QFlowCrate

A QGIS plugin for semi-automatic documentation of geospatial workflows with standardized RO-Crate export to enhance reproducibility in map-based research.

About This Project

This plugin was developed as part of a Bachelor's thesis in the Geoinformatics program at the University of Münster's Institute for Geoinformatics.

Thesis Details:

• Title: Enhancing Map Reproducibility: Developing a QGIS Plugin for Automated Documentation of Data Provenance and Workflow
• Author: Andreas Rademaker (nicevibesplus)
• Degree: Bachelor of Science in Geoinformatics
• Institution: University of Münster, Institute for Geoinformatics
• Supervisors: Eftychia Koukouraki, Brian Ochieng Pondi
• Date: October 2025

Installation

1. Download the latest plugin version from Releases
2. Install in QGIS: Plugins -> Manage and Install Plugins -> Install from ZIP

Development

Prerequisites

• QGIS (>=3.24)
• uv
• git

Setup Development Environment

1. Clone the Repository First fork the repository to your GitHub account and then clone it locally:

git clone https://github.com/nicevibesplus/QFlowCrate.git  
cd QFlowCrate

2. Create Virtual Environment with uv

uv sync

# Linux/Mac/Git Bash
source .venv/bin/activate

# Windows
.venv\Scripts\activate

Release

# Linux/Git Bash
chmod +x scripts/create_release.sh
# Might need to commit changes to make it executable
scripts/create_release.sh v0.0.1

# Windows
scripts\create_release.sh v0.0.1

This packages only the prod necessary files and also the rocrate library dependencies to the ZIP.

Troubleshooting

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'rocrate'

Issue: When loading the plugin in QGIS, you encounter the following error:

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'rocrate'
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "...", line 35, in classFactory
    from .automated_workflow_documentation import AutomatedWorkflowDocumentation
  ...
  File "...", line 32, in <module>
    from rocrate.rocrate import ROCrate
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'rocrate'

Cause: The rocrate package required by the plugin is not installed in QGIS's bundled Python environment. QGIS uses its own isolated Python interpreter, which is separate from your system Python.

Solution: Install the rocrate package to QGIS's Python site-packages directory. First, you need to identify which Python version is used by QGIS in your system. You can check this info at Help -> About in the top menu. For example, if the Python version pointed to by QGIS is 3.12.9, you should run the following command in your terminal:

1. macOS/Linux:

   python3 -m pip install --target ~/.local/lib/python3.12/site-packages rocrate

2. Windows:

   python -m pip install --target %APPDATA%\Python\Python312\site-packages rocrate

After installation, restart QGIS and the plugin should load without errors.