[OSM-dev] OpenStreetMap Data Extracts

[Paul Norman]

On 6/17/2015 8:54 AM, iadh aboud wrote:
> I'm working on a project an i need to use extracts from oms.
> After downloading the extract, how can i use it ? (I'm using C#)
> I found several APIs but they are poorly documented.
> Any help would by more than welcome.

The short answer: it depends.

You can either

1. Load the extract into a database. This is often the best option, 
using a tool like osm2pgsql, imposm, or others, which will allow you to 
render and do GIS analysis on it.

2. Use some other existing conversion tool or take apart one. e.g. a osm 
to shapefile converter.

3. Use a library like libosmium to parse the data yourself. libosmium is 
C++ and I'm not aware of C# options.

4. Write your own parser.

It really depends on what you're trying to do. As you go down the list 
you require increasing knowledge of how OSM data is tagged, the data 
model, and file formats.