[OSM-talk] OSM mobile editor

[OJ W]

Nevermind, I just realised that openstreetbugs meets the requirements
for a place to review notes made while out visiting.  The mobile
device can just record everything ("this is the A421", "there is a pub
here", "a footpath goes off to the left") as points, and upload them
all to openstreetbugs when you walk past a network connection...


On Wed, Aug 27, 2008 at 1:01 PM, OJ W <ojwlists at googlemail.com> wrote:
> It sounds like there are two applications here:
>
> The mobile editor itself, for which there are various applications
> which could be used/extended.  Given that it's mobile (no/costly
> network available) it would presumably want to store an OSM diff file
> of changes made, ready for upload when back at home.
>
> A tool for applying these diff files to the OSM database.  I think
> this would be a GUI application rather than a simple merge tool,
> because the underlying data could have changed since the mobile device
> was last loaded with maps, the item might already exist, it might have
> been recently added, it might be in the OSM data but not displayed on
> the mobile device, the way you're trying to name might have been split
> and renumbered since you recorded information about it (especially if
> there are several people mapping an area simultaneously)
>
> And of course, some mobile devices might not know about OSM data or
> way-IDs at all.  The program might want to store "road at this
> lat/long should be oneway" but if it's only displaying map images then
> the resulting diff file won't even know the way ID until you look it
> up later.
>
> So it might be useful to have a desktop application that can take an
> OSM diff file and let you confirm each change, showing a map of the
> area, highlighting/selecting which road you mean, adjust the position
> of a POI from away from the road-centre where were standing when you
> entered it, that sort of thing..
>
>
>
> On Tue, Aug 26, 2008 at 3:32 PM, Nick Whitelegg
> <Nick.Whitelegg at solent.ac.uk> wrote:
>> Hello everyone,
>>
>> Was thinking of a few ideas for an OSM mobile editor which could work as
>> follows:
>>
>> * Ability to allow user in the field to add new attributes to a way (e.g.
>> road name if it's missing, or one way) or correct existing attributes.
>> * Allow a user to add new POIs.
>> * Could work by either downloading OSM data live from the server (though
>> this would have problem of being relatively expensive for the user) or by
>> the user preloading OSM data to the phone before they go out.
>> * Allows user to add annotations to Openstreetbugs (e.g. "missing footpath
>> here")
>> * Because the inbuilt GPS in phones is not as good as dedicated devices,
>> it would not be a priority to develop features to allow surveying of new
>> ways. However this could be built in, in preparation for inbuilt mobile
>> GPS improving in the future.
>> * Java ME based for maximum cross platform support.
>>
>> Does this seem like a good approach?  As can be seen the idea is not so
>> much to allow addition of new ways (due to the inbuilt GPS on phones not
>> being great) but more to add POIs and tags to existing ways. If there's
>> interest and - more crucially - if I have the time (always difficult!) I
>> could start work on it.
>>
>> Nick
>>
>>
>>
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>