[OSM-talk] is_in and similar tags

[David Earl]

John Smith wrote:
> 
> --- On Tue, 28/7/09, David Earl <david at frankieandshadow.com> wrote:
> 
>> It is still *very* helpful to have is_in present though. It is much
>> easier to present this information in a search than to do polygon
>> tests which requires a whole new algorithm (desirable though that
>> is), and of course, boundaries are nowhere near complete, and you
>> often know in which region a place is without knowing the exact
>> boundary.
> 
> Two different issues, one is presentation the other is simply
> describing something. A lot of software repackages information into
> it's own optimised form, and so I don't think it's a valid argument
> to keep the information when processing the information into a
> suitable presentable form would do the same thing.

But until we do, the existing mechanism does no harm, and as I said, you 
don't always know the boundary while you do know where the place is.

Determining the inclusion of every place in the database, even if we had 
complete information, is massively more complex than simply being told 
the information. If you have it, why not give it.

David