[OSM-talk] Amenity key

[Anthony]

On Mon, Oct 25, 2010 at 5:23 AM, Markus Lindholm
<markus.lindholm at gmail.com> wrote:
> What constitutes a primary tag?

A tag which is meant to be exclusive of other primary tags.  To avoid
infinite recursion, amenity is a primary tag.

> How should one know which tags are considered primary when parsing the OSM database?

It's a pain in the ass.  You've gotta look through the wiki, look at
the actual usage, and then take your best guess.

It'd be a whole lot easier for parsers if we just used
thing=fire_extinguisher/picnic_table/well/cable_distribution_cabinet/memorial/fountain/street_lamp.
 Or amenity=fire_extinguisher/picnic_table/well/cable_distribution_cabinet/memorial/fountain/street_lamp.
 How many of us even know, without looking, what the keys are for
those 7 values?  I just looked them up a few minutes ago and I've
already forgotten two of them.