Datastore
The Datastore is where your GIS items live in ALIGN. Every layer you import or create, and every web map you save, is stored here as a typed asset in open, cloud-native formats. It is available from both the Map Builder and the App Builder.
Open, cloud-native formats
Section titled “Open, cloud-native formats”Your data is kept in open formats built for the cloud: PMTiles for tiles, Cloud-Optimized GeoTIFF (COG) for rasters, GeoParquet and FlatGeobuf for vectors. No proprietary format and no lock-in. You can download your assets and use them anywhere.
The Datastore panel
Section titled “The Datastore panel”Open the Datastore from the left rail. It shows your assets and folders as a tree, where you can:
- search by name, sort by name or date, and filter by format,
- create folders and drag assets to organize them,
- rename, move, delete or download an asset,
- add an asset straight to your map.
Asset types
Section titled “Asset types”The Datastore holds every kind of GIS item:
- vector layers (GeoJSON, FlatGeobuf, GeoParquet),
- rasters (Cloud-Optimized GeoTIFF),
- tile and web-service references (XYZ, WMS, WMTS, WFS, PMTiles, GeoRSS),
- and your web maps.
Web-service items are stored as a reference, not a file, so they stay in sync with their source. A reference has no file to download.
Uploads keep their format
Section titled “Uploads keep their format”When you import a local file, ALIGN keeps your original:
- cloud-native files (FlatGeobuf, GeoParquet) are stored as they are,
- other formats (GPX, KML, CSV, GeoPackage, zipped Shapefile) are kept in their original form alongside a ready-to-render copy.
Your source file is never silently discarded or converted behind your back.
Web maps
Section titled “Web maps”A web map you save in the Map Builder is a Datastore asset like any other. Open it from the Datastore panel to pick your work back up. See Web maps.
Exporting several items at once
Section titled “Exporting several items at once”Select items in the Datastore and choose Export. Before anything leaves, ALIGN tells you what will be exported, what will not (web apps are never exported — duplicate the project or push it to GitHub; service references have no file), and what the export draws on your organization’s monthly egress allowance.
- A small selection downloads straight from storage, one file per item.
- A large selection is prepared as one archive in the background: you are notified when it is ready, and the archive stays available for a limited time before it is removed. Your archives are listed under Exports in the Datastore rail while they last.
Who can take data out
Section titled “Who can take data out”Exporting a selection and downloading a file are for members, admins and owners. A viewer reads the Datastore and opens the maps built on it, but the data does not leave the organization with them — the buttons are simply absent, and the server refuses either way. Ask an organization admin if your role needs to change.
What uses what
Section titled “What uses what”The page of a web map or a web app lists the Datastore layers it consumes; the page of a layer lists the web maps and web apps that consume it. Follow a link to open the other item — handy before deleting or re-sharing a layer.
In the listing, the Use column counts those consumers; click the count to see them and jump to any of them. Deleting an item that something uses says so before you confirm.
Your data stays yours
Section titled “Your data stays yours”Everything in your Datastore is yours, in open formats, downloadable at any time. If you ever leave ALIGN, your data leaves with you.