Extract lines inside a box. This method works by default with boxes that have a light background and dark, continuous borders.

Parameters
Examples

Parameters

Note: For additional parameters available for this method, see Global parameters for methods. The following table shows parameters most relevant to or specific to this method.

Examples

Simple box

The following example shows extracting a dollar amount from a box in a 1099 form, based on anchor text matching in the box.

Config

{
 "fields": [
   {
     /* find the first box in the document 
         containing the text 'rents'
        and return all the other text in the box */
     "id": "rents_income",
     "type": "currency",
     "method": {
       "id": "box",
     },
     "anchor": "rents"
   }
 ]
}

Example document
The following image shows the example document used with this example config:

Output

{
  "rents_income": {
    "source": "4,200",
    "value": 4200,
    "unit": "$",
    "type": "currency"
  }
}

Dark box

The following example shows extracting text from a box with a dark background and light text using the darknessThreshold parameter.

Config

{
  "fields": [
    {
      "id": "dark_box",
      "method": {
        "id": "box",
        "darknessThreshold": 0.8
      },
      "anchor": "dark box with light text",
    }
  ]
}

Example document
The following image shows the example document used with this example config:

Output

{
  "dark_box": {
    "type": "string",
    "value": "Here’s some more text"
  }
}

Offset boxes

The following example shows recognizing boxes relative to other boxes using the Box Offset parameter.

Config

{
  "fields": [
    {
      "id": "auto_limit_in_policy_1",
      "anchor": "auto only",
      "match": "first",
      "method": {
        "id": "box",
        "offsetBoxes": {
          "direction": "right",
          "number": 1
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "injury_limit_in_policy_2",
      "anchor": "dollar amount",
      "match": "last",
      "method": {
        "id": "box",
        "offsetBoxes": {
          "direction": "below",
          "number": 2
        }
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "offset_boxes",
      "anchor": "spanning multiple",
      "method": {
        "id": "box",
        "offsetBoxes": {
          "direction": "below",
          "number": 3
        }
      }
    },
  ]
}

Example document

The following image shows the example document used with this example config:

Output

{
  "auto_limit_in_policy_1": {
    "type": "string",
    "value": "$2,000"
  },
  "injury_limit_in_policy_2": {
    "type": "string",
    "value": "$4,000"
  },
  "offset_boxes": {
    "type": "string",
    "value": "Third offset box"
  }
}

Notes

The following image illustrates how Sensible recognizes offset boxes after the first box:

1. Recognize the starting box by searching for the dark borders of the box. The search starts at the green dot defined by the Position parameter. The search expansion is in all directions, not just the cardinal directions shown by the red arrows in the image.
2. Find a bottom border ("direction": "below") that's shared with the next box. Choose a point ( represented as the second green dot) on the bottom border that's in the middle of the starting box's border and that's just inside the next box's borders.
3. Search from that point to recognize the next box's borders.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for the next box.

When boxes are complex (inconsistently sized, spanned, or aligned, as in the preceding image), Sensible's methods for recognizing boxes can be correspondingly complex. In such cases, use the Sensible app to visually examine and understand the extraction. Or, see the following example for an alternative approach.

Box coordinates

You can use the Offset X and Offset Y parameters:

• to anchor on text outside the target box, for example, if all the box's contents are variable.
• as an alternative to the Offset Boxes parameter. Offsets provide faster performance, but are more sensitive to inconsistent box positioning across documents and require more configuration.

The following example shows the same document as the Offset Boxes example, but uses distances in inches rather than boxes to define the offsets.

Config

{
  "fields": [
    {
      "id": "auto_limit_in_policy_1",
      "anchor": "auto only",
      "match": "first",
      "method": {
        "id": "box",
        "offsetX": 1.5,
        "offsetY": 0.0
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "injury_limit_in_policy_2",
      "anchor": "dollar amount",
      "match": "last",
      "method": {
        "id": "box",
        "offsetX": 0.0,
        "offsetY": 1.0
      }
    },
    {
      "id": "oddly_formatted_boxes",
      "anchor": "spanning multiple",
      "method": {
        "id": "box",
        "offsetX": 1.0,
        "offsetY": 2.5
      }
    },
  ]
}

Example document

The following image shows the example document used with this example config:

The red arrows in the preceding image show the offsets in inches from the point defined by the Position parameter. The green dots move as you adjust the inches coordinates, so you can visually tweak your measurements in the Sensible app.

Output

{
  "auto_limit_in_policy_1": {
    "type": "string",
    "value": "$2,000"
  },
  "injury_limit_in_policy_2": {
    "type": "string",
    "value": "$6,000"
  },
  "oddly_formatted_boxes": {
    "type": "string",
    "value": "Third offset box"
  }
}

Troubleshoot box recognition

Use the Position parameter to fine tune box recognition.

PROBLEM

In the following error example, Sensible searches for borders starting from the middle point of the anchor line's left boundary ("position": "left"). Since the point (the green dot) overlaps the box border, Sensible can't recognize the box.

Config

{
  "fields": [
    {
      "id": "box_test",
      "anchor": "big anchor text",
      "method": {
        "id": "box",
        "position": "left",
        "wordFilters": [
          "cramped"
        ]
      }
    }
  ]
}

Example document

The following image shows the example document used with this example config:

SOLUTION

If you specify "position": "right", the green dot is far enough inside the borders that Sensible recognizes the box:

Config

{
  "fields": [
    {
      "id": "box_test",
      "anchor": "big anchor text",
      "method": {
        "id": "box",
        "position": "right",
        "wordFilters": [
          "cramped"
        ]
      }
    }
  ]
}

Example document

Output

{
  "box_test": {
    "type": "string",
    "value": " with some text to extract"
  }
}

Notes

The Box method is an alternative to the Region method that requires less configuration and is slightly slower. Use the Region method instead of the Box method for faster performance, or if the borders of a box are incomplete or discontinuous.