id	summary	reporter	owner	description	type	status	priority	milestone	component	version	resolution	keywords	cc
2760	GPX layer -> data layer convert does not simplify track	anonymous	team	"Many JOSM users load their GPX track log, convert it to a data layer, and then add it to OSM as a way. The resulting ways have many data points and are noisy. Potlatch has an automated solution to this problem in its conversion function: (From http://potlatchosm.wordpress.com/category/tips/ )

""Converting GPX tracks directly to ways can have a pitfall: if you’ve recorded a trackpoint every second, that’s a lot of unnecessary points on long, straight journeys. So Potlatch does a couple of things to avoid this. When you click ‘Track’, it “simplifies” the track to remove all the unnecessary points on straight lines. (For the curious, this is done using the Douglas-Peucker algorithm.)""

JOSM has a similar filter in the ""utilsplugin"" plugin, but it requires a user to a) know that it exists and b) install it and c) remember to call it on imported data.

I suggest that a ""simplify"" function is incorporated in the JOSM gpx->data conversion function, and that it is enabled by default."	enhancement	new	minor		Core				chris.bainbridge@… Bjoeni