[Xastir] New (replacement) Geocoding Feature in Xastir (git version)

Jason Godfrey godfreja at gmail.com
Mon Dec 15 18:13:28 PST 2025


Subject: New (replacement) Geocoding Feature in Xastir

Hello.

Yesterday I checked in a "new" feature into xastir. This replaces the
outdated "Map->Find Address" menu item that relied on out of date
TIGER/Line data with a "Map->Search Location" menu item. This new search
functionality uses [Nominatim](https://nominatim.org/)to search Open Street
Map Data. This offers several advantages:
* It uses up to date data you can actually get
* It works internationally instead of being limited to US addresses
* Besides addresses you can do more free-form searching. For example you
can search for "American Radio Relay League" or "Big Ben" and get
appropriate responses.

Using Nominatim for lookups requires internet access, but you should be
able to run it locally with a bit of setup and point xastir to your local
server using the Maps->Configure->Geocoding Settings menu item. This same
dialog box will also let you select a default country to filter results to
and enter an email address. Nominatim requests but does not require that
you provide an email address with queries. (Local access is as of yet
untested.)

I used GitHub Copilot to translate the strings used for this new feature
into the other languages xastir supports. (Except for the "fun" languages
like Elmer Fudd or Swedish Chef.) If you find any translation mistakes
please speak up.

This feature is now available to all users running the latest version from
Git. I encourage you to try it out and share your feedback.

Thanks and 73
- Jason


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