Talk:Tag:power=circuit

topology

Why the topology=linear/branched tag? This can be seen from the members: non-linear members and tap node means it's branched. Or is it for Q/A purposes? Isn't the non-linearity of the members and the presence of the tap node enough redundancy for Q/A purposes already? —M!dgard 🇧🇪 (talk) 12:31, 22 August 2025 (UTC)

Hello, not always: sometimes you know it's branched but aren't able to complete all the members. That's why I wonder how QA will be relevant if topology=* says it's branched but members say it's linear. It already existed for outdoor activities, with roundtrip=yes which would be an equivalent to topology=loop Fanfouer (talk) 12:42, 22 August 2025 (UTC)

What is the difference between line_section and circuit?

From reading the page it is not clear at all to me.

If I understood correctly circuit is built from multiple line_sections? How exactly circuit is split into line sections?

On rereading it seems that circuit is split into line_section by tap point, as substations split both. Though "tap point" seems undefined in article, has no wiki page, googling gives unrelated terms.

Mateusz Konieczny (talk) 09:47, 11 April 2026 (UTC)

A circuit is composed of one or several sections. Those two images illustrate the difference:

and

When composed of a single section between two substations, the section merges into the power=circuit relation and no power=line_section is needed.

Tap points are t-connections and relates to line_management=branch (but not all tap points get line_management=branch, since line_management=branch|straight or line_management=branch|split may apply as well). I've added this explanation into [1] Fanfouer (talk) 11:30, 11 April 2026 (UTC)

"Such circuits involve tapping points referring to particular towers or junctions. They connect several sections together often in a T or X pattern and relate to line_management=branch (or any composite value involving it). " - would phrasing it as "Such circuits involve tapping points. Tapping points are where multiple power=line or power=minor_line join together, and any power=line_section will never go through tapping point, instead tapping point will split it into two power=line_section" be still correct and more clear? Mateusz Konieczny (talk) 14:29, 11 April 2026 (UTC)

Almost, yes. "Tapping points are where multiple power=line or power=minor_line join together" bothers me as sometimes different power=line may converge on a tower with line_management=split and it's not a tapping point. The final part is fine to me. Fanfouer (talk) 18:35, 11 April 2026 (UTC)

"sometimes different power=line may converge on a tower with line_management=split and it's not a tapping point" - it would be worth mentioning exactly that to clarify that. Is every line_management=split preventing convergence from being a tap point? Can it be prevented in other way? Mateusz Konieczny (talk) 03:07, 12 April 2026 (UTC)

We should not duplicate line_management=* documentation on this page. We should remain focused on line_management=branch as it's the only value for a tapping point. My point was the line convergence on a tower is not enough for a tapping point, it should also conform to line_management=branch. I've added a mention of tapping point on line_management=branch as well Fanfouer (talk) 06:47, 14 April 2026 (UTC)

In such case linking it would be also OK, just that it ideally it would be comprehensible for nonexperts Mateusz Konieczny (talk) 14:59, 15 April 2026 (UTC)

That's right. I've completed the page with according line_management values and how we should interpret them. Hope it helps Fanfouer (talk) 06:25, 16 April 2026 (UTC)

https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Tag:power%3Dcircuit#How_to_map - would it be correct to add note that of listed ones only in line_management=termination circuits end there? And in general, listing for which cases circuit should end... Mateusz Konieczny (talk) 06:18, 17 April 2026 (UTC)

I've added more details on what we should look at on ground to find where a given circuit ends Fanfouer (talk) 09:52, 20 April 2026 (UTC)