How to open .gdb MapSource with maptools R package gone?

[telenskyt]

Hello. While my QGis 3.16 can perfectly open MapSource .gdb files, I am struggling to open them in R. Googling found me that I should use gpsbabel, and the first search keeps directing me to package maptools (function readGPS()), which you made obsolete though (https://r-spatial.org/r/2023/05/15/evolution4.html). But, I can't seem to open it in neither terra nor sf:

library(terra)
x1 <- vect("d:/zal/dell_NTB/tomas/gps/filipiny/orig-data/Filipiny_Petra_GPS_zal_20110427.gdb")
# Error: [vect] Cannot open this file as a SpatVector: D:\zal\dell_NTB\tomas\gps\filipiny\orig-data\Filipiny_Petra_GPS_zal_20110427.gdb

library(sf)
x1 <- st_read("d:/zal/dell_NTB/tomas/gps/filipiny/orig-data/Filipiny_Petra_GPS_zal_20110427.gdb", quiet = FALSE, drivers = "OpenFileGDB")
#Error: Cannot open "D:\zal\dell_NTB\tomas\gps\filipiny\orig-data\Filipiny_Petra_GPS_zal_20110427.gdb"; The source could be corrupt or not supported. See `st_drivers()` for a list of supported formats.
>

So, with maptools package gone, how to open Garmin MapSource .gdb file in R now?

[rsbivand]

Please provide a sample file.

[rsbivand]

The solution appears to be to use GPSbabel externally, converting the Garmin-specific GBD format https://www.gpsbabel.org/htmldoc-1.9.0/fmt_gdb.html to GPX https://www.gpsbabel.org/htmldoc-1.9.0/fmt_gpx.html. GPX is fully supported as a vector format by GDAL: https://gdal.org/drivers/vector/gpx.html#vector-gpx. Maybe the former maptools::readGPS could be moved to pgirmess, what fo you think, @pgiraudoux ?

[pgiraudoux]

Dear Roger,
I hope this finds you well and happy to hear from you. I am afraid that I am technically unable to maintain the function in pgirmess. In an unofficial (non-CRAN) package pgirbric, I have left a non-maintained set of function to read GPS such as readBaseCamp, readEtrex, readVista. Some of them have been in pgirmess before, and I am not even sure they still work (the GPS devices are probably no longer commercialized)...
Best,
Patrick

[rsbivand]

Thanks, Patrick. So the only viable solution is for those with GPS data to convert to GPX probably using GPSbabel externally, then read using the GPX driver in GDAL through sf`` or ``terra.

[rouault]

GDAL has a GPSBabel driver (https://gdal.org/en/latest/drivers/vector/gpsbabel.html) requiring the gpsbabel binary to be installed on the system. It uses internally GPX as the pivot format between GDAL and GPSBabel