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I enjoy mapping/tracing hiking trails around Hong Kong. There are a number of map boards around (tourism=information, information=map) as well as guideposts (tourism=information, information=guidepost).

Some people like to add these tags on an existing node that belongs to a way. Some people like to add a brand new POI and add these tags to POI's node.

Which is corect? Is there a preferred way?

TonyB

asked 31 Mar '11, 02:29

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TonyB
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edited 31 Mar '11, 02:30


As to "which is correct": There is no "correct" way - generally a consensus develops over time as to the best way to map something; sometimes this consensus even changes.

About your problem: Both options (tagging a node of the road, and creating a separate node) are acceptable (and used). Which one is better depends on what you want to express: If the map board is directly next to the road, it's probably better to reuse a node of the road, to express that the board is in a way "part of the road". If it's a bit off the road (e.g. next to a parking or next to a picnic area a few meters away from the road), it's probably better to tag it separately.

At any rate, in simple cases like this it does not matter too much. Once things get more complicated, and more tags are added, features usually get their own nodes, if only to avoid tag conflicts. Just go ahead an tag it, it can always be corrected later if it turns out a separate node is better.

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answered 31 Mar '11, 09:53

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sleske
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I think it makes more sense to create a new POI node.

The major reason why people sometimes tag things onto a way node instead of creating a new one is that they believe something is strongly connected to the way - for example, traffic lights, because they affect everybody traveling on the way. But even that is not shared by everyone, and in your use case I think the map boards and guideposts are even less a part of the way than traffic lights would be.

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answered 31 Mar '11, 07:44

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Frederik Ramm ♦
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My personal suggestion would be to map them as separate nodes. In addition to the reason that Frederik gives above, my recollection (based on a brief visit) is that trail junctions in HK can be quite "busy" - multiple signs pointing in different directions, along with other things such as benches, public toilets, etc. Having a node adjacent to the way rather than on it tells you which way to look to see the sign.

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answered 31 Mar '11, 23:48

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SomeoneElse ♦
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yes, it is all about topology. A sign is at one side of the road, it is never in the middle of the road. If you map it in the middle of the road you loose the information at which side it is.

(01 Apr '11, 10:56) dieterdreist

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question asked: 31 Mar '11, 02:29

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last updated: 01 Apr '11, 10:56

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