[Openstreetmap] osm-editor ... time for a major overhaul?

[Simon Hewison]

Nick Whitelegg wrote:
> Now the OSM API is up and running with keys and values and osm-editor is
> speaking to it, I'm feeling now is
> perhaps the time for a major overhaul.
> 
> What I'd like it to do is to be able to add, edit and delete OSM nodes and
> segments "on the fly", so that, for example, when you delete
> a segment in osm-editor, the segment is instantly deleted in OSM, and when
> you add a node, the node is instantly added to OSM. In essence, rather like
> a standalone version of the applet but with the additional features of
> being able to read from a GPS, save GPS tracks as GPX and specify
> key/values for nodes and segments.

That's nice if you're using it solely when you have a reliable 
connection to the Internet. If you're wanting to add detail to maps 
while the geography is fresh in your mind, on a laptop, being able to 
work offline is a big bonus. As such, it could work a bit like a mail 
client with an online and offline mode, in offline mode, it can 
pre-fetch useful stuff from the OSM server, and can post them later.

The issue we then have then is what if two users are both editing 
offline, and both post their own representation of the same road 
segments when they go online again? When editing online (eg with the 
applet) in near-real time, you're only ever a refresh away from the data 
posted to the server and it would happen less often.

I don't think the API has a "what's the last timestamp for anything in 
this bounding box" call, but it would make a good sanity check for 
things that post offline edited data. There's a hint about something 
similar in the "Fetch only modified data" unimplemented stuff bit of the 
API docs.

-- 
Simon Hewison