Prevent OGR saving OSM points as features when exporting to GeoPackage

Question

I'm attempting to export data from the points layer imported from an Open Street Maps pbf file to a GeoPackage file.

In both the script I write to automate the export as well as when I export using QGIS, the data_type column in the gpkg_contents table is set to 'features'.

This is unexpected because when I usually do any export to GeoPackage using any of the other layers, this data_type column is set to one of the geometry types defined by the GeoPackage standard.

My script to export the data to a new DB:

labelDB = QgsVectorLayer("Point", "labels", "memory")

labelDB.startEditing()
labelDB.addAttribute(QgsField("label", QVariant.String))    
labelDB.commitChanges()

pointsLayer = QgsVectorLayer("%s/%s|layername=%s" % (input, file, "points"), "points", "ogr")

if pointsLayer.isValid():               
    pointsLayer.setSubsetString("place = 'country'")

    #move the resulting features to the labels db
    for feature in pointsLayer.getFeatures():
        labelFeature = QgsFeature()

        labelFeature.setFields(labelDB.fields())
        labelFeature.setGeometry(feature.geometry())

        #get the english name for the country
        name = ""
        otherTags = feature["other_tags"].split(",")

        for tag in otherTags:
            kvp = tag.split('=>')

            if kvp[0].replace("\"", "") == "name:en":
                name = kvp[1].replace("\"", "")

            labelFeature.setAttribute("label", name)

            labelDB.startEditing()
            labelDB.addFeature(labelFeature)
            labelDB.commitChanges()

    QgsVectorFileWriter.writeAsVectorFormat(labelDB, labelsOutDir + "/labels", "utf-8", labelDB.crs(), "GPKG")

How would I go about ensuring that the data is stored as Points instead of features?

Answer 1

You must mix the data_type in the gpkg_contents table with the geometry_type_name in the gpkg_geometry_columns table. "Features" is what you are supposed to see as data_type.

http://www.geopackage.org/spec121/index.html#_gpkg_contents

The data_type specifies the type of content contained in the table, for example "features" per clause Features, "attributes" per clause Attributes, "tiles" per clause Tiles, or an implementer-defined value for other data tables per clause in an Extended GeoPackage.

But in gpkg_geometry_columns:

The geometry_type_name value in a gpkg_geometry_columns row SHALL be one of the uppercase geometry type names specified in Geometry Types (Normative).