Geography Markup Language (GML)
GML is the Open Geospatial Consortium's XML language for geographic features. It is a framework for application schemas rather than one uniform record layout, so files from different publishers can look very different internally.
- Best used for
- Standards-based data exchange, especially INSPIRE datasets, public-sector downloads and WFS responses.
- GeoVerto support
- GeoVerto reads GML as a source and can write GML as a target. A file with several feature types is exposed as several layers after analysis.
Schemas define the vocabulary
The XML schema determines which feature and property names occur. NAS/ALKIS and XPlanung use specialised GML application schemas; they should not be treated as interchangeable with a simple generic GML export.
CRS and axis order
GML normally records the coordinate system in srsName. In GML 3, EPSG axis order can be significant: EPSG:4326 is formally latitude/longitude in that context, which is a common source of apparently swapped coordinates.
Limits to know
- XML is verbose, so GML can be many times larger than an equivalent GeoPackage.
- Complex application schemas may not map cleanly to flat tables.
- Multiple feature types become multiple layers and may require selection before export.
Supported conversions
Convert from GML
- Convert GML to GeoJSON — Turn verbose, schema-driven XML into the compact JSON feature format used by web maps and data APIs.
Convert GML now
Choose a verified English workflow for this format, with source checks before conversion and a clear download step.