Uncompiled Map

An uncompiled map refers to map data that has not been optimized or structured into an executable form. An uncompiled map provides all the building blocks, but these need to be processed through code or scripts into an executable format. For example, an uncompiled map provides all map features and properties required to build a routing engine. However, the data does not provide any routing functionality.

Exchange Format

An uncompiled map is generally delivered in an exchange format. This is a standardized format used for exchanging data between different systems or platforms. Orbis uses PBF (Protocolbuffer Binary Format) as the exchange format. The uncompiled map data is converted to the exchange format by one program and the exchange format can be converted to a target format by another program.

PBF is a highly efficient, binary-based file format. It is also one of the main formats used for exchanging OSM data. PBF files contain geographic information such as nodes, ways, relations, and associated attributes.

PBF is designed to be compact, fast to parse, and suitable for processing large volumes of geospatial data. PBF files are commonly used in applications and tools that work with OSM data, offering improved performance and reduced file sizes compared to other formats like XML.