[OSM-talk] Addresses

[john whelan]

I'm not certain what your background is so forgive me if I pitch this too
simply.  Below is the XML code for a Florist in Ottawa.  Anything before
<node is red tape, anything after <?node is red tape.

http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Features gives a list of features that
can be tagged.

Note the line that says node id, this is basically what OSM uses to identify
a node.  The node is then qualified with things such as name, addr:postcode,
phone etc.  The node has a long and lat value which is where OSM knows where
to place the node.

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
<osm version='0.6' generator='JOSM'>
  <bounds minlat='45.469465' minlon='-75.49071909999999' maxlat='45.469559'
maxlon='-75.4905474' origin='CGImap 0.0.2' />
  <node id='702985078' timestamp='2010-12-07T01:58:28Z' uid='186592'
user='Johnwhelan' visible='true' version='6' changeset='6570763'
lat='45.4695054' lon='-75.4906046'>
    <tag k='addr:housenumber' v='1675' />
    <tag k='addr:postcode' v='K1E 3P6' />
    <tag k='addr:street' v='Tenth Line Road' />
    <tag k='fax' v='(613) 834-1577' />
    <tag k='name' v='Select Blooms' />
    <tag k='name:fr' v='Select Blooms' />
    <tag k='phone' v='(613) 837 9966' />
    <tag k='shop' v='florist' />
    <tag k='website' v='www.selectblooms.ca' />
  </node>
</osm>

Without the lat and lon the information is useless.

Normally with a data source you know if its clean data or not.  Yours sounds
as if it might not be clean.  So step one would be to get the lat and lon
information attached to your data somehow.  Once you have the node in the
map then you can start to play.  One thing  you could do is add a note tag
and dump the unformatted address information in there, I'd also add another
tag saying fixme.  Then you are dependent on some one taking the time to
untangle the address information in something like JOSM.

Another approach would be to filter the data so that only clean data is
uploaded, often you can pick out different ty.es of data then handle them by
program in different ways.

If this is enamel bucket corporate stuff then its probably best if we talk
this stuff through about what you want to do and what resources you have
available.  Brian Stagg is one contact I had with Microsoft before I retired
and he can probably give you an idea of my background. My Skype address is
johnwhelan3316.  I can give you some guidance for free but I'm not in the
market for being a consultant.

Bear in mind that in general OSM prefers manual input for religious reasons,
CommonMap might be a more suitable depository.  I have a couple of VB
programs that can be used to read and write OSM files in such a way that the
modified data can be uploaded to OSM etc.

Cheerio John

On 28 February 2011 19:31, John-Michael Wiley <jmwiley at microsoft.com> wrote:

>  Unfortunately the data is coming to me from a tool I do not control. I
> simply will be importing the data and allowing someone to associate the data
> provided with areas and nodes on the map. Most of the data will be for the
> US, but there is no guarantee that the addresses are correctly formatted
> which is why I am worried about doing something simple like assuming the
> house number is always first and is even always present.
>
>
>
> Seems to me like the best thing to do would be to skip the street address
> fields and simply use the ones which have a 1-1 mapping (city, country,
> state/province, postal code, phone). Leave the address for someone else.
>
>
>
> J.M.
>
>
>
> *From:* john whelan [mailto:jwhelan0112 at gmail.com]
> *Sent:* Monday, February 28, 2011 3:58 PM
> *To:* John-Michael Wiley
> *Cc:* talk at openstreetmap.org
> *Subject:* Re: [OSM-talk] Addresses
>
>
>
> Tricky because of the accuracy.
>
> My money would be to add a two fields and put the lat and long coordinates
> in there.  I'd also use a database rather than Excel such as SQL server
> there are better validation tools available.
>
> Then you really need manual verification you have the correct location.
> I've dropped some items in by address in Ottawa, you can get close but you
> need to verify because a shopping Mall may have a single street address so
> many stores have the same address.
>
> If I think in terms of a database for people that feeds multiple needs eg
> HR, phone etc.  You sort of need a key such that you can key a building then
> link it to other information such as name, opening hours, phone number etc.
>
> Since you have a Microsoft email address think in terms of OSM is an XML
> file and then think Biztalk.  You may want to email me a little off line on
> this since this is more electronic map than OSM normally likes to think of
> itself.
>
> Cheerio John
>
> On 28 February 2011 18:11, John-Michael Wiley <jmwiley at microsoft.com>
> wrote:
>
>
>
> I am working on a project which will be importing items from excel and
> putting them on the map. The items (shops, buildings,…) have got address but
> they do not have the house numbers separated the street name, nor is it
> always the case that the house number is included. It is not a simple
> parsing task to parse these field for every locale, so I am wondering what I
> should do with it. Should I put it into a new tag, should I use the full?
> How can I add this information to the entity without making errors in the
> street or house number fields?
>
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> J.M. Wiley
>
>
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