[OSM-talk] routing across open spaces

[David Murn]

On Mon, 2010-12-06 at 20:56 +0000, Dave F. wrote:

> >   - which, if all they
> > know about is the perimeter, is probably a good thing.
> 
> Eh? I thought you said you'd "love it" if it cut directly across an area??
> 
> They don't have to *follow* the perimeter just use it to find the best 
> exit & then join it to the entrance to the area with a straight line.

And as was said during the thread, what happens if theres a lake, a
building, a playground, etc in the middle of the straight line?  What
about if the 'straight line' crosses outside of the area, say for
example if you had an L-shaped area.

> Are you certain no routers can do that?

I think this is what it boils down to, that some routers may be able to
do it, but I suspect most cant/wont.  As a general rule, routers route
directly from one node to another. along a way and only leave that way
at a junction.  There is no reason you couldnt make a walking router,
which doesnt have the restrictions of having to follow a way, but at the
moment this isnt how most (all?) of them work.

David