I propose to do an automated edit as described here:
https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/User:Kmpoppe/Automated_Edits/Fix_Name_Inconsistencies
For documentation purposes, please discuss or approve on the wiki page, thanks!
K
How would that help ensure that names in OSM are correct?
Essentially, you’ve seen some information suggesting that a name (or lack of name) might be incorrect, and your suggestion is just to remove that suggestion?
I’m sure that there are examples where, after checking the object history (or aurvey), you can remove a fixme because a problem has been fixed, but it shouldn’t be a mechanical process.
My apologies if I have got the wrong end of the stick here, but your suggestion does sound worrying.
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After only 5 people answering (including those initially suggesting it), I got so many different opinions that I could directly bin the idea again.
Maybe going the completely neutral approach (deleting the fixme only when someone answers a name-related quest in SC) is the only way 
Is the list of objects that would be affected by the proposal available, or is there a query we could run to see see these objects in a particular area?
I’d like to look at a sample of cases to see if there is any pattern, e.g. maybe the names on noname=yes objects are not clear-cut (e.g. they might be more like descriptions). But querying the database based on tags changing at different dates is beyond my limited skills.
2 Likes
In certain situations the fixme may be safe to delete, for example if someone leaves fixme=name on an object with no name and then a subsequent mapper answers the StreetComplete quest “Determine place names”. A mapper using any normal editor would have noticed the fixme and deleted it when entering the name, but SC doesn’t give that option, so it leaves the fixme tag.
However, identifying these situations requires looking at the object history and the changeset tags. Not sure if the effort is worth it. If there’s a mapper nearby looking at fixmes, they’ll probably quickly realise what’s happened and delete the tag.
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Well, perhaps if by “Any normal editor” you meant “(only) JOSM” 
Looking at top 10 editors (both desktop and android) that I can access, none except JOSM seem to make that fixme=name visible on the first page (usually it was either in some “advanced” tab, or offscreen at the bottom of a long list, or not visible at all).
At the same time, name=* was right there at the top.
So I find it highly likely that if there was fixme=name without name=* tag, and afterwards object was edited to include name=* tag (but fixme=name was not removed), that such failure to remove it was because they’ve just haven’t noticed that (well hidden) fixme=name tag (and NOT due to mapper adding a name, but still not being sure that they’re adding a correct name)
Yes, I would’ve thought that looking at object history was prerequisite anyway (how would you know otherwise whether it was first name=* and then fixme=name, or vice-versa? Those two situations require totally opposite handling for same current tags…)
But it could be made more certain if changeset editor is accessed:
- if the editor which added
name=*but didn’t removefixme=namewas StreetComplete or SCEE or Organic Maps (or MAPS.ME I assume too?), than thatfixme=nameis definitely an error and absolutely should be removed, as those don’t seem to ever show that tag. - if the editor was JOSM, it might be MapRoulette material instead.
- if the editor was OsmAnd, Vespucci, iD (or RapID I assume too?), it very probably needs to be removed too as it is going to be oversight in vast majorty of the cases (but might be MapRoulette too if people thing intentionally keeping old
fixme=nameafter addingname=*is not extremely uncommon thing)
2 Likes
iD does make fixmes very visible, it shows a yellow warning box right at the top. Not sure about the others!
Anyway, in general I agree with you. The tricky part is that Overpass only gives you very limited access to an object’s history. For example, I don’t think it lets you inspect the changeset tags that store the information which editor was used to make a change.
I did a global automated edit a while back, after much community discussion etc. When I wanted to limit it to those nodes where editor X had been used to add tag Y, I had to write code to query the API for the history and changeset metadata for each object that I was thinking about touching.
yes, in some case it would be useful
having fixme as say amenity=fast_food fixme=name is just utterly pointless.
Especially given that it was apparently machine-added in at least some cases (see jumps in 2012), see fixme=name | Tags | OpenStreetMap Taginfo
