[OSM-talk] create a rendering test zone somewhere on the planet ?

[Dave Stubbs]

On Tue, Mar 4, 2008 at 1:14 PM, Pieren Pieren <pieren3 at gmail.com> wrote:
> What do you think about this idea :
> - select two or three small islands somewhere on the planet, but really in
> the middle of 'nowhere', means no humans, no constructions, absolutely
> nothing.
> - call these islands 'mapnik', 'osmarender', etc...
>  - add them in a dedicated wikipage with appropriate links to point them on
> the browser
> - then put as much as you want existing nodes, ways, relations and tag them
> as specified as the 'recommended by the map features' and supported by this
> renderer
>
> e.g. intersections, with bridges, tunnels or directly connected;
> multipolygons relations; buildings; places; admin_levels; large rivers;
> canal; etc...
>
> This would :
> - give an idea for beginners how the tags are rendered at the different zoom
> levels directly on the maps
>  - show what is currently supported by the current rendering softwares.
> - avoid that many people perform the same kind of tests locally
> - be used as a test area for renderers developers
>

I think that is a nasty hack, and generally a bad idea. It's just
pollution, and things like motorways would show up at quite high zoom
wherever you put them. If the island is empty then it should be empty.

A public test database may be a good idea.. you could turn off
authentication etc and set up your renderer "islands" on that.
Or more simply just provide test .osm files for people to download and
look at (with very big warnings not to try and upload them).