[Potlatch-dev] POI features vs area features

[Steve Bennett]

Hi all,
  In map_features.xml atm there appears to be a pretty big distinction
drawn between "poi" features (notably shops, amenities of various
kinds) and, for want of a better term, "area" features. They're
defined in separate parts of the file, they have different kinds of
icons, different categories (there isn't even a "shopping" category
for way features)...

The thing is, this distinction seems quite artificial, and at odds
with mapping practice. Virtually every POI feature can also be mapped
as an area representing the feature. So every kind of shop can be
either a node or a way. Nodes are generally more common (by about 4 to
1), but there are plenty of way-mapped supermarkets, malls etc.

Anyway, before I take a sledgehammer to map_features.xml, I thought
I'd ask a few questions:

1) Is there a particular philosophy regarding POIs vs other features
that I should be aware of?
2) Are there reasons to group all POI features together, rather than
putting the POI and area-version of each feature together (or, where
possible*, merging them)?
3) Should we take into account the likelihood of any given POI being
mapped as a node (ie, supermarket is far more likely than vending
machine), or take a blanket approach that all POIs can be areas?

Steve
* It's conceivable that some features have to have two distinct
versions. For example, it doesn't make sense (I think) to have the
building=yes control for a node.