What do I need to use this data?

System requirements

OS MasterMap Highways Network is designed for use in a geographical information system (GIS). For details of Ordnance Survey’s Licensed Partners who can assist you with incorporating the product in their systems, please see the GIS mapping page on the OS website.

Ordnance Survey does not recommend either suppliers or software products, as the most appropriate system will depend on many factors, such as the amount of data being taken, resources available within the organisation, the existing and planned information technology infrastructure and last but by no means least, the applications that the data will be used for.

However, the following minimum elements will be required in any system:

• A means of reading the data, either in its native format, or by translating it into a file format or for storage in a database.

• A means of storing and distributing the data, perhaps in a database or through a web-based service.

• A way of visualising and / or querying the data, typically a GIS.

Backup provision of the product

You are advised to copy the supplied data to a backup medium before following the steps in this guide.

Typical data volumes

For reading purposes, it is recommended that users store the data on a single hard disc. This will speed up the ability of your computer to read the data.

Uncompressed file sizes for the Full Supply of England, Scotland and Wales in the three available data formats are as follows:

Geography Markup Language (GML)

• OS MasterMap Highways Network – Roads: 29GB

• OS MasterMap Highways Network – RAMI: 43GB

• OS MasterMap Highways Network – Paths: 11GB

GeoPackage (GPKG)

• OS MasterMap Highways Network – Roads: 8.5GB

• OS MasterMap Highways Network – RAMI: 3GB

• OS MasterMap Highways Network – Paths: 5GB

Vector tiles (MBTiles)

• OS MasterMap Highways Network – Roads: 1.5GB

• OS MasterMap Highways Network – Paths: 0.4GB

OS MasterMap Highways Network schema files

Schema files are used to interpret the GML and translate it into a suitable data format by your chosen software; however, we are aware that some firewalls will block access to these. In these instances, it is suggested that you download the schemas from the OS MasterMap Highways Network GitHub repository.