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I need this way to be a closed polygon but it’s downloading as an outline

This man_made: pier should be a closed polygon but I can't figure out where the error is. If I use QuickOSM plugin in QGIS, it downloads as an outline.

https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/406477559#map=18/57.05036/-135.32801

Edit: my main problem is that it's rendering as an outline in Mapbox. I reached out to them and they said it's probably not closed in OSM.

qgis quickosm pier bounding-polygon

asked 26 Oct '20, 23:36

Jfact0ry
366●17●18●31
accept rate: 0%

edited 27 Oct '20, 08:43

scai ♦
33.3k●21●309●459

2 Answers:

QuickOSM is using GDAL/OGR to convert the OSM data into geometries. From somewhere it is reading an osmconf.ini:

https://github.com/OSGeo/gdal/blob/master/gdal/data/osmconf.ini

On line 7 there is a list of tags that will cause a closed OSM object to be treated as a polygon. Neither man_made or man_made=pier is on it.

There should be some way to feed QuickOSM a customized version of osmconf.ini.

I looked at the object in JOSM, it's currently a closed way.

answered 27 Oct '20, 02:03

maxerickson
12.7k●10●83●176
accept rate: 32%

Are piers not ambiguous enough to require area=yes?

(27 Oct '20, 08:33) InsertUser

The tag man_made=pier is somewhat special. Most tags clearly either signify that a way is to be interpreted as a line (highway) or as a polygon (landuse). You can use the area=yes/no tag to overwrite this, but there is a clear either/or decision here. But man_made=pier is different, it is to be understood as a polygon if it is a closed way and as a line if it is not closed. There is probably software out there that can't handle this.

answered 27 Oct '20, 07:42

Jochen Topf
5.2k●5●50●74
accept rate: 31%

The OSM wiki doesn't really clarify how a closed way is to be treated when it comes to man_made=pier. Based on my own data usage, I get the sense that many systems treat a closed way as a loop of pier, not an area. I always add area=yes if a closed way pier is an area.

(28 Oct '20, 21:19) alester