[mkgmap-dev] [PATCH] Display road name instead of ref in routing directions

Sat Oct 31 13:52:02 GMT 2009

On Oct 30, 2009, at 23:56, Felix Hartmann wrote:

>> In Germany the label of the primaries is shown on the road signs  
>> (B57, B58...), but not the labels of the secondaries (like L237,  
>> K39 and so on). How is this handled in other countries?
> This is not related to type of road, but type of symbol. :box  
> and :hbox cannot display certain types of labels (see older messages  
> from me) - other like :oval have no restrictions and you can input  
> more or less whatever you like.

I think Ralf was talking about the "real world" here, not the one in  
our GPS devices. ;-)

That is, when you are outside and looking at the physical signs on the  
road, the 'ref' number of secondary roads does not usually appear on  
the signs, however the 'ref' of primary highways is generally printed  
on the signs (at least in Germany).

This makes a difference for routing directions: when should the ref be  
used and when should the name be used?

- For motorways, we almost always want the ref: A35 instead of  
"Autoroute des Cigognes"; A1 instead of "Autostrada del Sole".

- This is also probably true for trunk roads.

- For primary highways, either the ref or the name or both could be  
most appropriate: "B58", or "Weseler Strasse", or "Weseler Strasse  
(B58)"?

- Generally for secondary and lower roads, we want the name; the ref  
is secondary: "Bahnhofstrasse" instead of "K 4256".

And the question is, is this also true for other countries?