# Routino : Software

## Routino Introduction

Routino is an application for finding a route between two points using the dataset of topographical information collected by https://openstreetmap.org.

Starting from the raw OpenStreetMap data (in the form of the '.osm' XML files available on the internet) a custom database is generated that contains the information useful for routing. With this database and two points specified by latitude and longitude an optimum route (either shortest or quickest) is determined. The route is calculated for OpenStreetMap highways (roads, paths etc) using one of the common forms of transport defined in OpenStreetMap (foot, bicycle, horse, motorcar, motorcycle etc).

When processing the OpenStreetMap data the types of highways are recorded and these set default limits on the types of traffic allowed. More specific information about permissions for different types of transport are also recorded as are maximum speed limits. Further restrictions like one-way streets, weight, height, width and length limits are also included where specified. Additionally a set of properties of each highway are also recorded. The processing of the input file is controlled by a configuration file which determines the information that is used.

When calculating a route the type of transport to be used is taken into account to ensure that the known restrictions are followed. Each of the different highway types can further be allowed or disallowed depending on preferences. For each type of highway a default speed limit is defined (although the actual speed used will be the lowest of the default and any specified in the original data). To make use of the information about restrictions the weight, height, width and length of the transport can also be specified. Further preferences about road properties (e.g. paved or not) can also be selected. The simplest type of turn restrictions (those formed from an initial way, a node and a second way) are also obeyed.

The result of calculating the route can be presented in several different ways. An HTML file can be produced that contains a description of the route to take with instructions for each of the important junctions. The contents of the file are created based on a set of translations specified in a configuration file. The route is also available in a GPX (GPS eXchange) XML format. format file containing either every point and highway segment (a track file) or just a waypoint and translated instructions for the important junctions (a route file). Additionally there are two plain text files that contain all data points or just the important ones (intended for debugging and further processing).

One of the design aims of Routino was to make the software are flexible as possible in selecting routing preferences but also have a sensible set of default values. Another design aim was that finding the optimum route should be very fast and most of the speed increases come from the carefully chosen and optimised data format.

## Disclaimer

The route that is calculated by this software is only as good as the input data.

Routino comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY for the software itself or the route that is calculated by it.

## Demonstration

A live demonstration of the router for the UK is available on the internet in OpenLayers and Leaflet versions (updated since this version):
https://routino.org/uk-leaflet/
https://routino.org/uk-openlayers/

The source code download available below also includes a set of files that can be used to create your own interactive map.

The interactive map is made possible by use of the OpenLayers or Leaflet Javascript library from https://openlayers.org/ or https://leafletjs.com/.

## Documentation

A full set of documentation is available that describes how to install and use the programs as well as what should go in the configuration files and how it works.

## Status

Version 1.0 of Routino was released on 8th April 2009.
Version 2.0 of Routino was released on 30th May 2011.
Version 3.0 of Routino was released on 12th September 2015.
Version 3.1 of Routino was released on 5th March 2016.
Version 3.1.1 of Routino was released on 6th March 2016.
Version 3.2 of Routino was released on 12th March 2017.
Version 3.3 of Routino was released on 7th September 2019.
Version 3.3.1 of Routino was released on 8th September 2019.
Version 3.3.2 of Routino was released on 18th September 2019.
Version 3.3.3 of Routino was released on 30th December 2020.
Version 3.4 of Routino was released on 11th June 2023.
Version 3.4.1 of Routino was released on 1st July 2023.
Version 3.4.2 of Routino was released on 29th March 2025.
Version 3.4.3 of Routino was released on 26th April 2025.
Version 3.4.4 of Routino was released on 22nd August 2026.

The full version history is available in the NEWS.txt file.

### Changes in Version 3.4

Bug fixes:
  Avoid infinite recursion when parsing route relations.
  Ignore excess data rather than fail to process huge route relations.
planetsplitter:
  Speed up node processing on large databases.
  Merge some steps together to speed up processing.
  Speed up multi-threaded sorting, increase default memory size.
OSM tagging:
  Don't route through barriers (fence, wall etc) explicitly tagged on a node.
  Add platforms (public transport) as highways, equivalent to a path.
  Only look for access tags on barriers not other nodes.
Python:
  Change from distutils to setuptools for building.
  Do not try to install python module with 'make install' but suggest options.
Translations:
  Updated French, Polish, Spanish translations.
  Added Slovak translation.
Documentation
  Recommend multi-threaded sorting.
Web pages:
  Test with the latest version of Leaflet (1.9.4).
  Test with the latest version of OpenLayers (7.4.0).

Note: This version is compatible with databases from versions 2.7.1 - 3.3.3.

### Changes in Version 3.4.1

Bug fixes:
  Fix error with sorting (without threads, not slim mode).

Note: This version is compatible with databases from versions 2.7.1 - 3.4.

### Changes in Version 3.4.2

Bug fixes:
  Fix bug with using uninitialised memory.
  Fix some problems caused by changing index_t to 64-bit type (not default).
planetsplitter:
  Refactor some code
OSM tagging:
  Rework the node tagging, only consider barriers as blocking access.
Translations:
  Updated Spanish & German translations.

Note: This version is compatible with databases from versions 2.7.1 - 3.4.1.

### Changes in Version 3.4.3

Bug fixes:
  Fix bug that would crash on some turn relations (partial undo of v3.4.2).

Note: This version is compatible with databases from versions 2.7.1 - 3.4.2.

### Changes in Version 3.4.4

Important:
  This is a subset of recent development changes excluding big new features:
  - Perl scripts replaced by Python scripts.
  - HTML and Javascript modernisation, cleaning and refactoring.
  - Openlayers version 2 support removal.
Bug fixes:
  Fix crash (not slim mode) if a way references a node number too high.
  Fix crash if a relation has too many sub-relations when parsing.
  Fix tagging for highways of vehicle=* or motor_vehicle=*.
  Fix problem finding route if starting on a highway with no super-segment.
Code cleanup and modernisation:
  Update web links: https not http, no www prefix.
Translations:
  Updated German translations.

Note: This version is compatible with databases from versions 2.7.1 - 3.4.3.

### Other Versions

There is a version of Routino (in subversion, on the branch called "destination-access") that allows the first and last waypoint of a route to be on highways with access="destination" or access="private". The database is not compatible with this version of Routino.

## License

This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

It is important to note that for this program I have decided to use the Affero GPLv3 instead of just using the GPL. This license adds additional requirements to anybody who provides a networked service using this software.

### Copyright

Routino is copyright Andrew M. Bishop 2008-2026.

## Homepage

The Routino homepage has the latest news about the program.

## Download

The download directory contains the latest version of the source code.

### Subversion

The source code can also be downloaded from the Subversion repository with a command like the following:

    svn co https://routino.org/svn/trunk routino