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Method and system for analyzing the logical structure of a document

  • US 5,669,007 A
  • Filed: 02/28/1995
  • Issued: 09/16/1997
  • Est. Priority Date: 06/16/1994
  • Status: Expired due to Fees
First Claim
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1. In a method for analyzing the logical structure of a document stored in readable form in a computer system in processing by said computer system,a method for analyzing the logical structure of a document comprising the steps of:

  • (a) reading said document into the memory region of said computer system on a line-by-line basis;

    (b) determining an attribute of said line comprising a start of a list, a continuation of a list, and the attributes of an ordinary line which is read into said memory region in accordance with a predetermined line attribute determination criterion to allow for the determination of a plurality of attributes and associate with teach determination a cost value representing a measure for the validity of the determination;

    (c) in response to the completion of the attribute determination for all of the lines of said document, generating a starting node and then, for the first line of said document, generating as many nodes as the number of attribute determinations of said first line, and, in accordance with a predetermined attribute-based node linking rule, linking said starting node with the nodes generated for said first line;

    (d) for the next line, generating as many nodes as the number of attribute determinations of said next line and in accordance with a predetermined node linking rule based on said attributes and cost value linking through links the nodes generated for the line preceding said next line with the nodes generated for said next line, and giving costs to said generated nodes and links;

    (e) sequentially performing said step (d) until reaching the last line to construct a directed graph directed from said starting node to the ending node;

    (f) traveling said directed graph from said starting node while summing the costs for the nodes and links en route to find a plurality of paths reaching the ending node; and

    (g) ranking said plurality of paths found based on the sum of the costs associated with said individual paths.

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