Add support for WFS layer

[lucadelu]

It could be really useful to add support for WFS layer.

I'm not sure if it could be in the core or in opendata plugin.

[Don-vip]

Not in core as it needs third parties libraries. I think GeoTools provides WFS support. Why do you need it?

[anonymous]

Because I have several Gigabytes of data and I would like to share them using WFS services and link these services into OSM Tasking Manager.

I changed component from core to generic plugin

[Don-vip]

Is it public data? We need access to some public servers if we want to add this. Also it must be of public interest for the OSM community.

[Don-vip]

Found a good example of WFS OSM data: ​osmwiki:Magosm. Could be useful to browse it using JOSM.

[Don-vip]

Maybe this can be done in core after all. WFS is probably quite similar to WMS so maybe external libraries are not needed.

[Don-vip]

WFS relies on GML so it must be supported as well.
I wrote a ​small GML parser in opendata plugin but it requires GeoTools and JTS. I don't remember why, probably because at that time JOSM core did not provide as many projections as it does today.

[Penegal]

I could use WFS support too: the French geological state service (BRGM) publishes, under an open license, data about sinkholes and caves (​http://geoservices.brgm.fr/risques), but only using WMS or WFS. WMS is great for importing object locations, but it doesn't allow access to metadata, so I have to keep an eye on a browser at the same location to import useful metadata as well as locations of nodes. WFS support could speed that up.

[pangoSE]

Replying to Penegal:

I could use WFS support too: the French geological state service (BRGM) publishes, under an open license, data about sinkholes and caves (​http://geoservices.brgm.fr/risques), but only using WMS or WFS. WMS is great for importing object locations, but it doesn't allow access to metadata, so I have to keep an eye on a browser at the same location to import useful metadata as well as locations of nodes. WFS support could speed that up.

I second this. There is now a lot of data available from the Swedish Environmental Agency where metadata is only available via WFS. See ​https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/WikiProject_Sweden/Open_data/Naturv%C3%A5rdsverket

[pangoSE]

I found ​this very simple and free software WFS nodeJS implementation that might be of help when trying to implement it.

[pyrog]

The french AED national database (GéoDAE) publish only in WFS : ​https://datacarto.atlasante.fr/wfs/87d621bd-fc7b-4b51-92b7-7515ac1c66c7?service=WFS&request=GetCapabilities

[hhtznr]

As a workaround, as long as JOSM does not support WFS, you can use ​QGIS to import vector data from a WFS server and export it for use with JOSM.

This is the basic workflow:

1. ​Setup a WFS layer in QGIS based on the capability URL of the server
2. Import data from the WFS server as a layer into a new QGIS project (​Step 4: Connect + Add)
3. ​Export the layer as ESRI shapefile
4. Import the ESRI shapefile into JOSM using the ​OpenData plugin (*.shp files will be enabled in "Open file" dialog once it is installed)
5. Save the layer as *.osm file for future use (faster than reading in the shapefile)

​QGIS is open source and licensed under GPL, so maybe this could be a good reference for implementing WFS support for JOSM.