David,
I agree with much of what you said.
However, I'm not sure why the size of a
state should make a difference in what
abbreviation is used. Large or small, shouldn't
the state abbreviation be consistent?
Also, in the "B" section, where you
suggest US 1 plus US 9 could be abbreviated as US
1-9, I think that could be misleading. It is
common to use a hyphen between numbers, such as
1-9, to signify 1 through 9. That's not what you meant.
And the use of a slash would seem OK if
the prefix always is there, the "I" or whatever
state prefix applies. For example I 70/I 71 or I
95/MA 128. Otherwise, I think, there is potential for confusion.
At any rate, I hope we can come to some
kind of agreement on what to do about overlapping
routes. Now we use semicolons to separate
overlaping routes, but Potlatch 2 always flags
those as incorrect. I "corrected" a bunch of
those before someone told me that it's just a
problem in Potlatch 2. So, it would be great if
there were some clarity on that. Anyone?
And, bring back the hyphen in interstate
highway refs! Here's to I-10, which really does need a hyphen.
So from now on I'll use state
abbreviations and do relations, relations, relations.
Charlotte
At 11:57 PM 9/12/2012, you wrote:
Concerning ref tags on ways, I don't think
there's a need to impose nationwide
"consistency". I also don't think it's worth
even adhering to a strict machine-parseable
syntax (particularly dealing with overlaps)
since that kind of information is much better organized in relations.
That said, here are my "ideal" guidelines for
formatting ref tags on single state highways:
1) If there is one clearly-popular abbreviation,
such as M-xx in Michigan or possibly K-xx in Kansas, use it.
2) If a state has primary and secondary state
routes, or numerous classes of state routes like
Texas, the prefix should indicate the route class.
3) If a state allows its state routes to have
the same number as a US or Interstate route in
that state, a state-specific prefix (postal
abbreviation or other as described above) should be used.
4) If a state is large (such that most places
aren't "near" the borders) a generic prefix like
SR or SH or STH (depending on preferred local
terminology) may be used, notwithstanding guideline 3.
5) If a state's state route markers are generic
(circle/oval or box) and don't specifically
identify the state, a generic prefix or no
prefix may be used, notwithstanding guideline 3.
6) Consistency within a state, or within broad
regions of larger states, is probably still of
value. A format should be chosen by consensus
of mappers familiar with the state or region in question.
6a) As a mapper familiar with Ohio, I prefer SR
xx, but would be amenable to OH xx or OH-xx.
Slightly off-topic:
A) I strongly prefer I-xx and not I xx (and
definitely not Ixx) for Interstates. The
hyphen enhances readability and reduces the
chance of the I being mistaken for a 1. The
reasons I've heard in support of I xx are: to
match US and state routes (why does it have
to?); to match European route designations
(making apples look like oranges); because "all"
the Interstates are already tagged as I xx (due
to a few editors who value consistency a little
too highly, plus I see that as a circular
argument); changing it breaks renderers (nearly
all renderers just pass a way's ref tag directly
to the output, and those that do try to parse it
can and should normalize tagging variations as a
preprocessing step anyway). On the other hand,
I would't argue against the format IH xx in
Texas because most Texans I've encountered write it that way.
B) When routes overlap, there is no "right" way
to format the way's ref tag. I don't think any
active renderers attempt to separate it into
multiple values; considering this information
can be stored with much better structure in
relations, I don't think any programmer wants to
bother with trying to parse a ref string
anyway. That just leaves humans who will ever
read it, and we can optimize for that. Brevity
may be more important than technical correctness
when a human is reading. Local understanding
of routes' relative importance may play a
role. The following "equations" demonstrate
options to represent overlapping routes in a
way's ref tag that seem perfectly sensible to me:
US 1 + US 9 = US 1-9
I-70 + I-71 = I-70/71
US 40 + US 62 + OH 16 = US 40-62
I-74 + I-465 + (?) = I-465
I-95 + MA 128 = I-95/128
US 68 + OH 15 = OH 15
These little white lies are close enough to
match the line on the map to the road on the
planet. (Every good map has to lie in some way
to convey information effectively.)Â If someone
really wants to know which routes follow a
particular way, they should examine the
relation(s) that contain it. If a mapper
really wants to make sure the correct, official
truth is represented in the database, they
should make sure all relevant route relations
exist and are correct. Trying to squeeze all
that information into a single string with a
rigid syntax is optimizing for a use case that essentially doesn't exist.Â
On Sep 12, 2012 8:59 PM, "Charlotte Wolter"
<<mailto:techl...@techlady.com>techl...@techlady.com> wrote:
Hello all,
        Was there ever consensus on
whether to use "SR" (or some variation on that)
for state highways versus an abbreviation of the
state name ("CA" or "NY"). I remember that there
was discussion, but I don't remember if there was consensus.
        Thanks.
Charlotte
Charlotte Wolter
927 18th Street Suite A
Santa Monica, California
90403
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<mailto:techl...@techlady.com>techl...@techlady.com
Skype: thetechlady
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Charlotte Wolter
927 18th Street Suite A
Santa Monica, California
90403
+1-310-597-4040
techl...@techlady.com
Skype: thetechlady
The Four Internet Freedoms
Freedom to visit any site on the Internet
Freedom to access any content or service that is not illegal
Freedom to attach any device that does not interfere with the network
Freedom to know all the terms of a service,
particularly any that would affect the first three freedoms.
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