On 30 May 2008, at 00:19, Dave Stubbs wrote:
This strand of the discussion (below) though echoes the earlier
thread I
kicked off (but gave up pursuing because there seemed to be more
prejudice
than logic in the discussion) about the idea of numerically-based
properties
in the database mapped to human-friendly language in editors and
viewers.
OMG is your brain mush? This whole nonsense is over what admin_level
(a numerical tagging scheme) maps to. It's the perfect example of why
numbering the bloomin tags doesn't necessarily actually solve
anything. It's also the perfect example of how a global numbering
system is utterly irrelevant given our ability to invent domain and
ordering specific ones on a whim.
Oops! I touched a nerve there :-) I'm no brain surgeon but, from what
I've seen on telly, most peoples brains are, fundamentally, a bit
mushy. This fluidity and flexibility is IMHO better than the rigidity
of an ossified brain. As I understand it the numbers are not the
problem, it arises from people not knowing which is the right number
to use (eg. England/Scotland border admin_level 2 or 4?). This is why
I think numbers are useful in the data but users should not have to
know what numbers to use. Rather they should be presented with
choices using words they understand which then put the right numbers
in the database. As for "our ability to invent domain and
ordering specific ones on a whim" this too would be better translated
into English as she is spoke.
Most of that discussion was about highways but similar arguments
seem to
apply to boundaries. I think most British mappers would be happier
selecting
from a boundary sub-menu of 'National', 'County', 'District',
'parish', with
each choice invisibly mapped back to the appropriate numerical
boundary type
than with the clumsy 'boundary=administrative' 'admin_level=4'
approach.
Yes, I'm sure they would rather pick from such a menu. Mapping to the
relevant boundary and admin_level tags should be trivial as the wiki
page manages it. I'm sure implementations are welcome.
Exellent! We agree, then :-)
elvin (mushbrain) ibbotson
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