Adding a set of attributes to a vector layer

Each QGIS feature has two parts: the geometry and the attributes. In this recipe, we'll add an attribute for a layer from an existing dataset.

Getting ready...

We will use a point shapefile with museum data for New York City, which you can download as a ZIP file from the following URL:

https://github.com/GeospatialPython/Learn/raw/master/NYC_MUSEUMS_GEO.zip

Extract this shapefile to the following directory: /qgis_data/nyc

How to do it...

While you can add a geometry to a feature without attributes, you must have at least a geometry in order to add attributes. So, we will create a new feature, add some attributes, and then add everything to the layer:

1. Start QGIS.

2. From the Plugins menu, select Python Console.

3. First, load the layer and validate it:

           vectorLyr =  QgsVectorLayer('/qgis_data/nyc/NYC_MUSEUMS_GEO.shp',
                                       'Museums' , "ogr") 
           vectorLyr.isValid() 
   

4. Next, access the layer's data provider...