An overview of the project structure

At first glance, you might be overwhelmed by the sheer number of files for such a small tool. Let’s break it down and get you introduced to all parts. You will notice it is not that bad…

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doc: the documentation folder

Here you will find all the files for building your documentation. It includes configuration files and content. For example, it includes the code for the page you are reading now. For more information, see Part 4.

qgisplugin: the actual plugin folder

This is the most important folder in your project. It contains the actual code of your plugin. For more information, see Part 1 on the code and Part 2 on the user interface.

tests: test classes for your code

This folder should contain scripts for unit testing and test data. For more information, see Part 3.

other files

The rest of the files are required for either building or maintaining your plugin.

  • .gitignore tells git which files to ignore, so they won’t clutter your repository.
  • .readthedocs.yml contains metadata for the documentation hosting platform Read the Docs.
  • bitbucket-pipelines.yml contains metadata to set up a pipeline on bitbucket.
  • COPYING.txt contains the license information and should always be distributed with your code.
  • The create_plugin.py script allows you to build your qgis plugin in one click.
  • The create_resourcefiles.py allows you to create a resource file for your images in one click.
  • package_variables.py contains recurring variables, like author name, version number, etc.
  • README.md contains the basic project information and its content is used by your git page, readthedocs and PyPi.
  • requirements.txt lists the external packages required to run your python core.
  • requirements_dev.txt lists all external packages required for development.
  • The setup.py script allows you to create a python package in one click.