OSMIUM-SHOW(1)

📦
version 1.19.1 · 6 versions
, in fedora 44, nixos 26.05, nixpkgs unstable, ubuntu stonking

💖 osmium-show — bestie, let's peek inside that OSM file 💖

okay so like. this is the osmium-show manual page, from the osmium crew (version 1.19.1, iconic behavior), and it's basically the "hold my hand and let me read this file out loud to you" command. sit down, get comfy, we're doing this together 🫶

🌸 NAME 🌸

osmium-show — show OSM file. that's it. that's the vibe. it shows you an OSM file ✨

🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

osmium show [OPTIONS] OSM-FILE

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

So what it does is show you the contents of OSM-FILE on STDOUT, and usually it pipes that into a pager so you can scroll through it like a little gremlin reading a novel. 📖

The output format? You've got options, bestie:

  • the --output-format/-f option sets it directly,
  • or use the shortcuts: -d for debug format with colors (yes, colors, we love a glow-up), -o for OPL, or -x for XML,
  • or just set the OSMIUM_SHOW_FORMAT environment variable and let the environment carry you. 💅

Now, the pager. You can pick it with the OSMIUM_PAGER env var or the plain old PAGER env var. If neither one is set, the default is less — unless you pass --no-pager, in which case, no pager, no problem. And if you set those pager variables to an empty value or literally to cat, then no pager is used either. Oh and heads up: on Windows there is no pager support at all. none. zero. sorry bestie 😭

Also super important: this command reads its input file only once, which means it can read from STDIN. stream queen behavior. 🌈

✨ OPTIONS ✨

  • -f, --output-format=FORMAT — sets the format of the output file. use it when the format can't be autodetected from the output file name. for the details, go check osmium-file-formats(5) or the libosmium manual. 👑
  • --no-pager — disable the pager. simple as that.
  • -d, --format-debug — same as -f debug,color=true. yes, colored debug output. slay.
  • -o, --format-opl — same as -f opl.
  • -x, --format-xml — same as -f xml.
  • -t, --object-type=TYPE — read only objects of the given type (node, way, relation, changeset). by default all types are read. and you can hand this option over multiple times if you want more than one type, no cap.

💜 COMMON OPTIONS 💜

  • -h, --help — show usage help. when in doubt, ask for help, that's growth 🧚

🌟 INPUT OPTIONS 🌟

  • -F, --input-format=FORMAT — the format of the input file(s). use it when the format can't be autodetected from the file name(s). warning tho: this sets the format for all input files, there is no way to set the format for some input files only. see osmium-file-formats(5) or the libosmium manual for the details. 📚

💀 DIAGNOSTICS 💀

osmium show exits with exit code:

  • 0 — if everything went alright (periodt, we love a zero),
  • 1 — if there was an error processing the data, or
  • 2 — if there was a problem with the command line arguments.

🍓 MEMORY USAGE 🍓

osmium show does all its work on the fly and doesn't keep much data in main memory. low maintenance, high performance, that's the energy. ✨

🔥 EXAMPLES 🔥

Show an OSM file using the default pager and default format:

osmium show norway.osm.pbf

Use more as a pager and only show relations:

OSMIUM_PAGER=more osmium show -t r norway.osm.pbf

Show using XML format:

osmium show -x norway.osm.pbf

👑 SEE ALSO 👑

Copyright (C) 2013-2026 Jochen Topf <jochen@topf.org>.

License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later <https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html>. This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law. (fr fr, no warranty, read the license bestie 💅)

🫶 CONTACT 🫶

If you have any questions or want to report a bug, please go to <https://osmcode.org/contact.html>. they're nice, they want to hear from you.

💖 AUTHORS 💖

Jochen Topf <jochen@topf.org>. legend behavior, honestly.

and that's the whole page, bestie!! 🎀 this was osmium-show from osmium 1.19.1 — go forth, page through your OSM files, and remember: no pager on Windows, sobs. bye!! 👑💖✨

📦 where this page comes from