Tools of Validation

This unit will introduce the various ‘essential’ validation tools as well as various other helpful tools and learning materials to guide new mappers.

Items to Read

LearnOSM: Tasking Manager

Hopefully you've seen the LearnOSM module dedicated to the Tasking Manager by now, please make a quick review; or take some time to go through it if it's your first time.

LearnOSM: JOSM - Detailed Editing Section

Validation Activators are expected to be proficient in using the JOSM editor. The entire section on JOSM in LearnOSM is relevant to this course and specific modules will be referred to in several lessons.

JOSM for Validators

The interface for 'validating' on the Tasking Manager is really not validating in itself, it is more for organizing and keeping track; to really validate the mapping and data quality, you need to use JOSM.

Tasking Manager Buttons

The OSM Tasking Manager is not a tool for validating data itself, but as a component of the mapping coordination, there is a 'validation' step built into the workflow.

There is some general guidance on the 'validation step' of the Tasking Manager on the OpenStreetMap Wiki.

The key here is that Validation Activators are both doing due diligence in reviewing the data before validating a task and that they are giving a 'third' review of tasks validated by volunteers.

Why JOSM?

No other editor is quite up to the challenge of doing robust data quality and validity checks like JOSM. Designed to facilitate large area, long-term, offline editing with a built in validation feature with the a large community of third-party plug-in developers there is almost no tool for validators that compares.

JOSM Validation Feature

By default JOSM should run it's validation function anytime you try to upload data to OpenStreetMap. The OpenStreetMap wiki-page on the JOSM Validator explains the types of validation performed. We will return to the the JOSM validator in the next lesson.

Helpful JOSM Plug-ins

JOSM Plug-ins are further explored in the LearnOSM: JOSM Plug-ins Module. For validation, these plug-ins come in handy:

  • Buildings Plug-in: many times new mappers don't know to square buildings, rather than make them do it all over; with JOSM you can quickly select many building and square them.
  • Imagery Offset Db: if you need to see why or if features should be shifted, this is a helpful tool
  • Mirrored Download: a must for doing large area validation

Other Helpful Tools

There are also many other tools for OpenStreetMap data inspection. Here are just a few:

Review

JOSM is the only tool Validation Activators need for the entire validation process.

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