`:Geometry	Returns true if `a` crosses `b`
disjoint	`a`:Geometry, `b`:Geometry	Returns true if the two geometries are disjoint, false otherwise
equalsExact	`a`:Geometry, `b`:Geometry	Returns true if the two geometries are exactly equal, same coordinates in the same order
equalsExactTolerance	`a`:Geometry, `b`:Geometry, `tol`:Double	Returns true if the two geometries are exactly equal, same coordinates in the same order, allowing for a `tol` distance in the corresponding points
intersects	`a`:Geometry, `b`:Geometry	Returns true if `a` intersects `b`
isWithinDistance	`a`: Geometry, `b`:Geometry, `distance`: Double	Returns true if the distance between `a` and `b` is less than `distance` (measured as an euclidean distance)
overlaps	`a`: Geometry, `b`:Geometry	Returns true `a` overlaps with `b`
relate	`a`: Geometry, `b`:Geometry	Returns the DE-9IM intersection matrix for `a` and `b`
relatePattern	`a`: Geometry, `b`:Geometry, `pattern`:String	Returns true if the DE-9IM intersection matrix for `a` and `b` matches the specified pattern
touches	`a`: Geometry, `b`: Geometry	Returns true if `a` touches `b` according to the SQL simple feature specification rules
within	`a`: Geometry, `b`:Geometry	Returns true is fully contained inside `b`

Geometric functions¶

Name	Arguments	Description
area	`geometry`:Geometry	The area of the specified geometry. Works in a Cartesian plane, the result will be in the same unit of measure as the geometry coordinates (which also means the results won’t make any sense for geographic data)
boundary	`geometry`:Geometry	Returns the boundary of a geometry
boundaryDimension	`geometry`:Geometry	Returns the number of dimensions of the geometry boundary
buffer	`geometry`:Geometry, `distance`:Double	Returns the buffered area around the geometry using the specified distance
bufferWithSegments	`geometry`:Geometry, `distance`:Double, `segments`:Integer	Returns the buffered area around the geometry using the specified distance and using the specified number of segments to represent a quadrant of a circle.
centroid	`geometry`:Geometry	Returns the centroid of the geometry. Can be often used as a label point for polygons, though there is no guarantee it will actually lie inside the geometry
convexHull	`geometry`:Geometry	Returns the convex hull of the specified geometry
difference	`a`:Geometry, `b`:Geometry	Returns all the points that sit in `a` but not in `b`
dimension	`a`:Geometry	Returns the dimension of the specified geometry
distance	`a`:Geometry, `b`:Geometry	Returns the euclidean distance between the two geometries
endAngle	`line`:LineString	Returns the angle of the end segment of the linestring
endPoint	`line`:LineString	Returns the end point of the linestring
envelope	`geometry`:geometry	Returns the polygon representing the envelope of the geometry, that is, the minimum rectangle with sides parallels to the axis containing it
exteriorRing	`poly`:Polygon	Returns the exterior ring of the specified polygon
geometryType	`geometry`:Geometry	Returns the type of the geometry as a string. May be `Point`, `MultiPoint`, `LineString`, `LinearRing`, `MultiLineString`, `Polygon`, `MultiPolygon`, `GeometryCollection`
geomFromWKT	`wkt`:String	Returns the `Geometry` represented in the Well Known Text format contained in the `wkt` parameter
geomLength	`geometry`:Geometry	Returns the length/perimeter of this geometry (computed in Cartesian space)
getGeometryN	`collection`:GeometryCollection, `n`:Integer	Returns the n-th geometry inside the collection
getX	`p`:Point	Returns the `x` ordinate of `p`
getY	`p`:Point	Returns the `y` ordinate of `p`
getZ	`p`:Point	Returns the `z` ordinate of `p`
interiorPoint	`geometry`:Geometry	Returns a point that is either interior to the geometry, when possible, or sitting on its boundary, otherwise
interiorRingN	`polyg`:Polygon, `n`:Integer	Returns the n-th interior ring of the polygon
intersection	`a`:Geometry, `b`:Geometry	Returns the intersection between `a` and `b`. The intersection result can be anything including a geometry collection of heterogeneous, if the result is empty, it will be represented by an empty collection.
isClosed	`line`: LineString	Returns true if `line` forms a closed ring, that is, if the first and last coordinates are equal
isEmpty	`geometry`:Geometry	Returns true if the geometry does not contain any point (typical case, an empty geometry collection)
isometric	`geometry`:Geometry, `extrusion`:Double	Returns a MultiPolygon containing the isometric extrusions of all components of the input geometry. The extrusion distance is `extrusion`, expressed in the same unit as the geometry coordinates. Can be used to get a pseudo-3d effect in a map
isRing	`line`:LineString	Returns true if the `line` is actually a closed ring (equivalent to `isRing(line) and isSimple(line)`)
isSimple	`line`:LineString	Returns true if the geometry self intersects only at boundary points
isValid	`geometry`: Geometry	Returns true if the geometry is topologically valid (rings are closed, holes are inside the hull, and so on)
numGeometries	`collection`: GeometryCollection	Returns the number of geometries contained in the geometry collection
numInteriorRing	`poly`: Polygon	Returns the number of interior rings (holes) inside the specified polygon
numPoint	`geometry`: Geometry	Returns the number of points (vertexes) contained in `geometry`
offset	`geometry`: Geometry, `offsetX`:Double, `offsetY`:Double	Offsets all points in a geometry by the specified X and Y offsets. Offsets are working in the same coordinate system as the geometry own coordinates.
pointN	`geometry`: Geometry, `n`:Integer	Returns the n-th point inside the specified geometry
startAngle	`line`: LineString	Returns the angle of the starting segment of the input linestring
startPoint	`line`: LineString	Returns the starting point of the input linestring
symDifference	`a`: Geometry, `b`:Geometry	Returns the symmetrical difference between `a` and `b` (all points that are inside `a` or `b`, but not both)
toWKT	`geometry`: Geometry	Returns the WKT representation of `geometry`
union	`a`: Geometry, `b`:Geometry	Returns the union of `a` and `b` (the result may be a geometry collection)
vertices	`geom`: Geometry	Returns a multi-point made with all the vertices of `geom`

Math functions¶

Name	Arguments	Description
abs	`value`:Integer	The absolute value of the specified Integer `value`
abs_2	`value`:Long	The absolute value of the specified Long `value`
abs_3	`value`:Float	The absolute value of the specified Float `value`
abs_4	`value`:Double	The absolute value of the specified Double `value`
acos	`angle`:Double	Returns the arc cosine of an `angle` in radians, in the range of 0.0 through `PI`
asin	`angle`:Double	Returns the arc sine of an `angle` in radians, in the range of `-PI / 2` through `PI / 2`
atan	`angle`:Double	Returns the arc tangent of an angle in radians, in the range of `-PI/2` through `PI/2`
atan2	`x`:Double, `y`:Double	Converts a rectangular coordinate `(x, y)` to polar (r, theta) and returns theta.
ceil	`x`: Double	Returns the smallest (closest to negative infinity) double value that is greater than or equal to `x` and is equal to a mathematical integer.
cos	`angle`: Double	Returns the cosine of an `angle` expressed in radians
double2bool	`x`: Double	Returns `true` if `x` is zero, `false` otherwise
exp	`x`: Double	Returns Euler’s number e raised to the power of `x`
floor	`x`: Double	Returns the largest (closest to positive infinity) value that is less than or equal to `x` and is equal to a mathematical integer
IEEERemainder	`x`: Double, `y`:Double	Computes the remainder of `x` divided by `y` as prescribed by the IEEE 754 standard
int2bbool	`x`: Integer	Returns true if `x` is zero, false otherwise
int2ddouble	`x`: Integer	Converts `x` to a Double
log	`x`: Integer	Returns the natural logarithm (base `e`) of `x`
max, max_3, max_4	`x1`: Double, `x2`:Double, `x3`:Double, `x4`:Double	Returns the maximum between `x1`, …, `x4`
min, min_3, min_4	`x1`: Double, `x2`:Double, `x3`:Double, `x4`:Double	Returns the minimum between `x1`, …, `x4`
pi	None	Returns an approximation of `pi`, the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter
pow	`base`:Double, `exponent`:Double	Returns the value of `base` raised to the power of `exponent`
random	None	Returns a Double value with a positive sign, greater than or equal to `0.0` and less than `1.0`. Returned values are chosen pseudo-randomly with (approximately) uniform distribution from that range.
rint	`x`:Double	Returns the Double value that is closest in value to the argument and is equal to a mathematical integer. If two double values that are mathematical integers are equally close, the result is the integer value that is even.
round_2	`x`:Double	Same as `round`, but returns a Long
round	`x`:Double	Returns the closest Integer to `x`. The result is rounded to an integer by adding 1/2, taking the floor of the result, and casting the result to type Integer. In other words, the result is equal to the value of the expression `(int)floor(a + 0.5)`
roundDouble	`x`:Double	Returns the closest Long to `x`
sin	`angle`: Double	Returns the sine of an `angle` expressed in radians
tan	`angle`:Double	Returns the trigonometric tangent of `angle` expressed in radians
toDegrees	`angle`:Double	Converts an angle expressed in radians into degrees
toRadians	`angle`:Double	Converts an angle expressed in radians into degrees

String functions¶

String functions generally will accept any type of value for String arguments. Non-string values will be converted into a string representation automatically.

Name	Arguments	Description
Concatenate	`s1`:String, `s2`:String, …	Concatenates any number of strings. Non-string arguments are allowed.
strAbbreviate	`sentence`:String, `lower`:Integer, `upper`:Integer, `append`:String	Abbreviates the sentence at first space beyond `lower` (or at `upper` if no space). Appends `append` if string is abbreviated.
strCapitalize	`sentence`:String	Fully capitalizes the sentence. For example, “HoW aRe YOU?” will be turned into “How Are You?”
strConcat	`a`:String, `b`:String	Concatenates the two strings into one
strDefaultIfBlank	`str`:String, `default`:String	returns `default` if `str` is empty, blank or null
strEndsWith	`string`:String, `suffix`:String	Returns true if `string` ends with `suffix`
strEqualsIgnoreCase	`a`:String, `b`:String	Returns true if the two strings are equal ignoring case considerations
strIndexOf	`string`:String, `substring`:String	Returns the index within this string of the first occurrence of the specified substring, or `-1` if not found
strLastIndexOf	`string`:String, `substring`:String	Returns the index within this string of the last occurrence of the specified substring, or `-1` if not found
strLength	`string`:String	Returns the string length
strMatches	`string`:String, `pattern`:String	Returns true if the string matches the specified regular expression. For the full syntax of the pattern specification see the Java Pattern class javadocs
strReplace	`string`:String, `pattern`:String, `replacement`:String, `global`: boolean	Returns the string with the pattern replaced with the given replacement text. If the `global` argument is `true` then all occurrences of the pattern will be replaced, otherwise only the first. For the full syntax of the pattern specification see the Java Pattern class javadocs
strStartsWith	`string`:String, `prefix`:String	Returns true if `string` starts with `prefix`
strStripAccents	`string`:String	Removes diacritics (~= accents) from a string. The case will not be altered.
strSubstring	`string`:String, `begin`:Integer, `end`:Integer	Returns a new string that is a substring of this string. The substring begins at the specified `begin` and extends to the character at index `endIndex - 1` (indexes are zero-based).
strSubstringStart	`string`:String, `begin`:Integer	Returns a new string that is a substring of this string. The substring begins at the specified `begin` and extends to the last character of the string
strToLowerCase	`string`:String	Returns the lower case version of the string
strToUpperCase	`string`:String	Returns the upper case version of the string
strTrim	`string`:String	Returns a copy of the string, with leading and trailing blank-space omitted

Parsing and formatting functions¶

Name	Arguments	Description
dateFormat	`format`:String, `date`:Timestamp	Formats the specified date according to the provided format. The format syntax can be found in the Java SimpleDateFormat javadocs
dateParse	`format`:String, `dateString`:String	Parses a date from a `dateString` formatted according to the `format` specification. The format syntax can be found in the Java SimpleDateFormat javadocs
numberFormat	`format`:String, `number`:Double	Formats the number according to the specified `format`. The format syntax can be found in the Java DecimalFormat javadocs
parseBoolean	`boolean`:String	Parses a string into a boolean. The empty string, `f`, `0.0` and `0` are considered false, everything else is considered true.
parseDouble	`number`:String	Parses a string into a double. The number can be expressed in normal or scientific form.
parseInt	`number`:String	Parses a string into an integer.
parseLong	`number`:String	Parses a string into a long integer

Temporal functions¶

Name	Arguments	Description
dateDifference	`a`:Date, `b`:Date, `timeUnits`:String	Computes the difference between two date (as a-b) and return a result in a specific time units. `timeUnits` is optional, representing the desired time units result. Default as milliseconds. Possible values are `s` (seconds), `m` (minutes), `h` (hours), `d` (days).
now	None	Retuns the current time as a Date

Transformation functions¶

Transformation functions transform values from one data space into another. These functions provide a concise way to compute styling parameters from feature attribute values. See also Styling using Transformation Functions.

Name	Arguments	Description
Recode	`lookupValue`:Object, `data`:Object, `value`:Object, …	Transforms a `lookupValue` from a set of discrete data values into another set of values. Any number of `data`/`value` pairs may be specified.
Categorize	`lookupValue`:Object, `value`:Object, `threshold`:Object, … `value`:Object, `belongsTo` : String	Transforms a continuous-valued attribute value into a set of discrete values. `lookupValue` and `value` must be an orderable type (typically numeric). The initial `value` is required. Any number of additional `threshold`/`value` pairs may be specified. `belongsTo` is optional, with the value `succeeding` or `preceding`. It defines which interval to use when the lookup value equals a threshold value.
Interpolate	`lookupValue`:Numeric, `data`:Numeric, `value`:Numeric or #RRGGBB, … `mode`:String, `method`:String	Transforms a continuous-valued attribute value into another continuous range of values. Any number of `data`/`value` pairs may be specified. `mode` is optional, with the value `linear`, `cosine` or `cubic`. It defines the interpolation algorithm to use. `method` is optional, with the value `numeric` or `color`. It defines whether the target values are numeric or RGB color specifications.

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