[OSM-dev] generate shapefiles

[Frederik Ramm]

Hi,

Andreas Weller wrote:
> How do I generate an ESRI shapefile from the OSM data?
> I wish to supply a polygon or rectangle and get back the shapefile for
> that area...

There is no service that does that for you. You have to download the OSM 
data - either a small section through the Export tab or a large section 
through OSMXAPI or by getting an exerpt from somewhere - and then run 
software on it.

The c++ program has already been mentioned. There's also a ruby 
implementation (see the "Export" section on http://osmlib.rubyforge.org/).

You can download ready-made shapefiles for certain areas from 
download.cloudmade.com (lots of countries) or download.geofabrik.de 
(some continents, some countries, and some administrative subdivisions 
in .fr,.uk,.de). Both providers use different structures and select 
different features for their shapefiles.

Bye
Frederik

-- 
Frederik Ramm  ##  eMail frederik at remote.org  ##  N49°00'09" E008°23'33"