Importing to ArcGIS

General talk
1

Hello,

I’m new to OpenStreetMap (and quite new to GIS at all) and I have a problem with importing OpenStreetMap data into ArcGIS.

I have successfully exported the OSM data in XML format (.osm) but when I try to load the file into ArcGIS with the OSM extension I only get a error msg. ArcGIS is asking for an other format (.bz) which for me sounds like a zip archive? Have I missed a step where I need to convert the osm data?

I have searched for a answear in the wiki and here but haven’t found what I’m looking for, if I have overlooked some piece of info please point me in the right direction.

2

The OSM format is different from standard shape files. There is an ArcGIS extension for OSM editing at http://www.esri.com/software/arcgis/extensions/openstreetmap/ , but it requires ArcGIS10.

I have never used this tool, but if you are already using it and it just needs the .bz format, there is Bzip http://www.bzip.org/ .

Also note that some tags and way attributes can be lost in the conversion. For most common objects, or a 1-way conversion, this may not matter.

3

When there is no way to solve your trouble with ArcGIS and you are new to GIS as well, why not trying Quantum GIS?