[OSM-talk] Postcode searches in Namefinder

[David Earl]

On 01/12/2008 10:11, Claudius Henrichs wrote:
> David Earl:
>> I've implemented some changes to the experimental UK postcode searches
>> in the Namefinder.
>> (...)
>> 1. you can now search for UK postcode prefixes, e.g. CB21. These are
>> just OSM nodes.
> 
> Which OSM-tag are you querying there? postcode=xxxxx? Do you respect 
> addr:postcode according to the Karlsruhe Schema?

I was going to refer you to the wiki page but I realise I haven't 
documented postcodes there. I will do so now.

It's not using any tags to look up postcodes, and as I said it is only 
*UK* postcodes (which have a distinctive pattern I can search for). 
Also, as I said, it's not dealing with street addresses currently except 
to ignore numbers in key positions so they are harmless if searched for.

UK postcodes as well as being distinctive and recognisable also have the 
problem that they are copyrighted (at least, the database and 
geolocations are), so it is hard to get good coverage using OSM tags 
(because mappers have no means to collect these on the ground and don't 
have access to copyright free sources) and the "freethepostcode" 
initiative, though improving is still quite sparse (and, I noticed when 
processing some of it, is riddled with errors - obvious typos and wildly 
misplaced codes).

As you'll have seen from a few previous messages recently, it is my 
intention to move towards a more comprehensive, international and free 
form search, which does indeed utilise the Karlsruhe schema.

So, sorry if I raised your expectations.

David