GeoNames Forum

1. Yes geoname table is the right one to change the feature code
2. try adding the parameter 'lang=pl' this should return the administrative division in the desired language. The default language is English.

Marc

Stu

At the moment nothing concrete is planned. It would be a major refactoring and we would like to know first everything people would want to know.

Marc

Hi Stu

You are right the alternate names are missing from the reverse geocoding. There is an xml element 'alternatenames' with a list of comma separated alterate names. The language code is not in this list, but you can extract it and check for three letter upper case names, and these are the iata codes. It is not perfect, but it should work.

Marc

Hi

You can help us improve the data with the user interface : http://www.geonames.org/manual.html

Or if you have a lot of data you can send me a file and I will run a batch update.

The admin1CodesASCII is also generated from the database. Though it is a batch job and needs to be manually started. When you have modified a lot of adm names you can tell me and I start the job.

Marc

Thanks, this is a fantastic resource.
I cannot read Polish. What does the page say about licenses? Are we allowed to use it?

Marc

I don't think the web service is a good notification service, since it requires active polling.
There are daily deletes and modification lists in the dump directory. And the full dump too helps spotting deleted records.

Marc

Sam

The country codes are the ISO code, the FIPS codes are used for admin1 regions.

For cities you can use the featureclass 'P', or all of the featurecodes you are interested in.

Marc

It seems you are using the web service without knowing it. The command 'placeNameSearchCallback' most likely calls our web service. Where have you got it from?

Normally it should be sufficient to ask for the English name (default). For 'Gujarat' we don't have many languages. Do you think the English name should be the ascii name? You can change it on our site, and if you are at it you could also add the Hindi name.
http://www.geonames.org/1270770/state-of-gujarat.html

Marc

You are right this could be a usefull feature, though I don't think it should have high priority. (You are the first to ask for it)

Marc

Sam

The ISO country code AX for the Aland Islands is not yet used in the geonames database. It is included in the countryinfo.txt file to be complete with ISO.

The country code 'CS' for the former Serbia and Montenegro is obsolete :
http://geonames.wordpress.com/2006/09/30/iso-codes-for-serbia-and-montenegro/

It is still in use for some records where we have not yet corrected it. Please feel free to help us correct it.

Marc

Namaste

There is a column 'asciiname' in the dump files. This is what you need. I just see it is missing from the web service result. Are you using the web services?

Marc

Navimap has translated the Metar weather conditions into French :
http://ws.geonames.org/weatherIcaoJSON?ICAO=LFPG&lang=fr

clouds.null = n/a
clouds.SKC = ciel clair
clouds.CLR = ciel clair
clouds.FEW = quelques nuages
clouds.SCT = nuages épars
clouds.BKN = nuages
clouds.OVC = couvert
clouds.VV = visibilité verticale

condition.null = n/a
condition.DZ = bruine
condition.RA = pluie
condition.SN = neige
condition.SG = neige en grains
condition.IC = cristaux de glace
condition.PL = grésil
condition.GR = grêle
condition.GS = petite grêle / neige roulée
condition.UP = précipitations inconnues
condition.BR = brume
condition.FG = brouillard
condition.FU = fumée
condition.VA = cendres volcaniques
condition.SA = sable
condition.HZ = brume
condition.PY = spray
condition.DU = poussière généralisée
condition.SQ = squall
condition.SS = tempête de sable
condition.DS = tempête de poussière
condition.PO = important tourbillons poussière/sable
condition.FC = nuage entonnoir
condition.+FC=tornade / trombe marine

condition.-= lumière
condition.+= chargé
condition.VC = à proximité:

condition.MI = shallow
condition.BC = patchs
condition.SH = douches
condition.PR = partielle
condition.TS = orage
condition.BL = soufflage
condition.DR = dérive
condition.FZ = gel

We need polygons in high resolution, in shapefile or other format.

Marc

For some countries we do not have the newest boundary information. Poland had a reform in 1999 and it seems we have the boundary information prior to that reform. Do you know where we can get the current boundary information for Polish provinces?

Marc

The ISO standards body has assigned the country code AQ to Antarctica. The continent Antarctica includes the country codes AQ,GS,HM,TF,BV, IO.

Marc

The unit tests we use ourselves to test the services are written in java and are basically calling the routines from the web service client : http://www.geonames.org/source-code/

Marc

Hi Hakan

We delete duplicates and write the geoNameId of the duplicate and remaining toponym in the comment. You are right it could lead to problems for applications using the geoNameId as a foreign key. But we have to get rid of duplicates and with the information in the comment is is possible to find the correct toponym. We have never had any complaints by users about this problem, so it is to be assumed that it is not a serious one. As soon as we see that this is a real problem we will find a more formal way to communicate the correct geoNameId of a duplication.

Marc

Tracy

This is not yet available for lack of data.

Marc

Do you have an example for nearest cities? It is hard to believe and I would say the cities you see happen to be the name of the administrative division.

Marc

Thanks. Will be fixed in the next dump.

Marc