Content Extraction Document for Structured Electronic Documents
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Solution Overview
Problem
Accessing and identifying content within structured electronic documents is a laborious and often impractical process, especially when the source is not available or accessible.
Innovation Solution
A method and system using a content extraction document (CED) that defines a common expression and data structure definition to identify and extract content elements from structured electronic documents, employing XPath expressions and XML schema to define relationships between data elements, allowing for automated content extraction and rendering.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If automated content extraction methods are implemented, then productivity is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a content extraction document (CED) as an intermediary component that defines the relationship between structured electronic documents and data structures. The CED acts as a mediator that contains XPath expressions and XML schema definitions, enabling automated content extraction without requiring complex processing logic in the extraction system itself. This intermediary approach resolves the contradiction by providing a standardized interface that simplifies the extraction process while maintaining the ability to handle complex document structures.
2Loss of time
If manual content identification methods are used, then device complexity is reduced, but loss of time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-defining the content extraction rules, XPath expressions, and data structure mappings in the content extraction document (CED) before the actual extraction process. The CED is created in advance with all the necessary instructions for identifying and extracting content elements, so that during runtime, the system only needs to execute these pre-defined rules rather than performing complex analysis. This resolves the contradiction by shifting the complexity work to the preparation phase, making the actual extraction process fast and efficient.
3Measurement precision
If source document access is required, then measurement precision is improved, but ease of operation worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses copying by creating a virtual representation of the source document structure through XPath expressions defined in the CED. Instead of requiring direct access to the original source document, the system uses the CED which contains copied structural information and content paths that reference the source document. This allows the extraction system to work with the copied structural metadata, maintaining identification accuracy while eliminating the need for direct source document access, thus resolving the contradiction between precision and ease of operation.
Data Source
AI summary
A method can output content of interest of a structured electronic document from a computer or distributed computer system having a processor and memory. The method includes loading a common expression and a data structure definition into memory, the common expression identifying a content element in a first structured electronic document, the data structure definition defined according to the common expression; creating in memory an instance of a data structure defined by the data structure definition; applying with the processor the common expression to a second structured electronic document to extract a content element from the second structured electronic document; storing the extracted content element in the instance of the data structure; and populating a template structured electronic document using the instance of the data structure to produce an output structured electronic document.