convertion to polygon for coloring, shading

[...]

Try:

getinfo.shape("your_file.shp")

Ok, I got:

--8<---------------cut here---------------start------------->8---
R> getinfo.shape("general01.shp")
Shapefile type: PolyLine, (3), # of Shapes: 11343
R> maptools()
maptools, version 0.5-2, 2005-09-13
--8<---------------cut here---------------end--------------->8---

and because of the extent of the map, it's surely a mixture of rings
(mostly tiny islands) and spaghetti (at the edges of the map, because the
given shape doesn't fit entirely).  I cannot increase the extent of the
map, so that all shapes are rings, because the map would have to be
ridiculously large.  I guess I'll have to turn them into rings manually.
In that case, what's a good tool to use for that?


[...]

The scale and north arrow are available in sp - see ?"spplot-methods" for
how to use them in lattice graphics.

Excellent, I'll use that.


Thank you,

Sebastian P. Luque