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Die Geofabrik sponsort seit knapp einem Jahr die Herstellung und den Versand der OpenStreetMap-Werbeflyer. Fast 20.000 Flyer haben wir auf Anfrage von Projektmitgliedern schon quer durch Deutschland (und in angrenzende Alpenrepubliken und Eidgenossenschaften) verschickt – in Päckchen zu 10, 100, 200 oder auch mal 500. Und da gingen sie hin:

(Einige Sonderbestellungen zu Messen/Kongressen und Lieferungen mit persönlicher Übergabe fehlen in der Liste.)

Wenn auch Du (Sie) Verwendung für ein Päckchen unserer DIN A7-Werbeflyer hast (haben): Einfach Adresse und gewünschte Stückzahl an info@geofabrik.de mailen!

Mapping the world is not quite as easy as it looks and we need tools to help us do it. We need editors to input and change the data, but we also need some ways of checking whether the data we enter is correct (and we have to figure out what “correct” is supposed to mean in the OpenStreetMap universe). Of course, we have several maps already that give us a view of the collected data. But that is not enough. The “normal” maps on openstreetmap.org can’t show us every aspect of the data. Specialist debugging maps like the maplint view and the coastline checker have been used for a long time and have proven to be useful. But they are limited by the technology they use (Maplint is based on XSLT and rather slow) or by their scope (Coastline checker does only coastlines).

We here at Geofabrik have thought about this for a long time and experimented with different approaches. Today we are launching a new tool, the “OSM Inspector”. It is, hopefully, the beginning of a series of more powerful debugging tools. The OSM Inspector is basically a specialized map viewer that shows you different views of OpenStreetMap data.

The OSM Inspector is a framework into which any number of debugging views can be plugged. We initially offer three such views:

• The “Geometry View” shows basic geometry problems.
• The “Water View” shows lakes, rivers, coastlines, and other features related to water, and highlights possible problems.
• The “Addresses View” shows addresses with house numbers mapped according to the Karlsruhe Schema.

Each of these views comprises a multitude of different layers than can be individually switched on or off, and each can be used on large and small map scales alike.

Launch the Inspector and select the Geometry view, zoom in to the area you want to check. You’ll find geometry anomalies (like self-intersecting ways) highlighted. Click an object to select it, and with another button click you’re in your favourite editor (Potlatch or JOSM) to fix the problem right away… across the three tools we’re starting with, you can individually select from more than 30 different pre-computed vector layers to help you debug an area. Whether you just want to care for your specific area and fix everything that is funny there, or whether you feel responsible for the waterways of a whole country and want to zoom in to problem spots from a high-level view, the OSM Inspector is your tool for hunting down bugs and fixing them.

To try out the OSM Inspector, point your browser at tools.geofabrik.de – no registration or installation required. Currently we only have data for Europe but we hope to cover the planet eventually. Also, OSM Inspector currently requires Firefox but we’re working on IE/Safari compatibility.

An example showing the different address view features is here:
http://tools.geofabrik.de/osmi/?view=addresses&lon=8.36302&lat=49.02880&zoom=15

Or  have a look at the incredibly well-mapped Prague:
http://tools.geofabrik.de/osmi/?view=addresses&lon=14.45189&lat=50.07115&zoom=12

This is only a start, more views will follow depending on what is needed and how much time we have. Tell us what you like about the views and what you’d like to see improved. What other views do you want do see? We’d love to hear from you.

Ich habe unsere Animationen zur historischen OSM-Entwicklung auf den neuesten Stand gebracht und einige hinzugefügt. Alle Bildfolgen können nun auch zur Offline-Nutzung als animiertes GIF heruntergeladen werden.

Zu den Animationen

OpenStreetMap was founded in the UK four years ago, and when the idea caught on in Germany, the UK was already well ahead. But today, Germany is ahead of the UK on many counts. Both the absolute amount of data collected and the percentage of existing roads covered put Germany first in its league. Of the roughly 6.000 users who contribute to OSM every month, 3.000 do so in Germany. What is it with these people?

In this article we’ll try to shed some light on why OSM seems to hit it with the Germans.
More …

Die Geofabrik-Webseite ist etwas hübscher geworden und hat mindestens doppelt so viel Inhalt wie zuvor! Dank geht an Christine Karch für die tatkräftige Unterstützung bei diesem “Relaunch”.