Advanced: table grid

Overview

To give a broad overview using vertical sections for a table grid:

In the preceding image,

1. define a section for each car model.

2. define a nested vertical section for each car trim.

The following abbreviated YML notation to give a brief idea of the more complex SenseML JSON, and shows:

• Using the Offset Y parameter in a vertical section to exclude non-columnar headings (for example, "2014 Toyota Camry") so as not to break column recognition.
• The parent section group, car_model, uses an offset to include the heading with car model and year.
• The parent section demonstrates that without a Require Stop parameter, Sensible starts the next section on the first repeated instance of trim that follows the starting line vertically, but ignores repeats on the same horizontal line as the starting line. The nested section demonstrates the same behavior with the match-all regex .+ . For more information, see Multiple anchors in section.
• Configuring column recognition in a vertical section with the Min Column Gap parameter, so that column recognition doesn't break on the whitespace gaps in each trim specs column.

sections:
  - id: car_model
    range:
      anchor: trim
      offsetY: -1.1
    fields:
      - id: car_heading
        anchor:
          match:
            type: first
        method:
          id: passthrough
   sections:
     - id: trim_specs
       range:
         direction: vertical
         offsetY: 0.5
         minColumnGap: 0.5
         anchor:
           match:
             type: regex
             pattern: .+
       fields:
         - id: trim_name
           anchor:
            match:
              type: first
           method:
             id: passthrough
         - id: engine
           anchor: engine
           method:
             id: row
             position: right
      

With this approach, you can output something like the following, using abbreviated YML notation to give a brief idea of the more complex JSON API response:

car_models:
  - car_heading: 2014 Toyota Camry
    trim_specs:
      - trim_name: LE trim
        engine: 178.0-hp, 2.5-liter, 4
      - trim_name: XLE trim
        engine: 268.0-hp, 3.5-liter, V6     
  - car_heading: 2022 Honda Civic
    trim_specs:
      - trim_name: EX trim
        engine: 180.0-hp, 1.5-liter, 4
      - trim_name: LX trim
        engine: 158.0-hp, 2.0-liter, 4 
   

Details

The following elaborates on the preceding brief overview using JSON instead of YML. To illustrate each section's range and for troubleshooting purposes, the config includes a field that outputs the entire contents of each section.

Config

{
  "fields": [],
  "sections": [
    {
      "id": "car_models",
      "range": {
        "offsetY": -1.1,
        "anchor": {
          "match": {
            "type": "endsWith",
            "text": "trim"
          }
        }
      },
      "fields": [
        {
          "id": "car_heading",
          "method": {
            "id": "passthrough"
          },
          "anchor": {
            "match": {
              "type": "first"
            }
          }
        },
        {
          "id": "everything_in_this_section",
          "method": {
            "id": "documentRange",
            "includeAnchor": true
          },
          "anchor": {
            "match": {
              "type": "first"
            }
          }
        }
      ],
      "sections": [
        {
          "id": "trim_specs",
          "range": {
            "direction": "vertical",
            "offsetY": 0.5,
            "minColumnGap": 0.5,
            "anchor": {
              "match": {
                "type": "regex",
                "pattern": ".+"
              }
            }
          },
          "fields": [
            {
              "id": "everything_in_this_nested_section",
              "method": {
                "id": "documentRange",
                "includeAnchor": true
              },
              "anchor": {
                "match": {
                  "type": "first"
                }
              }
            },
            {
              "id": "trim_name",
              "method": {
                "id": "passthrough"
              },
              "anchor": {
                "match": {
                  "type": "first"
                }
              }
            },
            {
              "id": "engine",
              "method": {
                "id": "row",
                "position": "right"
              },
              "anchor": {
                "match": {
                  "type": "startsWith",
                  "text": "engine"
                }
              }
            },
            
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

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

Output

{
  "car_models": [
    {
      "car_heading": {
        "type": "string",
        "value": "2014 Toyota Camry"
      },
      "everything_in_this_section": {
        "type": "string",
        "value": "2014 Toyota Camry LE trim XLE trim Engine 178.0-hp, 2.5-liter, 4 Engine 268.0-hp, 3.5-liter, V6 cylinder cylinder Transmission 6-speed A/T Transmission 6-speed A/T"
      },
      "trim_specs": [
        {
          "everything_in_this_nested_section": {
            "type": "string",
            "value": "LE trim  Engine 178.0-hp, 2.5-liter, 4   cylinder  Transmission 6-speed A/T  "
          },
          "trim_name": {
            "type": "string",
            "value": "LE trim"
          },
          "engine": {
            "type": "string",
            "value": "178.0-hp, 2.5-liter, 4"
          }
        },
        {
          "everything_in_this_nested_section": {
            "type": "string",
            "value": "XLE trim   Engine 268.0-hp, 3.5-liter, V6  cylinder   Transmission 6-speed A/T"
          },
          "trim_name": {
            "type": "string",
            "value": "XLE trim"
          },
          "engine": {
            "type": "string",
            "value": "268.0-hp, 3.5-liter, V6"
          }
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "car_heading": {
        "type": "string",
        "value": "2022 Honda Civic"
      },
      "everything_in_this_section": {
        "type": "string",
        "value": "2022 Honda Civic EX trim LX trim Engine 180.0-hp, 1.5-liter, 4 Engine 158.0-hp, 2.0-liter, 4 cylinder cylinder Transmission CVT Transmission Transmission CVT Transmission"
      },
      "trim_specs": [
        {
          "everything_in_this_nested_section": {
            "type": "string",
            "value": "EX trim  Engine 180.0-hp, 1.5-liter, 4   cylinder  Transmission CVT Transmission  "
          },
          "trim_name": {
            "type": "string",
            "value": "EX trim"
          },
          "engine": {
            "type": "string",
            "value": "180.0-hp, 1.5-liter, 4"
          }
        },
        {
          "everything_in_this_nested_section": {
            "type": "string",
            "value": "LX trim   Engine 158.0-hp, 2.0-liter, 4  cylinder   Transmission CVT Transmission"
          },
          "trim_name": {
            "type": "string",
            "value": "LX trim"
          },
          "engine": {
            "type": "string",
            "value": "158.0-hp, 2.0-liter, 4"
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}