[OSM-talk] Tagging hierarchies

[Jon Burgess]

On Mon, 2008-01-14 at 11:39 +1300, Robin Paulson wrote:
> On 14/01/2008, Alex Mauer <hawke at hawkesnest.net> wrote:
> > Robin Paulson wrote:
> > > the point i'm trying to get across, is that all water features, be
> > > they linear (rivers, canals, stream) or areas (lakes, reservoirs) or
> > > whatever would benefit from being under _one_ top-level tag, for
> > > consistency.
> >
> > Hmm, are you sure?  Is it easy for a renderer to differentiate a linear
> > feature from an area without a distinct tag?  I don't think it could be.
> 
> yes, of course - in exactly the same way as you can differentiate a
> square, triangle or circle drawn on paper, from a line
> 
> areas must form complete loops, otherwise they are treated as ways by
> the renderer
> 

The problem is the opposite: You've got a way forming a circular shape,
how do you know it is circular loop (e.g. like a moat circling a castle)
and not an area?

	Jon