ddbs_as_format: Convert geometries to standard interchange formats

In duckspatial: R Interface to 'DuckDB' Database with Spatial Extension

Convert geometries to standard interchange formats

Description

Convert spatial geometries to common interchange formats using DuckDB spatial serialization functions.

• ddbs_as_text() – Convert geometries to Well-Known Text (WKT)

• ddbs_as_wkb() – Convert geometries to Well-Known Binary (WKB)

• ddbs_as_hexwkb() – Convert geometries to hexadecimal Well-Known Binary (HEXWKB)

• ddbs_as_geojson() – Convert geometries to GeoJSON

Usage

ddbs_as_text(x, conn = NULL)

ddbs_as_wkb(x, conn = NULL)

ddbs_as_hexwkb(x, conn = NULL)

ddbs_as_geojson(x, conn = NULL)

Arguments

x	Input spatial data. Can be: A duckspatial_df object (lazy spatial data frame via dbplyr) An sf object A tbl_lazy from dbplyr A character string naming a table/view in conn Data is returned from this object.
conn	A connection object to a DuckDB database. If NULL, the function runs on a temporary DuckDB database.

Details

These functions are thin wrappers around DuckDB spatial serialization functions (ST_AsText, ST_AsWKB, ST_AsHEXWKB, and ST_AsGeoJSON).

They are useful for exporting geometries into widely supported formats for interoperability with external spatial tools, databases, and web services.

Value

Depending on the function:

• ddbs_as_text() returns a character vector of WKT geometries

• ddbs_as_wkb() returns a list of raw vectors (binary WKB)

• ddbs_as_hexwkb() returns a character vector of HEXWKB strings

• ddbs_as_geojson() returns a character vector of GeoJSON strings

Examples

## Not run: 
library(duckspatial)

argentina_ddbs <- ddbs_open_dataset(
  system.file("spatial/argentina.geojson", package = "duckspatial")
)

ddbs_as_text(argentina_ddbs)
ddbs_as_wkb(argentina_ddbs)
ddbs_as_hexwkb(argentina_ddbs)
ddbs_as_geojson(argentina_ddbs)

## End(Not run)

duckspatial documentation built on June 22, 2026, 9:08 a.m.