[OSM-newbies] JOSM help

[Mike Harris]

If I download from OSM, make no changes and then upload I get a message
saying 'no changes to upload'. If I download from OSM, slightly increase the
area and download again, I get a very brief download. SO I would guess that
uploading and downloading are intelligent, i.e. differential only.

I have never tried having more than one osm layer in memory - if I have an
osm layer plus other non-osm layers, only the osm layer gets uploaded. I
would be interested in what happens if I have more than one osm layer - but
cannot see why I would want to do this. For the same reason I have not yet
needed to discover how to copy objects between osm layers.

My normal workflow is: (1) open gpx file from gps trace (bringing in my
markers as a separate layer), (2) convert to data layer, (3) combine with
the (initially empty) unnamed osm layer, (3) expand the viewing area
slightly to give a decent margin, (4) download from osm server, (5) save the
osm layer - which now includes my original trace as an unnamed and untagged
way, together with everything downloaded - as an osm file, (6) get stuck
into editing my track into what is there already, tagging, etc., (7) save
the osm file at intervals as we get a lot of power cuts here, (8) if
finished, download, resolve conflicts, save, upload, save, OR (9) if
interrupting the work on that trace, simply save and reopen next time
together with the original gpx file (which also brings in any markers);
delete the gpx file, retaining only my markers, download, resolve conflicts,
continue working.

Does this help? (I'm only a newbie too!)

Mike Harris

-----Original Message-----
From: James Ewen [mailto:jewen at shaw.ca] 
Sent: 17 January 2009 22:09
To: newbies at openstreetmap.org
Subject: [OSM-newbies] JOSM help

Josm allows you to have multiple layers in memory. Is there a way to copy
nodes and ways from one layer to another?

If I download data from OSM, and make changes, do I then upload all the data
back to OSM, or does JOSM only upload that which has changed?
Which layer gets uploaded?

James
VE6SRV