[OSM-dev] osm2pgsql and coastlines

[Ronald Müller]

hi everyone,

we frequently use the osm2pgsql-tool for converting OSM-data to our
postgis-database.

I want to put up for discussions why the coastlines are explicitly
discarded.

I've found one hint from sources (output-pgsql.c):

-----SOURCE-SNIPPET-BEGIN------------------------

/* Discard natural=coastline tags
  (we render these from a shapefile instead) */

if (!strcmp("natural",item->key) &&
    !strcmp("coastline",item->value)) {

	freeItem( item );
        item = NULL;
	/* Allow named islands to appear as polygons */
        add_area_tag = 1;
        continue;

}
-----SOURCE-SNIPPET-END--------------------------


For me it makes no sense to leave such geometries out. It doesn't hurt,
even if you render these things from another source (e.g. shape-files).

I would suggest to take this out respectively to have switch for that.

Whats your opinion ?

regards Ronald