void start_tile_feature(mapnik::feature_impl const& feature)
        {
            current_feature_ = current_layer_->add_features();
            x_ = y_ = 0;

            // TODO - encode as sint64: (n << 1) ^ ( n >> 63)
            // test current behavior with negative numbers
            current_feature_->set_id(feature.id());

            feature_kv_iterator itr = feature.begin();
            feature_kv_iterator end = feature.end();
            for ( ;itr!=end; ++itr)
            {
                std::string const& name = MAPNIK_GET<0>(*itr);
                mapnik::value const& val = MAPNIK_GET<1>(*itr);
                if (!val.is_null())
                {
                    // Insert the key index
                    keys_container::const_iterator key_itr = keys_.find(name);
                    if (key_itr == keys_.end())
                    {
                        // The key doesn't exist yet in the dictionary.
                        current_layer_->add_keys(name.c_str(), name.length());
                        size_t index = keys_.size();
                        keys_.insert(keys_container::value_type(name, index));
                        current_feature_->add_tags(index);
                    }
                    else
                    {
                        current_feature_->add_tags(key_itr->second);
                    }

                    // Insert the value index
                    values_container::const_iterator val_itr = values_.find(val);
                    if (val_itr == values_.end())
                    {
                        // The value doesn't exist yet in the dictionary.
                        to_tile_value visitor(current_layer_->add_values());
#if MAPNIK_VERSION >= 300000
                        MAPNIK_APPLY_VISITOR(visitor, val);
#else
                        MAPNIK_APPLY_VISITOR(visitor, val.base());
#endif
                        size_t index = values_.size();
                        values_.insert(values_container::value_type(val, index));
                        current_feature_->add_tags(index);
                    }
                    else
                    {
                        current_feature_->add_tags(val_itr->second);
                    }
                }
            }
        }