[R] R-crash using read.shape (maptools)

[Roger Bivand]

On Wed, 28 Apr 2004, Danny Heuman wrote:

> Hi Herry,
> 
> On Thu, 29 Apr 2004 12:20:44 +1000, you wrote:
> 
> >Hi List,
> >
> >I am trying to read a large shapefile (~37,000 polys) using read.shape [winxp, 1gig ram, dellbox). I receive the following error:
> >
> >AppName: rgui.exe	 AppVer: 1.90.30412.0	 ModName: maptools.dll
> >ModVer: 1.90.30412.0	 Offset: 0000309d
> >
> >The getinfo.shape returns info, and the shapefile is readable in arcmap. 
> >
> >Any ideas on how to overcome this?
> >
> >Thanks Herry
> >
> >-------------------------------------------
> >Alexander Herr - Herry
> >--------------------------------------------
> > 
> 
> I've had difficulty if there is too much detail in the polygon
> definition (i.e. too many nodes).  Try thinning the polygons and try
> again.
> 
> Danny
> 

I think that this is fair advice. The underlying shapelib code may not 
scale well to very many, very intricate polygons, and may not handle 
malformed polygons gracefully. Arcgis typically both reads and writes its 
own format quite uncritically. If this really needs to be solved, please 
contact me off-list with a smaller reproducible sample and information on 
the platform you are using (looks like windows (XP?), R 1.9.0, but which 
maptools?

Roger Bivand

Economic Geography Section, Department of Economics, Norwegian School of
Economics and Business Administration, Breiviksveien 40, N-5045 Bergen,
Norway. voice: +47 55 95 93 55; fax +47 55 95 93 93
e-mail: Roger.Bivand at nhh.no