I have a number of layers in the Layers Panel inside a group but I don't want them shown (there's quite a lot so it looks untidy). These layers are also joined to several others.
Is it possible to make these layers invisible to the user (i.e. not shown in the Layers Panel, it is not about setting the visibility of the layer) but can still be joined to other layers, or perhaps to make the group invisible?
Closest I found was this post but hoping there's a more direct approach:
Just to clarify, private/hidden layers/groups will not appear in the Layers Panel, but they can still be seen in the canvas or used in joins/relations with other layers.
You need at least QGIS v3.18.
Using the native approach, you can make a layer 'Private' (or hidden) in this way:
layer = iface.activeLayer()
layer.setFlags(QgsMapLayer.Private)
See Making layer private/hidden/invisible in QGIS Layers Panel without Python to do this using the QGIS GUI.
However, using the native approach there is no way of making a layer group Private (or hidden). For that you would need the Plugin approach.
You need at least QGIS v3.4.
I find making layers/groups hidden/invisible useful to avoid showing lookup tables, which are required for value relations but might make the Layers Panel look a bit overloaded.
ANSWER:
Use the plugin Invisible layers and groups, which allows you to:
Making a layer hidden/invisible (by code):
if 'InvisibleLayersAndGroups' in qgis.utils.plugins:
ilg = qgis.utils.plugins['InvisibleLayersAndGroups']
ilg.hideLayer( layer ) # layer is a QgsMapLayer
Making a group hidden/invisible (by code):
if 'InvisibleLayersAndGroups' in qgis.utils.plugins:
ilg = qgis.utils.plugins['InvisibleLayersAndGroups']
ilg.hideGroup( group ) # group is a QgsLayerTreeGroup
ilg.hideGroup( 'group2' ) # You can also pass a group name
Note: Depending on your use case, stick to one approach: either native or plugin, but don't use both at the same time.
