Implicit List Reconstruction in Documents
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Solution Overview
Problem
Electronic documents often lack explicit list structures, which prevents applications from utilizing list features, navigating documents accurately, and copying list content effectively, especially when lists are created without list-editing tools and get lost during format conversions like printing to PDF.
Innovation Solution
A method that reconstructs lists using geometric and lexical analysis, identifying list spacing and levels within columns, and matching lists across columns to encode implicit lists as explicit structures, enabling applications to recognize and utilize list structures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If lists are created without list-editing tools or explicit semantic encoding, then document creation is simpler and more flexible, but list structure information is lost and cannot be utilized by applications
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary analysis of document content during the conversion process to identify potential list structures before explicit encoding is applied. By analyzing geometric patterns (spacing, alignment) and lexical patterns (repeated phrases, numbering sequences) in advance, the system reconstructs list structures that were originally created without formal list tools, thereby preserving information that would otherwise be lost.
2Adaptability or versatility
If explicit list structures are encoded in the document, then applications can utilize list features effectively, but document creation becomes more complex requiring list-editing tools
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables documents to self-identify list structures through automatic analysis of their own content during conversion. The system examines geometric properties (line spacing, indentation, alignment) and lexical properties (repeated patterns, numbering sequences) within the document itself to reconstruct list structures without requiring external list-editing tools or manual encoding, thus maintaining simplicity while enabling list feature utilization.
3Adaptability or versatility
If lists are converted through virtual printer driver to PDF, then document format compatibility is improved, but list structure information is lost in the conversion process
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates feedback mechanisms during the PDF conversion process by analyzing the rendered output to identify list structures. The system examines the geometric arrangement of text lines (spacing, alignment, indentation) and lexical patterns (numbering sequences, repeated phrases) in the converted document to reconstruct list structures that survived the conversion process, thereby recovering information that would otherwise be permanently lost.
Data Source
AI summary
Some embodiments provide a method for analyzing a document that includes several primitive elements. The method identifies that a set of primitive elements include an implicit list in the document based on location and appearance of the set of primitive elements. The method defines the identified implicit list as an explicit list. The method stores the explicit list as a structure associated with the document.