[OSM-talk-be] replace ref on stops De Lijn with mijnlijn.be/x0xxxx

Wed Jan 30 18:35:17 UTC 2013

I've just been thinking about this issue. And I assume that we're not the
only one with this problem, where the url you want to see would depend on a
reference tag.

So, why not create a shared document that defines how to get different
url's from different kind of tags. I think about creating an XML document
with an extension of RegExp. Here's an example of what I got this far, for
simple url tags, for difficult wikipedia tags, and for our example from "De
Lijn". Also some extensions for images and phone numbers are possible. This
way, every country could have its own custom links for certain public
transport things, or restaurant or supermarket chains. It also means that,
if the url ever changes, only this document needs to be changed, not a
bazillion of OSM elements.

Here's my example
http://pastebin.com/QDHJKxtX

Let me explain it.

The top XML node is simple. The subnodes are <link> nodes. They're meant to
link OSM elements to external stuff (like websites, images, phone numbers
etc).

A <link> node contains tags, they have a key and value expressed in an
extension of extended POSIX regex (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regex#POSIX).
Basically, during the reading of the regex, you also store stuff in
variables, which can be used later.

Let me explain the most difficult one, the wikipedia link. The first part
of the extended regex is "[a-z]*". This stands for the language code, and
it's stored in variable "l" for later usage (with the syntax "\l"). Then
you have a column, this sign isn't used in the link, so it's stored in the
variable "0" (with the syntax "\0"). As a last part, you have a random
string ".*" and it's stored in the variable "n".

Later, these variables are used in the creation of the url.

The example for De Lijn requires three different OSM tags to be present,
but only uses the value from the ref tag to create the url.

One link can link a combination of OSM tags to multiple things (like
multiple urls, or an url and an image).

This is just a proposal btw, the exact syntax is up for discussion. But I
think it would solve all similar examples as we have with De Lijn, it will
be beneficial for Openlinkmap, and by creating a standard, the file could
be shared with other websites and apps too.

The same file could be used to link this node
http://www.openstreetmap.org/browse/node/724232554 to this page
http://www.connexxion.nl/dienstregeling/haltedisplay/57002550

If it makes sense to you guys, maybe we should ask openlinkmap to try
support for such a settings file. If openlinkmap agrees, it could also be
implemented in other apps s.a. OsmAnd.

Regards,
Sander

2013/1/30 Sander Deryckere <sanderd17 at gmail.com>

> I don't really like this. The problem isn't putting this tag on all
> existing stops. The problem is communicating this to non-members of this
> list.
>
> I think openlinkmap and other data users should in the end know that
> operator="De Lijn"+ref=x0xxxx translates to the url mijnlijn.be/x0xxxx.
>
> It's easier to patch their software than to learn all mappers what to put
> in the url tag.
>
> Just my opinion though.
>
> Regards,
> Sander.
> On 30 Jan 2013 14:15, "Ben Abelshausen" <ben.abelshausen at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> +1 on the url=http://mijnlijn.be/#{ref} feature!
>>
>> Does anyone have the time to actually translate this into code?
>>
>> On Wed, Jan 30, 2013 at 1:38 PM, Wim Crols <wim at crols.be> wrote:
>>
>>> on the wiki page it says the following
>>>
>>> https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/OpenLinkMap#Contribute
>>>
>>> *Programming:* You created an interesting new feature or fixed a bug in
>>> the existing code? Please send me your code and I will add it.
>>>
>>> on second thoughts it would even be better that openlinkmap would
>>> support this kind of url
>>>
>>> url=http://mijnlijn.be/#{ref}
>>>
>>> where it will replace a placeholder with the contents of a tag with the
>>> name of the placeholder.
>>> This is more versatile and could be used for other purposes too.
>>>
>>>
>>> On Wed, Jan 30, 2013 at 11:26 AM, Jo <winfixit at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> I asked the admins of openlinkmap if this is even possible, but I'm
>>>> still waiting for a reply, of course. I was planning to wait for their
>>>> answer to react to Wim's suggestion.
>>>>
>>>> Jo
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> 2013/1/30 Ben Abelshausen <ben.abelshausen at gmail.com>
>>>>
>>>>> I guess that would mean adapting openlinkmap specifically for
>>>>> mijnlijn.be. Is that a good idea?
>>>>>
>>>>> Regards,
>>>>>
>>>>> Ben
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Wed, Jan 30, 2013 at 10:26 AM, Wim Crols <wim at crols.be> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> I would suggest the following
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Leave ref tag as it is "ref=x0xxxx"
>>>>>> Put in url tag the following "http://mijnlijn.be/"
>>>>>>
>>>>>> And make a software patch for openlinkmap to show the correct link on
>>>>>> existence of the following tags
>>>>>>    highway = bus_stop
>>>>>>    operator = De Lijn
>>>>>>    ref = 303119
>>>>>>    url = http://mijnlijn.be/
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Regards
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Wim Crols
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>  On Wed, Jan 30, 2013 at 9:31 AM, Jo <winfixit at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>>  Hi,
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Historically we have been putting the 6 digit serial number we found
>>>>>>> on the stops of De Lijn into ref. I would like to propose to move them to:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> url=mijnlijn.be/x0xxxx
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> That way they would be a lot more useful on sites like openlinkmap:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> http://www.openlinkmap.org/?zoom=18&lat=50.87952&lon=4.69273&layers=B
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> The link translates to a webpage with realtime information of the
>>>>>>> buses that serve the stop and it's very convenient to be able to click
>>>>>>> through on them with a smartphone, a tablet or even from the desktop.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> To avoid redundancy I wouldn't keep the number in ref anymore. It's
>>>>>>> quite specific to De Lijn, so somebody who wants to do something with those
>>>>>>> serial numbers, can just as well extract them from the url.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Jo
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>
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