.--=*#*=--=*#*=--=*#*=--=*#*=--=*#*=--=*#*=--=*#*=--.
|    Style Guide for the North America Database     |
|                                                   |
|        originally writen by Shawn K. Quinn        |
|                    2005-10-12                     |
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The following is the style guide I have adhered to while editing the
NorthAmerica.rpl3 database. Most of this also comes from

A highway intersection close to 1 mile/1 km or more from the city center
should be seperated from the entry for the city itself.

When the center of town is largely regarded as the intersection of two
major highways (for example: TX 249 and FM 2920 in Tomball, Texas) this
intersection should be treated as the city center. The limitations of
the current database format don't always allow for the database to
reflect reality with perfect accuracy but in general it's best to pick a
given point in the city and use that as where the database thinks the
city center is.

Junctions and multiplexes should be formatted with highways in the
following order:

in general:

national first, then state, then county, then city;
primary systems first, then secondary systems;
numbered routes, then named routes;

for the US:

numbered Interstates
numbered US highways
numbered state primary highways
named state primary highways
numbered state secondary roads (such as FM roads in Texas)
named state secondary roads
numbered county roads
named county or city roads

for Canada (which does not really have a national highway system):

numbered provinicial routes
numbered county routes
named county or city roads

for Mexico:

numbered Mexican Federal highways
numbered state highways
numbered local roads
named local roads

For many states, secondary route numbers will start at e.g. 201 or a
similar number; the distinction is made for states such as Texas which
re-use numbers such that e.g. FM 6 and TX 6 can be different roads
entirely.

Where two highways of the same category intersect, sort in numeric or
alphabetic order. For state/provincial loop/spur/beltway designations,
the "Loop", "Spur", or "Beltway" is not considered a highway name.

Junctions of three or more highways within a square mile should be
formatted as "Jct A; B & C, State/Province". This will allow for a
smoother transition when a future version of the database format allows
for a state or province field; right now, it's stored as part of the
city/junction name, meaning in "Jct A, B & C" the "B & C" is read as
the state.

Examples:

Jct I-10 & I-12, Louisiana
Jct I-10 & TX 6, Texas
Jct I-45; TX 3/146 & TX 6, Texas
Jct TX 6 & FM 1093, Texas
Jct TX 6 & TX 288, Texas
Jct US 59 & TX Beltway 8 N, Texas

US 190/TX 6
I-45/US 287

(For multiplexes the ordering requirement is not as strict as the
software is pretty forgiving, but it is recommended to follow it
nonetheless.)

