Split vector by field name and rename output files according to field value

Question

I have a shapefile with several features and want to split the layer into separate shapefiles. I looked into similar questions recommending Split Vector Layer. However, I could not find a way to specify the name of the output files depending on the value in a certain field.

For example, in the image below, I want to use the field name as the output filenames (like tawitawi.shp for Tawitawi, igat.shp for Igat, etc.), and skip saving the files having blank/NULL values for the name field:

Is there a way to do this, preferably using command line tools to speed up the processing?

Answer 1

the following python script will do the job. I did'nt tested it with the NULL values, may be you have to adjust this and remove the NULL value from the dictionary.

#export all features with the same value in 
#field fclass
#Stefan Giese. 29.10.19
layer = iface.activeLayer()
classes = {} #dictionary for field values in fclass
features=layer.getFeatures()
#get all different features in field 'fclass'
for f in features:
    #adjust the fieldname fclass
    class_value = f['fclass']
    if class_value in classes:
        classes[class_value] += 1
    else:
        classes[class_value] = 1
#print (classes)
keys=classes.keys()
#write a shapefile for each selection from keys
for k in keys:
    #adjust the fieldname 'fclass
    layer.selectByExpression("\"fclass\" = '{}'".format(k), QgsVectorLayer.SetSelection)
    _writer = QgsVectorFileWriter.writeAsVectorFormat(layer, "d:/test/{}.shp".format(k), "UTF-8", layer.crs(), "ESRI Shapefile", onlySelected=True)