09 - Generating CSV output

//Comma separated table of id, coordinates and names [out:csv(::id, ::lat, ::lon, name; true; ",")]; //TRYME #1 include node type //[out:csv(::id, ::lat, ::lon, ::type, name; true; ",")]; //TRYME #1 pipe delimited, no header //[out:csv(::id, ::lat, ::lon, ::type, name; false; "|")]; //find nodes tagged as caves node(-25.38653, 130.99883, -25.31478, 131.08938)["natural"="cave_entrance"]; //include tags in output, so we can have them in our CSV output out body;

OverpassQL can also be used to generate simple CSV exports.

This is achieved by using the [out:csv] query setting.

In order for the API to know how to construct the CSV output you must provide a specification of what fields (columns) to include. These fields are either:

• a special field name, which is predefined by the API, e.g. ::id
• or the name of a tag

The special field names include:

• ::id - the database id of the object
• ::type - its type, e.g. node, way or relation
• ::lat - its latitude
• ::lon - its longitude

The list of columns to include in the output are specified as parameters in the query setting statement.

Other parameters allow you to customise whether a header line is included in the CSV file and choose the column separator. The defaults are to include a header and produce a tab delimited file.

The general syntax for the out:csv setting is:

[out:csv (columns; header; col-separator)]

Where:

• columns is a comma separated list of names
• header is either true or false
• col-separator is the desired separator provided as a string.

This query generates a simple comma-separated table containing the id, coordinates and names of caves within the bounding box. But some other variations are also provided for you to try out.

If you want to include tags in your CSV output, then the out keyword of your query must generate tags. So use out body or out meta.

Also note that when you're including latitude (::lat) and longitude (::lon) columns then for nodes you'll get their original coordinates. But ways and relations are more complex spatial objects. They aren't defined by a single point.

You can use the out keyword to automatically generate a representative location (a "centroid") for those types of feature. Specifying out body center will do the trick. This will calculate a centroid for any way or relation in your results.

Tip: when generating CSV output, if there is a query error or timeout then you will get empty results. I'd recommend writing and testing your basic query first so you're sure it's working. And then customise it further to generate the desired CSV output.

Links	https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Overpass_API/Overpass_QL#CSV_output_mode
Source File	09-nodes-csv-output.osm
Authors	Leigh Dodds