[OSM-talk] Contributing GIS Data to OSM

[Iván Sánchez Ortega]

On Tuesday 18 January 2011 17:16:42 Serge Wroclawski wrote:

> [...] generally the community doesn't like [imports], and usually it has to
> do with poor execution, and overlapping data.

That answer is spot-on. I do like imports, but only when it is certain that 
there will be no overlapping data, and that the imported data will be 
maintained in the future. Otherwise, an import may look like a good thing in 
the short term, but it will have long-term complications.

Unfortunately, the OSM technology stack lacks proper conflation and tracking 
scripts. Plus, every set of imported data is different. So, be very very sure 
of what you're trying to do. Don't rush the import. Build your own tools if 
needed. Contact people in areas where there might be overlapping data for 
their opinions.

> 4. Technology
>
> If your data is in PostGIS now, it shouldn't be too hard to write a
> script that extracts the features and makes it available in the OSM
> XML format, ready to be consumed by the API.

ogr2osm should be capable to do that, with a few tweaks - right now it doesn't 
know how to open a PostGIS dataset, but it should be feasible if you know a 
bit of python and GDAL.

Usually the data is loaded into JOSM to check its consistency, and fix the 
importing scripts if needed. If everything goes well and there's no need for 
conflation, only then that data shall be uploaded with the bulk uploading 
tools.


Best,
-- 
----------------------------------
Iván Sánchez Ortega <ivan at sanchezortega.es> <ivan at geonerd.org>

Buscad lo suficiente, buscad lo que basta. Y no querais más. Lo que pasa
de ahi, es agobio, no alivio; apesadumbra en vez de levantar.
		-- San Agustín. (354-439) Obispo, filósofo y Padre de la
		Iglesia Latina. 
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