[mkgmap-dev] polygon to point?

Thu Apr 23 21:35:21 BST 2009

On Wed, Apr 22, 2009 at 5:47 AM, Marko Mäkelä <marko.makela at iki.fi> wrote:
> On Wed, Apr 22, 2009 at 12:39:42PM +0300, Mike wrote:
>> We already have this with the --add-pois-to-areas option. It will
>> create a poi for certain polygon areas in osm. I know it works for me,
>> What garmin types get assigned to what key=value pairs is based on the
>> style information in the resources/styles directory.
>
> Wow, I didn't know of this feature.  I don't think that I will start using
> it, though.  Consider a hypermarket that is surrounded by fences and the
> building is at the very behind of the fence.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but
> Garmin's routing algorithm either ignores fences, or the default mkgmap style
> doesn't translate them.  Thus, if I search a bicycle or walking route to the
> building, Garmin could tell me to climb the fence.  If the POI is defined at
> the entrance gate of the area, the directions will make more sense.  (This
> has actually happened to me.  That's why I explicitly define POIs for
> amenities located in buildings.)

I agree with you here - it's difficult (maybe impossilble??) for
mkgmap to automatically put the POI in the correct place. We might be
able to make some improvements to just placing it in the middle of the
polygon but local knowledge will always be better. That said, a POI
should only be added if there isn't already one of the same type
inside the polygon. This allows people to add POI in the "right place"
to the OSM map and not have a duplicate POI entry created in their
Garmin maps.

Cheers, Ben