Use case

Sometimes we need to exchange feature identity among datasets. Feature identifiers are normally defined inside a dataset, and the dataset works as a reference dataset. In such a case there is inequality between datasets.

A concept tentatively called zero-identifier tries to create a data-independent feature pointer by making use of a point location and a controlled-tag.

A zero-identifier will help property exchange among features in different datasets.

Definition

Zero-identifier consists of three elements which are lng, lat and a controlled-tag where lng is a reference longitude, lat is a reference latitude, and controlled-tag is a tag string that identifies a type of feature. For example:
[19.8223361, 41.3219232, building] would mean a building which contains POINT (19.8223361, 41.3219232) inside.

Zero-identifier would actually be a polygon-feature pointer. The target of a zero-identifier would typically be something like a building, a park, a lake, an island, or an administrative area.

Note

The encoding of a zero-identifier is not defined yet. It may be [19.8223361, 41.3219232, building] as above, or it may be 19.8223361/41.3219232/building. We will cover this point later after we identified the use scenarios.

The name 'zero-identifier' is just a tentative name. Please do not hesitate to propose a better name. We need a catchy name.

Examples of controlled-tags

Just to share my idea, I would like to show examples of controlled-tags:

• building
• lake
• structure
• waterarea

Some possible applications

Disaster and crisis response or humanitarian assistance would be a good candidate area for the application of zero-identifier.