Overview
QGIS in the Cloud (QiC) comprises of a centrally hosted and managed installation of QGIS, which is streamed to the user's web browser from remote servers, rather than being locally installed on the user's machine. QiC uses a technology called AppStream which therefore appears on the user's login page.
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IMPORTANT It is important to note that the only information that will persist after you have logged off will be anything that you have put in the Home Folder - all other data will be lost. |
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It is important to understand how the environment uses these folders. Please review the notes in the table below.
Folder | Notes |
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Home Folder | This folder, the actual address of which C:\Users\PhotonUser\My Files\Home Folder\ is where you should save any work done during your training course. NOTE: The Home Folder and its sub directories are the only folder where data is persistently stored between different sessions. All work undertaken during your training course should be saved in this folder or a subdirectory of it, otherwise it will be lost. NOTE: We have redirected the QGIS start up scripts to save any session parameters into this folder as well, so that any plug-ins, bookmarks, recent projects etc, will be reinstated in future sessions also. |
Temporary Files | This folder, the actual address of which is C:\Users\PhotonUser\My Files\My Files\Temporary Files\ as the name suggests is for temporary files. You can use it to download and upload data from your local machine using the My Files icon e.g.  and then move your files from the temporary area into your home folder. Note - data in the Temporary Files folder is not persistently stored between sessions. |
Downloads | Downloads, the actual address of which is C:\Users\PhotonUser\Downloads is where any data you download from a web browser during an AppStream session would end up. Data in this Downloads folder is not persistently stored between sessions. |
Quick Reference for Common Tasks
Menu options
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From left to right
Copy and paste between clipboards on local machine and cloud
Settings (screen resolution etc.)
Toggle multiple monitors
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To access the applications select this icon:
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Application | Notes |
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Chrome | Web browser |
Windows Explorer | General folder browser |
FoxITReader | PDF viewer |
Notepad ++ | Text editor |
OSGeo4W Shell | GIS libraries used in QGIS development |
QGIS 3.22.4 | QGIS |
QT designer 3.22.4 | Utility for interface design of QGIS plugins |
Remote Desktop Connection | Allows you to connect to another machine |
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If you have launched multiple applications, then you can switch between them using this icon:
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This will then tile all the applications you currently have running.
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If you want to use your entire screen for the applications you are running use this icon:
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To upload and download files, use this icon:
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You need to have navigated into either the Home Folder, or Temporary Files folders or one of their sub folders before the Upload Files button is visible.
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If you are within the cloud environment any copy and paste operations stay within that cloud environment. However, if you want to copy and paste between the cloud environment and your local machine, you will need to do it via the menu option:
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Press Ctrl C in the dialog and you will briefly see a tick appear and the dialog will close. Now you can paste the information somewhere on your Local PC.
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If you want to use your entire screen for the applications you are running use this icon:
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Session Lifetime
The environment you are running has session time-outs.
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