r - Assistance with <name> and <styleUrl> in .kml when using writeOGR() from rgdal -

i have data frame containing coordinates various locations i'd use google earth. here's simple example showing structure:

data <- data.frame(country = "usa", city = "saint paul",                    lat = 44.9629, lon = -93.00146) 

i followed this post , this guide create kml output using writeogr() function rgdal package, i'm having trouble tweaking attributes. here's code:

# may need install gdal package install # install.packages("rgdal") library(rgdal) data_sp <- data coordinates(data_sp) <- c("lon", "lat") proj4string(data_sp) <- crs("+init=epsg:4238") data_ll <- sptransform(data_sp, crs("+proj=longlat +datum=wgs84"))  writeogr(data_ll["city"], "/path/to/test.kml", driver = "kml", layer = "city") 

the result works fine viewing locations, i'd change <styleurl> attribute have <name> attribute populated. without it, google earth shows locations [no name] attribute:

here's resultant .kml file:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?> <kml xmlns="http://www.opengis.net/kml/2.2"> <document><folder><name>city</name>   <placemark>     <extendeddata><schemadata schemaurl="#city">         <simpledata name="city">saint paul</simpledata>     </schemadata></extendeddata>       <point><coordinates>-93.001753817020003,44.96282130428127</coordinates></point>   </placemark> </folder> <schema name="city" id="city">     <simplefield name="city" type="string"></simplefield> </schema> </document></kml> 

i need either <name> element populate simplefield name="city" contents, or have <name>city</name> tags added each <placemark>. i'd final result (note added <style> definition, <styleurl> attribute <placemark>, , <name> attribute added):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?> <kml xmlns="http://www.opengis.net/kml/2.2"> <document>  <style id="custom">   <iconstyle>     <scale>1.5</scale>     <icon>       <href>http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/tux.png</href>     </icon>   </iconstyle> </style>  <folder><name>city</name>   <placemark>     <name>saint paul</name>     <styleurl>#custom</styleurl>     <extendeddata><schemadata schemaurl="#city">         <simpledata name="city">saint paul</simpledata>     </schemadata></extendeddata>       <point><coordinates>-93.001753817020003,44.96282130428127</coordinates></point>   </placemark> </folder> <schema name="city" id="city">     <simplefield name="city" type="string"></simplefield> </schema> </document></kml> 

here's result looks (similar i'm aiming for):

the rgdal documentation mentions layer_options attribute, nothing intuitively stuck out me...

• layer_options = c("<name>????</name>")?
• layer_options = c("<styleurl>#custom</styleurl")?
• something else?

the attempts above pass tag directly don't appear affect output.

there's not many examples found in googling other creating default output writeogr(), shown above. suggestions.

to expand on @jlhoward's answer above, able use kmlpoints() accomplish looking for:

data <- data.frame(country = "usa", city = "saint paul",                    lat = 44.9629, lon = -93.00146)  # may need install gdal package install # install.packages("rgdal") library(rgdal) library(maptools)  data_sp <- data coordinates(data_sp) <- c("lon", "lat") proj4string(data_sp) <- crs("+init=epsg:4238") data_ll <- sptransform(data_sp, crs("+proj=longlat +datum=wgs84"))  kmlpoints(data_ll["city"], kmlfile = "~/desktop/test.kml",           name = data_ll$city,           icon = "http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/tux.png") 

the output contains both desired <name> attribute <style> definition custom icon, applied <placemark> entries:

readlines("test.kml")   readlines("test.kml")  [1] "<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-8\"?>"                                     [2] "<kml xmlns=\"http://earth.google.com/kml/2.2\">"                                [3] "<document>"                                                                     [4] "<name></name>"                                                                  [5] "<description><![cdata[]]></description>"                                        [6] ""                                                                               [7] "<style id=\"style1\">"                                                          [8] "  <iconstyle>"                                                                  [9] "    <icon>"                                                                    [10] "      <href>http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/tux.png</href>" [11] "    </icon>"                                                                   [12] "  </iconstyle>"                                                                [13] "</style>"                                                                      [14] ""                                                                              [15] "<placemark>"                                                                   [16] "  <name>saint paul</name>"                                                     [17] "  <description><![cdata[]]></description>"                                     [18] "  <styleurl>#style1</styleurl>"                                                [19] "  <point>"                                                                     [20] "    <coordinates>"                                                             [21] "-93.00175381702,44.9628213042813"                                              [22] "    </coordinates>"                                                            [23] "  </point>"                                                                    [24] "</placemark>"                                                                  [25] "</document>"                                                                   [26] "</kml>"   

the result: