[OSM-dev] Consensus on areas?

[Lars Aronsson]

On August 28, Etienne wrote:

> A way *is* an ordered list of nodes (sort of).  A way is defined 
> as an ordered list of segments.

That's not how ways are currently used on OSM.  I frequently draw 
two parallel sequences of line segments for a motorway, and then 
add all segments to one way, like this:

  o---A---o---B---o---C---o---D---o

  o---E---o---F---o---G---o---H---o

  way: name=E4 ; class = motorway ;
       segments = ( A, E, B, F, C, G, D, H )

Then when I discover there is an off-ramp connecting at the middle 
of segment G, I remove that line segment, create a new node and 
two new line segments, then I add these segments to the way:


  o---E---o---F---o-K-o-L--o---H---o
                       \
                        M--o

       segments = ( A, E, B, F, C, D, H , K , L )

Why?  Because what I want is a means to name the road and classify 
it as a motorway.  I don't need the sequence, only the grouping.

If the sequence of line segments are grouped on a lower level, 
which is something I support, I still need a means on top of that 
to group, name and classify the parts that make up a road.  The 
sequence of segments cannot fully replace the ways we have today.


-- 
  Lars Aronsson (lars at aronsson.se)
  Aronsson Datateknik - http://aronsson.se