Patent ID: 7210136
Filing Date: 2007-04-24
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
1. A method for making a parser for use in extracting record data from a set of XML documents with similar structure, the method comprising the steps of: a. identifying simple XPaths in a sample document; b. forming complex XPaths and clustering the complex XPaths by common substructure; c. scoring simple XPaths based on content in instances or differences in content among instances; d. scoring complex XPaths based on content in instances or differences in content among instances; e. forming candidate parsers, with each parser comprising a single record XPath that identifies records and one or more field XPaths that identify fields; f. scoring the candidate parsers, with each candidate parser score based on the scores of the field XPaths, a number of records identified in the sample document by the record XPath, and structural similarity between records; and g. ordering the candidate parsers according to the scores.