rpostgis

The rpostgis package provides an interface between R and PostGIS-enabled PostgreSQL databases to transparently transfer spatial data. Both vector (points, lines, polygons) and raster data are supported in read and write modes. Also provides convenience functions to execute common procedures in PostgreSQL/PostGIS.

Warning Due to retirement of the package rgeos, rpostgis will retire in September 2023.

• For vector operations, please check package sf, which provides a mechanism to connect to PostGIS databases.
• For raster operations, no alternative solution is identified yet.
• For general database operations, use 'RPostgreSQL' directly.

If you are interested in the development and maintenance of rpostgis, please check this issue on the GitHub repository. For more information on R-spatial evolution, visit: https://r-spatial.org/.

Installation of the released versions

You can install the latest released version from CRAN:

install.packages("rpostgis")

You can then use update.packages() to update to the latest CRAN version.

Installation of the development versions

A stable version of the package is always available on the project's GitHub page, and may be ahead of the CRAN version. To install it, use the remotes:

remotes::install_github("mablab/rpostgis")

For the latest (possibly unstable) development version, use:

remotes::install_github("mablab/rpostgis", ref = "dev")

Getting started

rpostgis relies on a working connection provided by the RPostgreSQL package to a PostgreSQL database, e.g.:

conn <- RPostgreSQL::dbConnect("PostgreSQL", host = "localhost",
    dbname = "<DB_NAME>", user = "<USER>", password = "<PASSWORD>")

Note: as of rpostgis 1.4.3 the RPostgres::Postgres() driver is also allowed for connection objects; however, this should be considered experimental and is not recommended for most use cases.

Once the connection is established, the first step is to check if the database has PostGIS already installed (and install it if it's not the case):

pgPostGIS(conn)

If the function returns TRUE, the database is ready and functional. You can check the geometries and rasters present in the database with:

pgListGeom(conn, geog = TRUE)
pgListRast(conn)

To terminate the session, close and clear the connection with:

RPostgreSQL::dbDisconnect(conn)

Documentation

Full documentation with the complete list of functions of the package can be found on rpostgis homepage.