[OSM-dev] openstreetmap uris

[Tom Hughes]

In message <A0C6AE2C-F58F-4146-90C0-33E2A3A9548F at asklater.com>
        SteveC <steve at asklater.com> wrote:

> On 23 Jan 2008, at 22:42, Erik Wilde wrote:
>> i have a question about openstreetmaps itself: when clicking  
>> "permalink", i get a uri with long/lat and zoom level and view  
>> parameter. is there some documentation for these parameters? i am  
>> currently working on a little project to look at the commonalities  
>> between all kinds of map services, and finding documentation about  
>> the uris they are generating and accepting turns out to be a real  
>> challenge. i would be grateful if you could point me to something  
>> that describes openstreetmap's uris.
>
> I don't see a wiki page describing it... bouncing to dev...

Well it isn't really supposed to be user comprehensible - it's a
permalink, ie an opaque token that takes you back to what you were
looking at when you saved it.

I believe it is documented somewhere in the wiki that you can add
lat, lon and zoom parameters to a URL to get a map at a particular
location. I wouldn't encourage anybody to try and decode the layers
parameter, or to add one to any link they generated.

For example, the FAQ explains how to link to a location:

http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/index.php/FAQ#How_do_I_link_to_a_particular_latitude_and_longitude_on_OSM_from_my_own_website.3F

Tom

-- 
Tom Hughes (tom at compton.nu)
http://www.compton.nu/