OSM namefinder still hasn't been updated- Explore alternative.

Bumped to 1.0 to reflect the importance of this issue. Can be re-assigned if considered necessary.

Chris.

Kieran/ all,

I'm concerned about this issue and how it degrades the reputation of OSN. Is there anything I can do to work with Nominatum, to give us other options?

Chris.

In rev r117, I've added a combo to let the user choose which namefinder service to use when looking for directions.

At the moment :
# default : OSM Namefinder (the one we've always used)
# Nominatim

That will permit beta tester to have a look at both alternatives, even if we don't keep both for 1.0.

ZeroG wrote:
> In rev r117, I've added a combo to let the user choose which namefinder service to use when looking for directions.
>
> At the moment :
> # default : OSM Namefinder (the one we've always used)
> # Nominatim
>
> That will permit beta tester to have a look at both alternatives, even if we don't keep both for 1.0.

Brilliant move. I'm very keen to see how Nominatim performs.

Chris.

Nominatim is now an option in the 'Directions' screen.

One slight problem with Nominatim seems to be that it requires a space in the middle of UK postcodes, or the search will fail. We need to decide whether we can live with this or whether to report it as a bug to Nominatim.

Please use this Issue to add any Pro's or Con's of using OSM Namefinder and/ or Nominatim.

+OSM Namefinder+

*Pro's (for):*

*Con's (against):*

Not updated regularly.

+Nominatim+

*Pro's (for):*

*Con's (against):*

UK postcodes require a space in the middle of them, or searches will fail (http://www.opensatnav.org/issues/show/57#note-9)

Chris, you're the Englishman so you know what's best regarding what to do with the postcodes. If in actual use the spaces are sometimes left out, I'd report it as a bug. Most developers don't deal with them day-to-day so they'll probably appreciate the advice. I must admit I had a good laugh when I read on the Wikipedia page,
"Completely accurate validation is only possible by attempting to deliver mail to the address, and verifying with the recipient."

kizza wrote:
> Chris, you're the Englishman so you know what's best regarding what to do with the postcodes. If in actual use the spaces are sometimes left out, I'd report it as a bug. Most developers don't deal with them day-to-day so they'll probably appreciate the advice. I must admit I had a good laugh when I read on the Wikipedia page,
> "Completely accurate validation is only possible by attempting to deliver mail to the address, and verifying with the recipient."

I'll find the website and report it. Spaces are optional, but users expect applications to understand this. OSN does, but Nominatim let's us down and it looks like our fault.

Cheers,

Chris.

UK postcodes formatting/ Nominatim:

Bug raised:

http://trac.openstreetmap.org/ticket/2586

I'll update here, as I receive anything.

Chris.

I'm getting perfect POI search results with Nominatim; would love to be able to use it as the default, rather than OSM.

Chris.

Guys,

Is anyone still using OSM Namefinder, or has everyone moved to Nominatim?

I'm keen to get to the bottom of the title of this issue:

'OSM namefinder still hasn't been updated- Explore alternative.'

Any further thoughts are appreciated so we can move-on and potentially close this issue.

Cheers,

Chris.

Since we integrated Nominatim, I think this issue it closed.
One more thing: Personally I would also like to have Nominatim as the default, is it possible at least to remember our choice for next search?

The last used choice remembering is in another issue that needs care in my opinion.

I just switched namefinder/nominatim position in the dialog in order to have the first choice, i.e nominatim as the default.

ZeroG wrote:

> I just switched namefinder/nominatim position in the dialog in order to have the first choice, i.e nominatim as the default.

That's a step in the right direction.

Thank yo.

Chris.

chris_debian wrote:
> UK postcodes formatting/ Nominatim:
>
> Bug raised:
>
> http://trac.openstreetmap.org/ticket/2586
>
> I'll update here, as I receive anything.
>
> Chris.

Brian fixed the Nominatim bug and this has solved the postcode problem. Now Nominatim is available in OSN, I'm going to close this for now.

Cheers,

Chris