Geospatial · Combine and measure
Buffer
Grows each shape outward by a distance, turning points or lines into areas. For example, a 500 m zone around every store.
Also known as: Radius, zone
How it works
Pick the Geometry column, the Unit and the Distance. With Unit set to Metres (the default) the Distance (metres) field buffers in true metres on any known coordinate system: on lon/lat data a point becomes its exact geodesic circle and a line or polygon goes through its UTM zone. If the branch's CRS cannot be derived the node reports it; reproject upstream or switch to CRS units, which buffers in the raw units of the data. A negative distance shrinks polygons inward, and a distance of 0 counts as not configured.
Leave Output column blank to replace the geometry column in place. Give it a name to add the buffer as a new column; the original stays unless you untick Keep the source geometry.
Inputs and outputs
Inputs
data— Table
Outputs
data— Table
Settings
The Attributes panel of Buffer, as in the app: the controls work, but nothing runs — there is no data behind it.
The same settings, as the Assistant writes them
{
geometryColumn: string
distance: number
unit: "meters"|"crsUnits"
outputColumn: string
keepSource: boolean
}"meters" buffers in true metres on any known CRS (on lon/lat a point becomes its exact geodesic circle, a line/polygon goes via its UTM zone; unknown CRS errors); "crsUnits" buffers in raw CRS units. A negative distance shrinks polygons inward. Blank outputColumn rewrites the geometry column in place; a name adds the buffer as that column, keeping the source unless keepSource is false
Example
You want a 500 m catchment around every store and still need the store point for labels. Set Unit to Metres, Distance to 500, Output column to zone and leave Keep the source geometry ticked.
| store | geometry | zone |
|---|---|---|
| Downtown | POINT (-122.68 45.52) | POLYGON (...) |
| Airport | POINT (-122.59 45.59) | POLYGON (...) |