So far Steve has demonstrated, with the Fort McMurray import that we can detect the data that is currently available and only add the new roadways to OSM. Michel is, using different tools, going to do the same. So we are going to have two methods of augmenting the current data within OSM to incorporate GeoBase.
This is all good, we are going to need to do this to improve the map for Canada. And we are doing it without damaging the current contents of OSM that was put there by the different users, one of the goals when we started the import. There may be some issues but from the work I have been doing to check the data I have found very little that would make me uncomfortable in the least. I approve of the way Steve is doing the imports. But my question is about another goal of the import process. The value of the GeoBase data lies in both augmenting the current contents of OSM, which we are doing with the import of roadways that are not currently within OSM, and the ability to update OSM with either new data available from GeoBase or from the GeoBase updates to their current data. For this to work we need to incorporate the GeoBase NID for every one of their segments. Is there a process to include the NID, in an appropriate manner, with the import data that was derived from GeoBase? And has there been any considerations as to how to add the NID attributes to those ways already within OSM? Without the inclusion of the NID, either on the currently existing OSM data or on the data we are currently importing from GeoBase, our ability to update the information based on those NIDs is going to be severely curtailed. Without NIDs the GeoBase import becomes a one time event and will not benefit from updates nor from additional information that will become available from GeoBase in the future. On the other hand having the NID available for all appropriate ways means that when we want to import the roadways for any province that does not have the complete data set, such as road names and address ranges, or to incorporate any new data, such as Postal Codes, we can do so with full confidence that when that data becomes available it will be a simple step to run a script that adds the additional attributes based on those NIDs. But we are going to have to have a clear process on adding the NID as an attribute to all existing ways as well as for those we are adding now though the GeoBase import. It is acceptable to worry about having the NID available later while we are working on importing the roadways from GeoBase to make the road network complete. But there should also be some thought as to how we are going to go about adding those attributes later. To add a lot of new data, that has the current GeoBase NID readily available, without any idea of how we are eventually going to be able to add it in late means that we are only compounding the problem later when there is significantly more data, due to the import, than we are currently facing. The current contents of OSM does not have the GeoBase NID and so it will have to be added at some point. Compounding the problem with even more ways within OSM, ways that within GeoBase had an NID, only makes the issue more difficult. Richard Degelder _______________________________________________ Talk-ca mailing list Talk-ca@openstreetmap.org http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-ca
