Discussion: Exporting OSM for OCAD

What's the current best way to import openstreetmap data into ocad?

I've imported in the past; not sure if OSM changed or if I just need a reminder.
But the *.osm file that I'm downloading gives an error message when I try to import into OCAD . "Unknown file format"

OCAD help suggests that I should select XML, then download but OSM doesn't give any options to select anything... just a big EXPORT button.

Stupid question #1: what version of OCAD are you using?

OCAD 11 (11.5.5.2006) Build date 3-24-2014

They removed osm import from standard-version between 10 -> 11. So it's possiblebwith 11 pro or 10 std. Maybe you could convert to dxf with ogr2ogr, what I've heard it has decent osm driver these days.

thanks, pellervo, for sending me on the right track.
I used http://geoconverter.hsr.ch/ to convert osm file format to gps exchange format, which is then easy to import to OCAD. It's still a bit tedious but i think if I fiddle around a bit more I can make it workable.

Nice to know about that tool, thanks.

At least according to the documentation the OGR DXF merges all objects to one layer and gpx doesn't support more than 2 types of objects (points and lines). That is why you get a terrible mess ...

When beginning to work with the finnish terrain database, that is available as shp I made first exports using OpenJump, there you have possibility to export one layer at a time (meaning one file = one layer). But that was very laborous and I don't know how does OpenJump handle OSM-files.

At the end I wrote a python script for the conversion, but in OSM - ocad case it isn't of too much use.

OSM from http://extract.bbbike.org/ gets you shape files for easy import, just select Choose Format: OSM Shapefile (ESRI) when exporting. Then when you do the import, make sure to pick Zone: Zone 18 North (or wherever you are!). I have an OCAD converter too, if it's useful, to convert the imported shapes to ISOM symbols. YMMV! :)

Here's the OCAD crt file:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/24t4yvvqyvoeco6/OSMISOM....

That's used in Map > convert imported symbols or something like that. If you need more details let me know.

Don't forget Map > Optimize/Repair after the conversion.

The extract.bbbike.org worked great... only.... it looks like shp files are also only for pro. It's ironic, since it's the non-pros who really need the help.
I think I'll leave this exercise for another day, and then look for converters that easily convert from osm to any of the formats I can in fact import: dxf, enf, gpx, NMEA, pdf, SOSI, wmf, csv, xyz.

I've got a little program I wrote that takes OSM files and writes out a DXF file separated into layers for each key-value combination (eg. 'highway-service', 'highway-residential', 'natural-water' etc), which OCAD can combine with a CRT file to generate something vaguely usable pretty quickly.

I'll clean it up tonight and upload it somewhere if you want? (I was going to suggest this last night, but hughmac's solution sounded better :) )

Ah, crud. Only ever used the demo version 11. I'd love that script too Juffy.

Script? You wish it was so modern. It's written in .Net, because....well, hammer, nails. :)

Installer is here - I think this should work, probably requires .Net 4.0 or something silly which you can download here if you need it.

Source is here, if anyone wants to steal it, improve it and make million$. Comments about code quality, choice of language or lack of documentation will be met with a resounding "meh". Bugs may or may not get fixed, but it's more likely if you tell me about them. :)

Oh, it also only exports in UTM at the moment. If someone finds it useful but simply MUST have <insert random US coordinate system measured in furlongs or something here> I might consider making it support more. :)

Downloaded another Trial v11 and tried importing an OSM XML 7z export (unzipped with 7-zip) from extract.bbbike.org ... seemed to work fine. Uses an 'osm2ocad.crt' file which didn't seem to do the conversion correctly (symbol-wise), but everything was there in the layers. Don't know if it will work with non-Pro, as this was the eval, but it was very easy.

@Juffy: make us all use UTM. It's good for us. :) And that's what all of those free tools are about, like ogr2ogr.

To get OSM information in to a standard OCAD it seems to work to import the OSM to OOM, do as much conversion as you can or not (that's up to you) and then save the OOM file as an OCAD file.
The only issue I've found is slightly different coloured icons once the file gets to OCAD.

One of the maps I'm working on now came into being that way. I would have taken it all the way in OOM but I could not get the template image - an air photo - take its place behind the map. Does anyone have a solution for that?

Under the OCAD Extras menu, I believe there is a command to use colors from another map. Pick a map file with the best color set and import colors from that map into your other OCD files.

OCAD 11 has a native import from OSM to OCAD, but it uses map symbols that make it not look like an orienteering map. It uses a file called a CRT (Cross Reference Table). For OSM, it contains 1078 unique tags, like "way_highway_track_cycleway_track_tracktype_grade1", and each one needs to be assigned a symbol from the ISOM 2000 symbol set.

Anyway, I made a spreadsheet to help sort and assign symbols en bloc, and I made a really, really rough first draft of a CRT for importing OSM to orienteering symbols. It's nowhere near perfect (in fact it's a little embarrassing), but it's a start.

OSM accuracy probably isn't enough for most orienteering maps, but for large maps or adding vectors to Jagge's Karttapullautin output, it's better than nothing.

If you want to try the CRT, let me know.

Rereading the thread, I didn't realize earlier this was a feature in 11 for Pro versions only {edit: or for OCAD 10 Std}.

http://www.ocad.com/wiki/ocad11/en/?title=Import_O...

It would be also possilble to import the *.osm into OpenOrienteering Mapper and save the file as *.ocd.