diff --git a/bindings/python/mapnik/__init__.py b/bindings/python/mapnik/__init__.py
index da28f952e..b1701767c 100644
--- a/bindings/python/mapnik/__init__.py
+++ b/bindings/python/mapnik/__init__.py
@@ -90,10 +90,39 @@ class _Projection(Projection,_injector):
         return forward_(obj,self)
     def inverse(self,obj):
         return inverse_(obj,self)
-  
+
+def get_types(num):
+    if num == 1:
+        return int
+    elif num == 2:
+        return float
+    elif num == 3:
+        return float
+    elif num == 4:
+        return str
+    elif num == 5:
+        return Geometry2d
+    elif num == 6:
+        return object
+
 class _Datasource(Datasource,_injector):
     def describe(self):
         return Describe(self)
+    def field_types(self):
+        return map(get_types,self._field_types())        
+    def all_features(self):
+        query = Query(self.envelope(),1.0)
+        for fld in self.fields():
+            query.add_property_name(fld)
+        return self.features(query).features
+
+class _Feature(Feature,_injector):
+    @property
+    def attributes(self):
+        attr = {}
+        for prop in self.properties:
+            attr[prop[0]] = prop[1]
+        return attr
 
 #class _Filter(Filter,_injector):
 #    """Mapnik Filter expression.
diff --git a/bindings/python/mapnik_datasource.cpp b/bindings/python/mapnik_datasource.cpp
index c2f0da959..45b08cf03 100644
--- a/bindings/python/mapnik_datasource.cpp
+++ b/bindings/python/mapnik_datasource.cpp
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@
 #include <boost/python/detail/api_placeholder.hpp>
 // stl
 #include <sstream>
+#include <vector>
+
 // mapnik
 #include <mapnik/envelope.hpp>
 #include <mapnik/datasource.hpp>
@@ -35,6 +37,8 @@
 
 using mapnik::datasource;
 using mapnik::point_datasource;
+using mapnik::layer_descriptor;
+using mapnik::attribute_descriptor;
 
 struct ds_pickle_suite : boost::python::pickle_suite
 {
@@ -92,7 +96,52 @@ namespace
         }
         return ss.str();
     }
-}
+    
+    std::string encoding(boost::shared_ptr<mapnik::datasource> const& ds)
+    {
+            layer_descriptor ld = ds->get_descriptor();
+            return ld.get_encoding();
+    }
+
+    std::string name(boost::shared_ptr<mapnik::datasource> const& ds)
+    {
+            layer_descriptor ld = ds->get_descriptor();
+            return ld.get_name();
+    }
+
+    boost::python::list fields(boost::shared_ptr<mapnik::datasource> const& ds)
+    {
+        boost::python::list flds;
+        if (ds)
+        {
+            layer_descriptor ld = ds->get_descriptor();
+            std::vector<attribute_descriptor> const& desc_ar = ld.get_descriptors();
+            std::vector<attribute_descriptor>::const_iterator it = desc_ar.begin();
+            std::vector<attribute_descriptor>::const_iterator end = desc_ar.end();
+            for (; it != end; ++it)
+            {
+               flds.append(it->get_name());
+            }
+        }
+        return flds;
+    }
+    boost::python::list field_types(boost::shared_ptr<mapnik::datasource> const& ds)
+    {
+        boost::python::list fld_types;
+        if (ds)
+        {
+            layer_descriptor ld = ds->get_descriptor();
+            std::vector<attribute_descriptor> const& desc_ar = ld.get_descriptors();
+            std::vector<attribute_descriptor>::const_iterator it = desc_ar.begin();
+            std::vector<attribute_descriptor>::const_iterator end = desc_ar.end();
+            for (; it != end; ++it)
+            {  
+               unsigned type = it->get_type();
+               fld_types.append(type);
+            }
+        }
+        return fld_types;
+    }}
 
 void export_datasource()
 {
@@ -104,6 +153,10 @@ void export_datasource()
         .def("envelope",&datasource::envelope)
         .def("descriptor",&datasource::get_descriptor) //todo
         .def("features",&datasource::features)
+        .def("fields",&fields)
+        .def("_field_types",&field_types)
+        .def("encoding",&encoding) //todo expose as property
+        .def("name",&name)
         .def("features_at_point",&datasource::features_at_point)
         .def("params",&datasource::params,return_value_policy<copy_const_reference>(), 
              "The configuration parameters of the data source. "  
diff --git a/bindings/python/mapnik_feature.cpp b/bindings/python/mapnik_feature.cpp
index b2b9e577f..3fc24cfa4 100644
--- a/bindings/python/mapnik_feature.cpp
+++ b/bindings/python/mapnik_feature.cpp
@@ -221,6 +221,7 @@ void export_feature()
 //      .def("add_geometry", // TODO define more mapnik::Feature methods
       .def("num_geometries",&Feature::num_geometries)
       .def("get_geometry", make_function(get_geom1,return_value_policy<reference_existing_object>()))
+      .def("envelope", &Feature::envelope)
       ;
 
    class_<std::map<std::string, mapnik::value> >("Properties")
diff --git a/bindings/python/mapnik_featureset.cpp b/bindings/python/mapnik_featureset.cpp
index 979892238..0ded88b3c 100644
--- a/bindings/python/mapnik_featureset.cpp
+++ b/bindings/python/mapnik_featureset.cpp
@@ -29,18 +29,21 @@
 
 namespace {
     using namespace boost::python;
-    inline object pass_through(object const& o) { return o; }
-    
-    inline mapnik::feature_ptr next(mapnik::featureset_ptr const& itr)
-    {
-        if (!itr)
-        {
-            PyErr_SetString(PyExc_StopIteration, "No more features.");
-            boost::python::throw_error_already_set();
-        }
 
-        return itr->next();
-    }    
+    list features(mapnik::featureset_ptr const& itr)
+    {
+        list l;
+        while (true)
+        {
+            mapnik::feature_ptr fp = itr->next();
+            if (!fp)
+            {
+                break;
+            }
+            l.append(fp);
+        }
+        return l;
+    }
 }
 
 void export_featureset()
@@ -51,8 +54,6 @@ void export_featureset()
     
     class_<Featureset,boost::shared_ptr<Featureset>,
         boost::noncopyable>("Featureset",no_init)
-        .def("next",next)
-        .def("__iter__",pass_through)
+        .add_property("features",features)
         ;
 }
-
diff --git a/bindings/python/mapnik_map.cpp b/bindings/python/mapnik_map.cpp
index 88c06c4fe..204248be2 100644
--- a/bindings/python/mapnik_map.cpp
+++ b/bindings/python/mapnik_map.cpp
@@ -267,11 +267,11 @@ void export_map()
            "otherwise will return None.\n"
            "\n"
            "Usage:\n"
-           ">>> feat = m.query_map_point(0,200,200)\n"
-           ">>> feat\n"
-           ">>> <mapnik._mapnik.Featureset object at 0x5fe1f0>\n"
-           ">>> feat.next()\n"
-           ">>> <mapnik._mapnik.Feature object at 0x5fe230>\n" 
+           ">>> featureset = m.query_map_point(0,200,200)\n"
+           ">>> featureset\n"
+           "<mapnik._mapnik.Featureset object at 0x23b0b0>\n"
+           ">>> featureset.features\n"
+           ">>> [<mapnik.Feature object at 0x3995630>]\n"
          )
         
       .def("query_point",&Map::query_point,
@@ -282,11 +282,11 @@ void export_map()
            "otherwise will return None.\n"
            "\n"
            "Usage:\n"
-           ">>> feat = m.query_point(0,-122,48)\n"
-           ">>> feat\n"
-           ">>> <mapnik._mapnik.Featureset object at 0x5fe130>\n"
-           ">>> feat.next()\n"
-           ">>> <mapnik._mapnik.Feature object at 0x5fe1b0>\n"
+           ">>> featureset = m.query_point(0,-122,48)\n"
+           ">>> featureset\n"
+           "<mapnik._mapnik.Featureset object at 0x23b0b0>\n"
+           ">>> featureset.features\n"
+           ">>> [<mapnik.Feature object at 0x3995630>]\n"
          )
 
       .def("remove_all",&Map::remove_all,
diff --git a/include/mapnik/feature.hpp b/include/mapnik/feature.hpp
index 518b6f90a..17a4683a0 100644
--- a/include/mapnik/feature.hpp
+++ b/include/mapnik/feature.hpp
@@ -94,7 +94,26 @@ namespace mapnik {
          {
             return geom_cont_[index];
          }
-         
+
+         Envelope<double> envelope() const
+         {
+             Envelope<double> result;
+             for (unsigned i=0;i<num_geometries();++i)
+             {
+                geometry2d const& geom = get_geometry(i);
+                if (i==0)
+                {
+                    Envelope<double> box = geom.envelope();
+                    result.init(box.minx(),box.miny(),box.maxx(),box.maxy());
+                }
+                else
+                {
+                    result.expand_to_include(geom.envelope());
+                }
+             }
+             return result;
+         }
+
          const raster_type& get_raster() const
          {
             return raster_;
diff --git a/tests/python_tests/object_test.py b/tests/python_tests/object_test.py
index 09fbeca87..b445431d3 100644
--- a/tests/python_tests/object_test.py
+++ b/tests/python_tests/object_test.py
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ def test_shapefile_init():
 # Shapefile properties
 def test_shapefile_properties():
     s = mapnik.Shapefile(file='../../demo/data/boundaries')
-    f = s.features_at_point(s.envelope().center()).next()
+    f = s.features_at_point(s.envelope().center()).features[0]
 
     eq_(f.properties['CGNS_FID'], u'6f733341ba2011d892e2080020a0f4c9')
     eq_(f.properties['COUNTRY'], u'CAN')