# Lua tag transformations

osm2pgsql supports [Lua](https://lua.org/) scripts to rewrite tags before they
enter the database.

This allows you to unify disparate tagging (for example, `highway=path;
foot=yes` and `highway=footway`) and perform complex queries, potentially more
efficiently than writing them as rules in your Mapnik or other stylesheet.

## How to

Pass a Lua script to osm2pgsql using the command line switch `--tag-transform-script`:

    osm2pgsql -d gis -S your.style --tag-transform-script your.lua --hstore-all extract.osm.pbf

This Lua script needs to implement the following functions:

    function filter_tags_node(tags, num_tags)
    return filter, tags

    function filter_tags_way(tags, num_tags)
    return filter, tags, polygon, roads

    function filter_basic_tags_rel(tags, num_tags)
    return filter, tags

These take a set of tags as a Lua key-value table, and an integer which is the
number of tags supplied.

The first return value is `filter`, a flag which you should set to `1` if the
way/node/relation should be filtered out and not added to the database, `0`
otherwise. (They will still end up in the slim mode tables, but not in the
rendering tables.)

The second return value is `tags`, a transformed (or unchanged) set of tags.

`filter_tags_way` returns two additional flags. `poly` should be `1` if the way
should be treated as a polygon, `0` as a line. `roads` should be `1` if the way
should be added to the `planet_osm_roads` table, `0` otherwise.

    function filter_tags_relation_member(tags, member_tags,
        roles, num_members)
    return filter, tags, member_superseded, boundary,
        polygon, roads

The function `filter_tags_relation_member` is more complex and can handle more
advanced relation tagging, such as multipolygons that take their tags from the
member ways.

This function is called with the tags from the relation; a set of tags for each
of the member ways (member relations and nodes are ignored); the set of roles
for each of the member ways; and the number of members. The tag and role sets
are both arrays (indexed tables) of hashes (tables).

As usual, it should return a filter flag, and a transformed set of tags to be
applied to the relation in later processing.

The third return value, `member_superseded`, is obsolete and will be ignored.

The fourth and fifth return values, `boundary` and `polygon`, are flags that
specify if the relation should be processed as a line, a polygon, or both (e.g.
administrative boundaries).

The final return value, `roads`, is `1` if the geometry should be added to the
`planet_osm_roads` table.

There is a sample tag transform lua script in the repository as an example,
which (nearly) replicates current processing and can be used as a template for
one's own scripts.

## In practice

There is inevitably a performance hit with any extra processing. The sample Lua
tag transformation is a little slower than the C++-based default. However,
extensive Lua pre-processing may save you further processing in your Mapnik (or
other) stylesheet.

Test your Lua script with small excerpts before applying it to a whole country
or even the planet.

Where possible, add new tags, don't replace existing ones; otherwise you will
be faced with a reimport if you decide to change your transformation.

