[OSM-talk] JOSM Modeless???

[Rick Collins]

I am new, so I don't know much about the previous user interface for 
JOSM.  But I find it odd that the current one is called 
"modeless".  I guess that is relative to the old.

I have used any number of graphical editing tools and I don't find 
JOSM to be particularly facile.  I will say that it is typically very 
responsive, but the number of mouse moves and clicks required to get 
much work done seems excessive.  There are several simple operations 
that require creation, merging and deletion of multiple nodes and ways.

For example, if I want to make two ways share a common node, I have 
to add a node to one way, extend the way to a point on the other way, 
continue that back to the first way.  Then I have to disconnect the 
existing section of the first way that is being bypassed and delete 
it.  Finally, I have to combine the new way sections with the 
existing way and delete the new nodes.  Instead, it would be nice to 
have a feature to just allow nodes on two ways to be merged.

Another one is the delete function.  I have never seen any other tool 
with a delete that worked like the delete in JOSM.  If you have 
anything selected when you click the delete button it is 
deleted.  Then on top, the mode has changed to delete and anything I 
click is now deleted.  I can't tell you how many times I have had to 
use the undo feature to recover from trying to select something only 
to delete it.  Wouldn't it be much, much simpler to just use the 
delete button to delete whatever is selected?  Why do we need a 
delete mode at all?

One feature I would love to see could facilitate the use of track 
data for generating ways.  Rather than use JOSM as electronic tracing 
paper to draw ways over top of the tracks, I would like to have a 
means to select nodes from the track to be transferred to a new 
way.  In essence, let the track define the points and I am just 
culling the ones that are superfluous to the way.  I think this could 
be facilitated by letting JOSM tell you which points can be 
eliminated and keeping the way to within a user specified distance of 
the track.  In fact, I am working on a tool to test how well this can 
work.  When I am done, I will be happy to share the algorithm, or 
perhaps I will learn to code in Java and I can share the code.

Lastly, it would be very nice to be able to see the name of the 
action to be undone or redone.  It is more than once that I can't 
tell if I moved an object when I selected it.  If I undo and it was 
not moved, I then have undone something else and have to figure out 
what that was.  The redo button is not always available for a given action.

Just a few ideas...

Rick