[SOLVED] [JOSM] Right way to bulk edit key?

Shohreh · 2019-01-04T11:26:01.000Z

Hello,

I used JOSM to download a set of elements from OSM through Overpass, and would now like to change the key for some of those elements because that key is actually ignored by tools that make use of them

The problem is that the destination key is already used for other elements; As a result, JOSM warns me with “Overwrite key: You changed the key from [source] to [destination]. The new key is already used, overwrite values?”.

What should I do?

Thank you.

PS : Yes, I did go to that area and checked the elements with my very own eyes.

SomeoneElse · 2019-01-04T14:23:43.000Z

You’re changing thousands of objects there - please don’t make changes like that without checking the individual objects that you are changing! Looking at the variety of values (e.g. “asl”) it looks like you’ve used an overly broad selection to get the data into JOSM in the first place. Can you explain what you were trying to change, to what, why, and where?

muralito · 2019-01-04T14:32:40.000Z

If you change key “cycleway:left” for “cycleway”, as it seems you are trying to do, you will lose the information of on which side of the road is located the cycleway. No matter if a key is ignored by tools, if it’s well defined is up to the tools to make use of the information.

Do the change only if you are sure of what are you doing, and it would be better to check with the local OSM community first.

Shohreh · 2019-01-04T15:40:11.000Z

Thanks for the tips.