[Tagging] Terminology primary feature, main tag, etc..

[Peter Elderson]

A feature is not a tag or a key, it's an object in the OSM database. I don't know which features are primary, secondary, ... and why. Anyway, the term primary feature is not equivalent to main key or main tag.

Talking about e.g. roads, the main key is highway= because that key defines the feature as a road or road component. Talking about a particular road, the highway=* tag is the main tag because it defines the type of the road or road component.

So main key and main tag are more or less alike, but not equivalent.

Feature tag is a vague term. I suppose it means: an attribute of an object, as opposed e.g. to an attribute of a changeset.

Mvg Peter Elderson

> Op 3 okt. 2022 om 04:06 heeft Minh Nguyen <minh at nguyen.cincinnati.oh.us> het volgende geschreven:
> 
> Vào lúc 10:36 2022-10-02, martianfreeloader đã viết:
>> Hi,
>> I'm unsure if I'm using correct terminology. I have come across these terms in the OSM ecosystem:
>> - primary feature [1]
>> - main key [2]
>> - primary key [3]
>> - feature tag [4]
>> 1) Are these synonyms (except for the key/tag distinction)?
>> 2) Is *one* of these terms "official" OSM speek with a clear definition?
>> (as is the case for things like "node", "way", "relation", "key", "value", "tag", "changeset")
> 
> "Primary feature" appears in the Collective Database Guideline Guideline [sic] and Geocoding community guideline, which clarify the terms of use under the ODbL. [1][2] "Feature type" appears in the Horizontal Map Layers community guideline. [3]
> 
> [1] https://wiki.osmfoundation.org/wiki/Special:PermanentLink/3980#The_Guideline
> [2] https://wiki.osmfoundation.org/wiki/Special:PermanentLink/4907#How_does_the_guideline_relate_to_other_existing_guidelines?
> [3] https://wiki.osmfoundation.org/wiki/Special:PermanentLink/3982#The_Guideline
> 
> -- 
> minh at nguyen.cincinnati.oh.us
> 
> 
> 
> 
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