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I have just recently joined the OpenStreetMap editing community. When I first started using the default browser-based editor (not long ago), it had a useful feature which now seems to be missing from all of the browser-based editors that are now available. This was the ability to put an arbitrary bounding box on the map and have it show all of the object IDs within that area as a clickable list.

This is very useful feature for me for two reasons:

  1. It allows you to find objects that you might otherwise have difficulty discovering on the map (e.g. very tiny "Ways", any objects that are obscured by large areas, etc.).

  2. Because it gives you the object IDs (and in fact the old editor listed the object IDs for individual nodes in a selected Way as well). This is extremely useful if you are working with an exported dataset and need to know what objects in the editor correspond to what parts of the downloaded dataset.

Both of these features are very useful if you are trying to "debug" a dataset - which, in turn, should be a useful thing for the OSM community at large.

Apologies if I am just missing something and these features are still there somewhere.

asked 30 Sep '13, 14:02

Spacemartin's gravatar image

Spacemartin
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accept rate: 0%


I'm not sure it was available in any of the online editors (Potlatch, Potlatch2, iD).

However what you describe sounds like the "data layer" on the web site. It's just a visual layer, not an 'editor' mode. And the access to this layer has been recently modified. Today, click on the 'Layers' icon on the right side of the homepage/slippy map. Then select the "Map Data" checkbox on the bottom of the opened pane (you might have to scroll down if your window is too small).

Then "all of the object IDs within that area as a clickable list" is appearing on the left side of the slippy map.

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answered 30 Sep '13, 14:21

Pieren's gravatar image

Pieren
9.8k2083157
accept rate: 15%

Thanks. I think it was just the fact that you have to manually turn the layer on now that was confusing me.

(30 Sep '13, 14:57) Spacemartin

If you want to search for things in a given area, you can almost do that with Potlatch 2 - you can control-drag to select everything within an area and then control-click to remove items from the selection. What's left will be the items that you couldn't immediately see.

However, if you definitely want to work through a list, then the "todo" plugin for JOSM sounds like the answer - see this previous question about it.

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answered 30 Sep '13, 14:46

SomeoneElse's gravatar image

SomeoneElse ♦
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accept rate: 16%

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question asked: 30 Sep '13, 14:02

question was seen: 4,305 times

last updated: 30 Sep '13, 14:57

NOTICE: help.openstreetmap.org is no longer in use from 1st March 2024. Please use the OpenStreetMap Community Forum