Errors and Warnings

Hello,

I am new to JOSM editor but NOT new to XML databases (I am a programmer :slight_smile: )

Whenever you select a small area of the map and download it in JOSM there will AUTOMATICALLY be both errors and warnings if you “validate” BECAUSE…

your XML file MUST have missing information since it is only a small section of the complete map (WAYS and POLYGONS continue on beyond the “edges” of your download “region”)

Presumably when you UPLOAD your “edited piece” such “discrepancies” no longer exist as your information goes back to where it came from in the “Master File”

My question is "how does a person (NOT familiar with Database structure and XML syntax) decide between NORMAL “errors and warnings” that will be resolved (when they “put back their piece of the map”) … and REAL “errors and warnings” that result because of UNINTENTIONAL mistakes due to their lack of knowledge of the program and/or the meaning of the various type attributes.

I can see that there is a “real leaning curve” for persons using the JOSM map editor who are NOT familiar with Databases and Data structures

It says in the Wiki “not to be bothered by errors and warnings” but can somebody be a little more helpful in pointing me to WHAT in the “Validation” we should be looking for … spotting errors that will NOT go away when we upload our little piece of the map

Thank guys… I know many of you been at this a LONG time … I may seem like a complete idiot for not seeing/reading answer somewhere else

if so consider this just a friendly introduction and humor me.

Best Wishes,
Stephen Mendes

Hello Stephen, welcome to the OSM forum! :slight_smile:

Which of the errors and warnings you are receiving in JOSM are caused by missing data outside the downloaded region? In my experience, most of the validation rules tend to look at local properties of the data which can be validated without having the global dataset available.

Now, it’s true that you’ll get errors and warnings that were not caused by your edits, but that’s usually because the data you downloaded isn’t flawless (and also because some of the warnings are false positives).