[R-sig-Geo] ArcGIS/R data exchange

[Christof Bigler]

I would like to get some feedback on data exchange between ArcGIS and R 
(both directions) under Windows. I noted that StatConnector can be used 
to directly connect ArcGIS with R, and probably the R packages 
"shapefiles" and "maptools" might be used for reading and writing ESRI 
shapefiles.  Are these seamless procedures for the import and export of 
different data types (grid, points, polygons)?
There's also the newly developed R package "sp" which might get the 
standard tool for exchanging spatial data. Is this package mostly 
intended for the exchange of different formats of spatial data within R 
or is there a possibility to import data from and export to ArcGIS?
In R, I plan to work with the packages "spdep" and "nlme" for lattice 
data and "spatstat" for point patterns.

Any advice is appreciated.

Christof