Definition
OSM type (or object type) is the term used in OpenStreetMap (OSM) to describe the type of geographic object or feature in a map dataset. It identifies the basic shape or object in the dataset, such as a point, line or polygon. For example, a point could be a building, a line could be a street or a polygon could be a park. Furthermore, OSM type allows different features to be identified, such as city, village, river or coastline. OSM type is typically represented by a code in the dataset, for example, a node point could be represented by "N".
Examples of OSM type include:
- Node: A single point in space, representing a single feature such as a building, church, restaurant, etc.
- Way: An ordered list of node points which can be used to represent a linear feature such as a road, footpath, railway line, etc.
- Relation: An ordered list of ways or nodes and other relations that can be used to group multiple objects together, such as bus routes, postal code boundaries, or administrative boundaries.
- Polygon: A closed region bounded by multiple line segments (ways), representing a feature such as a park, lake, mountain, city, etc.
