Shapefile downloads

[Maraxoxo3]

Select Topic Area

Question

Body

When I try to upload a shapefile for visualizations on r, I always get an error saying that the file doesn't exit or The source could be corrupt or not supported. What do i do?

[kovalllllll]

Common Causes & Fixes

1. The "Three File" Rule (Most Likely)
   A shapefile is actually a collection of files, not just one. You must have these three files in the same folder with the exact same name:
   file.shp (Geometry)
   file.shx (Index)
   file.dbf (Attributes)
2. Don't Read the ZIP
   R cannot read a shapefile while it is still inside a .zip archive.
   Fix: Right-click the zip file, select Extract All, and point R to the new folder.
3. Fix Your File Path
   Windows uses backslashes (), but R requires forward slashes (/).
   ❌ C:\Downloads\file.shp
   ✅ C:/Downloads/file.shp

💻 Recommended Code (Using sf)
Avoid the retired rgdal package. Use the modern sf package instead:
`install.packages("sf")
library(sf)

//Use the full path with forward slashes
my_map <- st_read("C:/Users/YourName/Downloads/my_shapefile.shp")

//Visualize to check
plot(st_geometry(my_map))`

[friday2su]

This usually happens because a shapefile is made up of multiple files, not just one. All of them need to be extracted from the zip and kept together in the same folder, otherwise R won’t be able to read it.

Also double-check the file path you’re using. Small typos or pointing to the wrong directory can trigger these errors.

For loading the data, sf::st_read() is the most reliable option. If it still fails, try opening the shapefile in QGIS. If it doesn’t open there either, the file is probably corrupted.