[OSM-talk] [tagging] Proposed feature: Directional node

[Roy Wallace]

On Fri, Aug 28, 2009 at 2:22 AM, Andrew MacKinnon<andrewpmk at gmail.com> wrote:
> This is a proposal for a generic way of tagging a node which
> represents an object which faces a certain way - e.g. a traffic sign
> such as a stop sign. Note this is not a specific proposal on how to
> tag signs of a certain type, only a generic relation which can be used
> for all objects of this type.
>
> http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Relations/Proposed/Directional_node

Good effort, nice picture, and good to see it's generic :) But I don't
like the stop sign example. I think the direction of the sign would be
better described by the direction of the way, in this case.

For the artwork and bench examples, I guess this is ok. But like John
said, adding an extra node that is otherwise meaningless should be
avoided if possible. I think members of relations should be meaningful
elements in their own right, not just used to tag a single existing
element in a complex way.

The alternative to all of this is adding a tag which gives the
direction in the form of a bearing, as in north/south/east/west. You
may want to talk to davidsv who is drafting this:
http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Proposed_features/direction