In fact, this data is so highly structured that it can easily and efficiently be represented in a tabular or numerical format. Data about inventories, pricing, and manpower fall into this category. The majority of today's corporate information management systems are designed to track highly structured relational data. Relational data processing techniques are difficult, if not impossible, to apply to text. Just as within the tabular and numeric world, the answer lies in structure.
Structured documents are documents written according to a predictable set of rules.
For example, the style rules of a particular manual may state that the document has a title page, a table of contents, and a preface. The front matter should be followed by a minimum of four chapters. Each chapter must have a title and may directly contain content or may be made up of a minimum of two or more sections. Sections must have a title and are made up of either paragraphs, tables, figures, or numbered procedural steps. Think about the textual documents produced each day within your organization.