Patent ID: 12259893

The described features, structures, and/or characteristics of the systems and methods described herein may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more alternative embodiments, and may differ from the illustrated embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure provides various systems and methods for indexing digital (electronic) documents. The present disclosure also provides various systems and methods for generating electronically linked documents using the index. For clarity, the systems and methods are often described in terms of steps of a method and/or as actions performed by a computing system. However, the systems and methods described herein may be implemented in hardware, software, and/or firmware.

In various embodiments, an indexing system may receive a plurality of digital pages. The digital pages may be part of one or more electronic documents that have one digital page per document or multiple digital pages per document. In some embodiments, the digital pages may have machine-encoded text. For example, the digital pages may have been created in a word processor or other computer program that allows for machine-encoded text input.

In other embodiments, the digital pages may originate as scanned or image-based digital pages. Optical character recognition (OCR) and/or another image-text analysis technique may be utilized to generate digital pages with machine-encoded text. For instance, a computer processor may perform the OCR or a human may manually convert image-text to machine-encoded text. In some embodiments, a combination of computer processing and manual inputs may be performed.

The machine-encoded text of each of the digital documents may be analyzed to identify relevant notations. Although the systems and methods may be utilized and/or readily adapted for use with various document types and fields of interest, the remainder of the specification uses construction plan documents as an example. In that application, the indexing system may analyze the machine-encoded text to identify notations such as sheet names, anchors, anchor references, building names, etc.

Sheet names identified on the pages may be categorized into primary sheet names and reference sheet names. Each page of the documents may have a primary sheet name, although some primary sheet names may be blank primary sheet names, such as a table of contents page and/or index page (index sheet). A page may include one or more anchors. An anchor may be referred to using various alternative terms including, but not limited to, an anchor reference, a callout detail, an elevation detail, a detail, an elevation callout detail, and/or the like.

Each anchor may reference a particular portion of the page and may include an anchor description. An anchor may include just an anchor identifier, in which case it is understood that the anchor refers to the page on which it is found. In other embodiments, an anchor may include an anchor identifier together with a reference to the sheet name of the page on which it is found. That is, the anchor may include a reference to the primary sheet name to clarify that the anchor is associated with the page on which it is found.

Additionally, a page may include one or more anchor references. An anchor reference may be directed to an anchor on another page. For example, an anchor reference may include an anchor identifier and a reference sheet name. The anchor identifier of the anchor reference is directed to an anchor on the page corresponding to the reference sheet name. In some embodiments, the construction documents may refer to more than one building. In that case each primary sheet name may be associated with one or more of the buildings.

After identifying the various notations, the indexing system may generate an index that maps various associations between the primary sheet names, reference sheet names, anchors, anchor references, and/or building names. An “index” may include various sub-indexes. An index may be implemented using any of a wide variety of data types, arrays, mappings, tags, and structs, and/or any of a wide variety of associated data structures.

The index may be used to generate various reports related to the indexed notations, such as the number of anchor references that reference a particular sheet name or the number of sheet names not referenced by any anchor reference. The index may also be used to generate a plurality of linked pages corresponding to the originally indexed pages. The linked pages may provide various hyperlinks and integrated reports. For example, the linked pages may include hyperlinks for each of the anchor references that, when selected, direct a user to the referenced sheet name and/or anchor.

In some embodiments, analyzing the machine-encoded text, categorizing, and/or otherwise identifying notations may incorporate the usage of one or more whitelists and/or regular expressions. The term “regular expression” as used herein may relate to any type of software, hardware, or firmware module configured to automatically identify textual material that corresponds to one or more patterns, including text-based and image-based patterns. The term “regular expression” may also be used as defined in any of a wide variety of programming languages, as would be understood by one of skill in the art.

As used herein, the terms “hyperlinked” and “linked” are, in many instances, used broadly to encompass a variety of linking or hyperlinking variations. For example, the term “hyperlink” may be used to describe a “link” or “link action” within a PDF document as supported by, for example, ADOBE ACROBAT™. Thus, the term “hyperlink” or “link” might be used to describe a link action within a document intended to go to a page view, open a file, open a webpage, or implement a script that includes some form of redirection, highlighting, emphasizing, or linking.

Understanding that modules may be implemented in software, hardware, firmware, and/or a combination thereof, the system may include a notation identification module that identifies any of the various notations described herein. The system may include a categorization module that distinguishes between primary and reference sheet names. The system may also include an indexing module that indexes each of the plurality of pages and associates the notations with one another, as described herein.

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. Thus, the appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” and “in an embodiment” in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. In particular, an “embodiment” may be a system, an article of manufacture (such as a computer-readable storage medium), a method, and/or a product of a process.

Furthermore, the described features, operations, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. The order of the steps or actions of the methods described in connection with the embodiments disclosed may be varied. Thus, any order in the drawings or Detailed Description is for illustrative purposes only and is not meant to imply a required order, unless otherwise specified.

Embodiments may include various features, which may be embodied in machine-executable instructions executed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer (or other electronic device). Alternatively, the features may be performed by hardware components that include specific logic for performing the steps or by a combination of hardware, software, and/or firmware.

Accordingly, the various components, modules, systems, and/or features described herein may be embodied as modules within a system. Such a system may be implemented in software, firmware, hardware, and/or physical infrastructure. Although not always explicitly named herein, a module may be identified (named) based on a function it performs. For example, a module that is configured to display something may comprise specific hardware, software, or firmware and be properly referred to as a “display module.”

Embodiments may also be provided as a computer program product including a non-transitory machine-readable medium having stored thereon instructions that may be used to program, or be executed on, a computer (or other electronic device) to perform processes described herein. The machine-readable medium may include, but is not limited to, hard drives, floppy diskettes, optical disks, CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs, ROMs, RAMs, EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards, solid-state memory devices, or other types of media/machine-readable media suitable for storing electronic instructions. Moreover, a computer program product may be run, executed, downloaded, and/or otherwise used locally or remotely via a network.

The embodiments of the disclosure will be best understood by reference to the drawings, wherein like elements are designated by like numerals throughout. In the following description, numerous specific details are provided for a thorough understanding of the embodiments described herein. However, those of skill in the art will recognize that one or more of the specific details may be omitted, or other methods, components, or materials may be used. In some cases, operations are not shown or described in detail.

FIG.1illustrates a flow chart of a method100for receiving a plurality of pages and indexing various notations, including sheet names, anchors, and anchor references. A system, such as a computing system comprising hardware, firmware, and/or software, may receive a plurality of digital pages, at110. The system may receive the digital pages as a set of individual documents or files. Alternatively, the system may receive the digital pages as a single document or file having any number of pages.

In some embodiments, the digital pages may already include machine-encoded text. In other embodiments, optical character recognition (OCR) may be used to generate corresponding digital pages with machine-encoded text thereon, at120. Alternatively, machine-encoded text that corresponds to text images on the original digital pages may be manually provided. The system may then analyze the machine-encoded text on each of the digital pages to identify one or more types of notations, at130. For example, the system may analyze the machine-encoded text to identify primary sheet names, reference sheet names, anchors, anchor references, and/or building names.

In some embodiments, the system may identify sheet names and then process the sheet names for categorization and subsequent indexing, at140. That is, each sheet name may be categorized as either a primary sheet name of a page or a reference sheet name that refers to the primary sheet name of another page. Additionally, identified anchors and/or anchor references may be processed and/or analyzed for indexing, at150and160.

The system may generate an index that associates one or more of the sheet names (including primary and reference sheet names), anchors, and/or anchor references, at170. For example, the index may associate a primary sheet name notation with each of the plurality of digital pages, and associate each reference sheet name notation with the primary sheet name notation on the page on which it is identified.

FIG.2illustrates a flow chart of a method200for filtering and massaging machine-readable text recognized using optical character recognition (OCR). As illustrated, a system may receive a document, such as a document in the portable document format (PDF), at210. The document may include one or more pages and may include image-based text (e.g., handwritten, typewritten, printed, or other non-machine-encoded text). The document may or may not also include some machine-encoded text. The system may then perform OCR processing, at220, to generate machine-encoded text corresponding to the image-based text on the received document.

The system may then process the machine-encoded text using one or more OCR filtering algorithms, at230, to improve the accuracy of the OCR processing. As part of the OCR filtering or in addition to the OCR filtering, the system may compare the machine-encoded text generated by the OCR processing with a massage whitelist, at250. The massage whitelist may include a mapping of incorrect portions of text (e.g., a letter, symbol, word, or phrase) with corrected versions. For example, if a portion of the machine-encoded text is matched with an element in the massage whitelist, the portion of the machine-encoded text may be replaced with a corrected version, at260. As a specific example, a massage whitelist may map the word “colour” with a replacement word “color.” Accordingly, the word “colour” may be replaced with the word “color” throughout the machine-encoded text on the document.

FIG.3illustrates a flow chart of a method300for characterizing a sheet name as either a primary sheet name or a reference sheet name. In some embodiments, the system may initially identify a sheet name as either a primary sheet name or a reference sheet name. Alternatively, the system may identify a sheet name in general, at305. If the identified sheet name follows a primary sheet name definition (e.g., matches a whitelist or satisfies a regular expression), at310, the system may identify the sheet name as a primary sheet name, at315. However, if the sheet name notation does not follow the primary sheet name definition, at310, the system may identify the sheet name as a reference sheet name, at325. In some embodiments, if the sheet name is a primary sheet name, at315, the system may determine if a building name is present, at320, and identify the building name associated with the sheet name, at330.

FIG.4illustrates a flow chart of another method400for distinguishing between primary sheet names, reference sheet names, and anchor sheet names that are part of an anchor. Initially, the system may identify an uncategorized sheet name. If a primary sheet name has not yet been identified for the page, at410, and the uncategorized sheet name follows a primary sheet name definition, at420, then the uncategorized sheet name may be categorized as a primary sheet name, at440. If no primary sheet name has been identified, at410, and the uncategorized sheet name does not follow the primary sheet name definition, at420, the uncategorized sheet name may be identified as a reference sheet name, at450.

If a primary sheet name has already been identified for the page, at410, and the uncategorized sheet name does not match the primary sheet name, at430, the uncategorized sheet name may be identified as a reference sheet name, at450. If a primary sheet name has already been identified for the page, at410, and the uncategorized sheet name matches the primary sheet name, at430, the uncategorized sheet name may be identified as an anchor sheet name, at460.

As described above, an anchor reference may refer to an anchor on another page. The anchor reference may include an anchor identifier and a reference sheet name, at450. An anchor may include an anchor identifier and/or an anchor identifier coupled with a reference to the primary sheet name (an anchor sheet name).

FIG.5illustrates a flow chart of a method500for identifying an anchor based on the proximity of an anchor identifier to an anchor sheet name. If an anchor sheet name (i.e., a reference to the primary sheet name of the page on which the reference is located) has an anchor identifier nearby, at510, then an anchor is identified, at520. If no anchor identifier is within a specified distance of the anchor sheet name, at510, then the process ends without an anchor being identified. Once an anchor is identified, at520, if there is text within a specified range of the anchor, at530, an anchor description may be associated with the anchor, at540.

FIG.6illustrates a flow chart of a method600for identifying an anchor reference based on the proximity of an anchor identifier to a reference sheet name. In some embodiments, an anchor reference may only be identified if an anchor identifier is within a specific distance, at610, and/or in a particular direction relative to a reference sheet name, at620and630. Otherwise, the identified anchor identifier may not be an anchor reference, at650. An anchor reference may be identified and associated with the primary sheet name on which it is found, the anchor to which it refers, the page to which it refers, and/or the primary sheet name to which it refers, at640.

In each ofFIGS.1-6, methods are described that identify a notation within machine-encoded text. The notations may be identified and/or categorized using a whitelist of one or more notations, by satisfying predefined criteria, by matching a predefined specification, and/or through the use of a regular expression. Although numerous variations are possible, the following is an example of a regular expression that may be used to identify a sheet name:

public static readonly Regex SheetRegex = new Regex(@“{circumflex over ( )}(?<sheetName>(?<normalSheetName>[a-zA-Z]{1,3}[ ]?(?<badDash>“”)?([\\.-]?[0-9]){1,6}([\\.-]?[a-zA-Z])?[a-zA-Z]{0,3})|(?<coverSheet>[cC][sS][1-9]))$”, RegexOptions.Compiled | RegexOptions.IgnorePatternWhitespace |RegexOptions.ExplicitCapture);

It will be appreciated by one of skill in the art that regular expressions similar to the example above may be used to identify or categorize building names, anchors, anchor references, and/or other notations on one or more pages.

FIG.7illustrates an example of a construction page700that includes a primary sheet name710and an anchor715. The anchor715may be associated with an anchor identifier, an anchor description730, and detail, elevation, section, or other image data720on the page700. The page700may include additional image-based text, machine-encoded text, images, and/or other information, such as ownership information740.

FIG.8illustrates a close-up view of an anchor810corresponding to the anchor710ofFIG.7. The anchor810on the page800may include an anchor identifier812and/or815and an anchor description830. The anchor810may be identified using a regular expression or other pattern matching algorithm.

FIGS.9A-9Dillustrate examples of portions of three linked construction pages900,901, and902. As previously described, the system may identify and index various notations on a plurality of pages, including primary sheet names, reference sheet names, anchor references, anchors, and possibly other notations. The index may map various relationships between each of the notations. The index may then be used to generate one or more linked pages, such as linked pages900,901, and902.

As illustrated, the first linked page900ofFIG.9Amay include a table of contents910of various reference sheet names that refer to primary sheet names of other pages. Selecting a reference sheet name from the table of contents910, such as reference sheet name A-115, with a cursor (or other selection implement/method) may direct an operator to the page901ofFIG.9Bwith the corresponding primary sheet name A-115, at921. Accordingly, each reference sheet name in the table of contents910may be a hyperlink that opens the hyperlinked page and/or navigates to the correct page within a document of multiple pages.

The second linked page901ofFIG.9Bshows an anchor reference920. The anchor reference920may refer to a particular anchor on another page and the primary sheet name of that other page. Accordingly, anchor reference920may include an anchor identifier (shown as the number3) and a reference sheet name reference to the primary sheet name A-301 of the other page. Selecting the anchor identifier of the anchor reference920may direct a user to a zoomed-in view of the corresponding anchor930on the page902ofFIG.9Cassociated with the primary sheet name A-301, at931. Selecting the reference sheet name of the anchor reference920may direct a user to a zoomed-out view of the page associated with the primary sheet name A-301.

InFIG.9C, the third linked page902includes A-301 as a primary sheet name931, and an anchor930that refers to some image content or other detail, elevation, or section of the page902. The anchor930may include an anchor identifier (3) and a sheet name that is the same as the primary sheet name931of the page902on which the anchor is found. In some embodiments, by clicking, right-clicking, mousing over, and/or otherwise selecting or partially selecting the anchor930(or other notation), a user may display a back link pop-up window950that displays a listing of primary sheet names that reference the anchor930, as shown inFIG.9D. Similarly, a back link pop-up window may be available for other notations and may include a listing of sheet names, anchors, and/or anchor references associated with a selected notation.

FIG.10illustrates an example of a portion of a construction page1000with multiple versions of anchor references1010,1020,1025, and1030, and an anchor1015. As illustrated, each of the anchor references refers to an anchor (identified by one or more anchor identifiers) on another page (identified by a reference sheet name).

FIG.11illustrates an example of a portion of a construction page1100with an anchor1110associated with an image1120that provides various details relating to a construction project. As previously described, the system may identify and index the anchor reference1110and distinguish it from other machine-encoded text, image-based text and/or image content. The various systems and methods described above may be used to identify and/or index any of the various notations described in any of the figures discussed herein.

FIG.12illustrates an example of a portion of a construction page similar to the construction page illustrated inFIG.11, but with a back link1215associated with the anchor1210being selectively displayed. The back link1215may provide a listing of primary sheet names that correspond to pages that have an anchor reference that refer to the anchor1210. In some embodiments, each of the primary sheet names in the back link1215may be hyperlinks directed to the page corresponding to the respective primary sheet names. In some embodiments, the hyperlinks may automatically navigate a user to the hyperlinked page within a document having multiple pages. In other embodiments, the hyperlinks may automatically open a separate file that has the hyperlinked page.

FIG.13illustrates a close-up view of another embodiment of an anchor1320and an anchor description1310. The illustrated anchor1320does not include a reference to the primary sheet name on which it is found. As described above, the system may be configured to identify and index anchors in various forms and styles using a regular expression or other processing and/or analyzing technique.

FIG.14illustrates a construction page1400with reference sheet names1420within a keynotes box, an anchor reference1415, and a primary sheet name1410. The system, using the various methods described herein, may be configured to identify each of the reference sheet names1420, the primary sheet name1410of the page, and the anchor reference1415. The anchor reference1415may refer to an anchor identifier (2) on a different page that is associated with a primary sheet name (A427). The index may associate the primary sheet name1410with the page1400and each reference sheet name1420with the primary sheet name for the page on which it is identified and/or the pages to which it refers.

FIG.15illustrates a close-up view of one type of anchor1510on a page1500. As illustrated, the anchor1510may include an anchor identifier1515(4) and a reference to the primary sheet name1517(A7.14) of the page1500on which the anchor1510is located.

FIG.16illustrates a close-up view of an alternative type of an anchor1610on a page1600. As illustrated, the anchor1610may include an anchor identifier1615(2) and a reference to the primary sheet name1617(A408) of the page1600on which the anchor1610is located. The anchor1610may include an anchor description1620as well.

FIG.17illustrates an example of a construction page1700including two anchors1710and1720, and a blank primary sheet name. As in previous embodiments, each anchor1710and1720may refer to a non-text item useful for construction.

FIG.18illustrates an example of another type of anchor or anchor reference1810on a page1800. As in previous embodiments, the anchor reference1810may include an anchor identifier1817(8) and a reference sheet name1812(A7.14). As may be appreciated by comparing the various styles of anchors and anchor references, complex regular expressions and/or other pattern matching algorithms may be used to identify and index each of the various types of notations within a plurality of pages.

FIG.19illustrates a table of contents1900that includes references to a plurality of construction pages. The table of contents1900may have a blank primary sheet name. The table of contents1900may have any number of reference sheet names1910,1920, and1930arranged in various columns and/or rows. In some embodiments, the system may recognize and identify a table of contents1900based on characteristics associated with the columns and rows of reference sheet names1910,1920, and1930. Each of the reference sheet names1910,1920, and1930may be hyperlinked to a corresponding page. According to various embodiments, the system may identify the table of contents1900using a whitelist of a file name associated with the page, using a page number of a document associated with the page, in response to a manual input, using a regular expression, and/or using a pattern recognizing software module.

FIG.20illustrates another example of a back link2010of an anchor2020showing all the primary sheet names that have one or more anchor references that refer to the anchor2020. According to various embodiments, each primary sheet name listed in the back link2010may be a hyperlink to a page corresponding to the primary sheet name. The back link2010may be selectively viewed by selecting the anchor2020in general, the anchor identifier2025, and/or a primary sheet reference in the bottom half of the circle (not illustrated). As in previous embodiments, the anchor2020may be associated with an anchor description2030within the index. A system may index the notations in each of the pages in a plurality of pages, as described herein, and use the associations between the various notations to generate the back link2010illustrated on page2000.

FIG.21Aillustrates an embodiment of a graphical user interface2100for a system for indexing notations and/or internally linking notations within a plurality of pages. The system may be configured with one or more modules that may execute on a computing device (e.g., a general-purpose or special-purpose computer). The modules may interact with one or more hardware and/or firmware modules. The interface receives one or more documents containing one or more pages, at2110. Various settings may be adjusted using a plurality of tabs2120.FIG.21Aillustrates a general link tab2125that allows for various options, such as rotation settings, cache settings, and/or specific requirements for identifying sheet names, anchors, and/or anchor references. The interface may also include various reporting and/or output options2127.

In some embodiments, the system may generate an index of pages, primary sheet names, reference sheet names, anchors, and/or anchor references. The index generated by the system may include one or more associations between each of the notations and/or pages. The system may also include various rendering options2129for generating linked pages (e.g., hyperlinked PDF pages/documents). As illustrated, the rendering options2129may include, for example, previous-page and next-page hyperlinks on one or more of the pages. The previous-page and next-page hyperlinks may be directed to previous and next pages, respectively, according to an order of pages listed on a table of contents page (also known as an index page or index sheet). The system may be executed by selecting the “Generate Linked PDFs” button2150. In various embodiments, other file types besides PDFs are possible and a user may select a desired output file type.

FIG.21Billustrates an OCR massaging tab2130of the embodiment of the graphical user interface2100ofFIG.21A. The OCR massaging tab2130may include a mapping of text (a letter, symbol, word, phrase, etc.) with corrected versions. For example, if a portion (e.g., a letter, symbol, word, or phrase) of the machine-encoded text is matched with an element in the listed mapping, that portion of the machine-encoded text may be replaced.

As illustrated, for example, any text matching “E6.01b” would be replaced with “E06.01 b.” The OCR massaging tab2130may allow for various common errors or anomalous errors to be automatically corrected throughout a plurality of documents during the identification and indexing of the notations. The OCR massaging tab2130may also allow for changes to be made to various portions of the text, even if they are not erroneous. For example, the primary sheet names of a set of documents may be revised automatically using the OCR massaging tab2130.

FIG.21Cillustrates a sheet name whitelist tab2135of the embodiment of the graphical user interface2100ofFIG.21A. The sheet name whitelist tab2135may include a list of primary and/or reference sheet names that the system should automatically identify and index as primary and/or sheet names, respectively, even if a regular expression or other pattern recognizing software module does not identify them as sheet names.

Similarly,FIG.21Dillustrates a building name whitelist tab2137of the embodiment of the graphical user interface2100ofFIG.21A. The building name whitelist tab2137may include a list of building names that the system should automatically identify and index as building names, even if a regular expression or other pattern recognizing software module does not identify those portions of machine-encoded text as building names.

FIG.21Eillustrates a table of contents page whitelist tab2139of the embodiment of the graphical user interface2100ofFIG.21A. The table of contents page whitelist tab2139may include a list of table of contents pages that the system should automatically identify and index as table of contents pages, even if a regular expression or other pattern recognizing software module does not identify the pages as table of contents pages. The table of contents pages may or may not include primary sheet names. In various embodiments, the index pages or index sheets may be assigned a blank or hidden primary sheet name.

In some embodiments, the system may identify a primary sheet name for each page of a plurality of pages. However, the primary sheet name associated with one or more index pages of the plurality of pages may not be originally part of the pages received by the system. Rather, the system may distinguish between index pages (and possibly other pages without primary sheet names) by assigning (or using existing) unique identification information for indexing purposes. Thus, while many pages of a plurality of pages may include an explicit primary sheet name, index pages may or may not include a primary sheet name and may instead include a blank primary sheet name and/or be otherwise uniquely identified within the index, which unique identification is referred to herein as a primary sheet name for simplicity.

FIG.22Aillustrates a graphical user interface2200of a graphical user interface while indexing documents. As illustrated, one or more progressing2235and/or status2240bars may indicate a current progress of an identifying and/or indexing process. According to various embodiments, the graphical user interface2200may include various steps, including an indexing step2210, a rendering step2220, and a summary display2230.

FIG.22Billustrates the graphical user interface2200of the graphical user interface while rendering linked documents, at2220. Various status and progress bars2237,2242, and2250may provide information to a user who is waiting for the system to generate linked pages using the index generated during the step illustrated inFIG.22A. In some embodiments, the linked pages generated by the system correspond exactly to the original pages received by the system, except that the notations, including the primary sheet names, reference sheet names, anchors, and/or anchor references, may be hyperlinks to the pages and/or notations to which they refer. Additionally, next-page and previous-page links and/or back link information may be generated for each page as well.

In other embodiments, each of the linked pages generated by the graphical user interface may be saved as a unique file, even if the pages originally received by the system were provided in one or more documents with multiple pages. In addition, the unique files for each of the linked pages may be saved with a file name corresponding to a primary sheet name and/or building name. Moreover, the files for each of the linked pages may be organized within a database in an order corresponding to an order on an index or table of contents page.

FIG.22Cillustrates a report2260on the statistics of the indexed and rendered documents in the summary display2230. The report may include statistical information, such as the number of files created and the number of links generated.

FIG.23illustrates another example of a table of contents page2310for a plurality of construction pages. As illustrated the table of contents page2310lists the primary sheet names of at least some of a plurality of pages as reference sheet names2321-2326on the table of contents page2310. In the illustrated embodiment, the table of contents page2310includes a primary reference sheet2315. According to various embodiments, a system may analyze the table of contents page2310and identify and index notations, such as the reference sheet names2321-2326, and distinguish them from other machine-encoded text, descriptions, image-based text, stray lines, images, and/or other content on the table of contents page2310.

The system may generate a corresponding linked page that appears similar or identical to the originally received table of contents page2310. The linked page may include hyperlinks associated with each of the reference sheet names2321-2326. Selecting a hyperlink associated with one of the reference sheet names2321-2326may direct a user to the page corresponding to the primary sheet name referenced by the reference sheet name2321-2326. For example, selecting the reference sheet name (A8-04A) may automatically navigate the user to and/or open a page2400illustrated inFIG.24.

FIG.24illustrates the page2400with a primary sheet name2410(A8-04A). The page2400may include one or more anchors and/or anchor references2430and2440. The anchor2440may be associated with an anchor description2445. In the illustrated embodiment, back link information2420associated with the primary sheet name is selectively displayed at2415, such as when moused over, clicked on with a pointing device, and/or touched on a touch screen device. The back link information2420may include a listing of anchors, anchor references, and/or other pages that reference the primary sheet name2410.

FIG.25illustrates a linked page2500that is referred to by the table of contents page2300ofFIG.23. As illustrated, the linked page2500includes a primary sheet name2530(A2.10). The page2500includes various anchor references2540-2543. Each anchor reference refers to an anchor by including an anchor identifier and the primary sheet name of the sheet on which the associated anchor is found. In some embodiments, by selecting an anchor reference at2550, back link information2560showing which other pages have a similar or identical reference anchor is displayed.

Additionally, the linked page2500may include next-sheet and previous-sheet hyperlinks2510,2520that will navigate a user and/or open the appropriate files according to the order illustrated in the table of contents page2300ofFIG.23. Thus, using page2500as an example, selecting the previous-sheet hyperlink2520would navigate the user to and/or open a file that has a page associated with the primary sheet name A2.00. Similarly, selecting the next-sheet hyperlink2510would navigate the user to and/or open a file that has a page associated with the primary sheet name A8-04A (i.e., page2400ofFIG.24).

Each of the anchor references2540-2543may include an anchor identifier and a reference sheet name. Each anchor reference2540-2543may comprise one or more hyperlinks associated with at least the page that has the primary sheet name referenced by the reference sheet name of each of the anchor references. Similarly, the anchor identifier may be a hyperlink that directs a user directly to a zoomed-in view of the anchor on the page associated with the primary sheet name referenced by the reference sheet name. In the illustrated embodiment, each of the anchor references2540-2543refers to an anchor (either A1 or E1) on the page associated with the primary sheet name A6.11.

FIG.26illustrates a close-up view of an anchor2620(A1) on the page associated with a primary sheet name2630(A6.11). The anchor2620may be a section anchor, as described in the anchor description2610.

FIG.27illustrates a system2710for indexing and/or generating linked pages, as described herein. As previously described, each of the various modules may be implemented in software, hardware, firmware, and/or a combination thereof. Moreover, the computing device2710may comprise any number of disparate computing devices.

As illustrated, the computing system2710may include a processor2730and/or a memory2732for interfacing with each of the various modules2741-2746. The computing device2710may include a receiving module2741configured to receive one or more digital pages. The computing device2710may include a notation identification module2742configured to identify any of the various notations described herein, including sheet names, anchors, and anchor references. The computing device2710may include a categorization module2743configured to categorize each of the identified sheet name notations as either primary sheet name notations or reference sheet name notations. The computing device2710may include an indexing module2744configured to generate an index that associates various identified notations with one another. For example, an indexing module may generate an index that associates a primary sheet name notation with each of the plurality of digital pages, associates each reference sheet name notation with the primary sheet name notation on which it is identified, associates each anchor notation with a primary sheet name notation, and/or associates each anchor reference notation with the anchor notation and primary sheet notation to which it refers.

The computing device2710may include a whitelist module2745configured to identify one or more of the various notations described herein by comparing at least a portion of the machine-encoded text with one or more of a whitelist of primary sheet names, a whitelist of reference sheet names, a whitelist of anchors, and/or a whitelist of anchor references. The computing device2710may include a page generation module2746configured to generate a plurality of linked pages using the indexed notations, as described herein. In some embodiments, a user may interact directly with the computing device2710. In other embodiments, the computing device(s)2710may be accessed remotely. For example, a client device2750may interact with the computing device(s)2710. An error reporting module2775may generate reports that provide information about missing links, links for which referenced sheets do not exist, and/or other errors or potential errors as described herein.

FIG.28Aillustrates a report summary2801from an error identification module that includes potential errors, mistakes, missing documents, and/or other information. As illustrated the error identification module may provide a summary2802of the number of: files rendered, links, page links, prev/next/index links, index sheets found, pages that do not include OCR text, corrupt pages, pages without sheet names, unreferenced sheets, unindexed sheets, unreferenced anchors, bad links, and/or other information.

The report generated by the error identification module may indicate who has worked on the project, at2803, and provide an indication of how much work each individual or entity performed. In some embodiments, the author information may include the names or identification information of actual people. In other embodiments, the author information may identify human individuals, algorithms used, processing techniques employed, and/or other identifying information.

For instance, the author information may indicate that two humans worked on a project—Mark and Janet. Alternatively and/or additionally, the author information may indicate that Algorithm A was employed for part of the project and Algorithm B was employed for another part of the project. The summary report and/or other reports may provide an indication of discrepancies between the output of the humans and the algorithms, the two humans, or the two algorithms for portions of the projects worked on by more than one entity.

FIG.28Billustrates the results2810of a link comparison module, according to one embodiment. As illustrated, the link comparison module may identify a number of files2811that have been processed on one or more dates, e.g., date column2813. The date column2813may provide a count of the links found on each file2811. Link count delta column2812may identify a difference between the number of links identified on date2813and prior (or later) dates on which the same files2811were processed. Thus, the link comparison module may identify potential discrepancies or processing errors based on a different number of links being identified during different processing runs.

FIG.28Cillustrates a report2820with results from an OCR verification module, including identification of files2821with no OCR2822and pages with corrupt OCR2823. The pages with no OCR may or may not be an actual problem. A user may verify that the pages without OCR2822are not problematic and/or if OCR processing is needed—whether performed manually or automatically.

Pages with corrupt OCR2823may be expressed as an actual page range, number of pages, or a percentage of pages. In some embodiments, a low number of corrupt pages or a low percentage of corrupt pages may be ignored, while a percentage or number of pages exceeding a threshold value may be indicative of a problem. In some embodiments, any corrupt pages may be automatically marked for reprocessing (manually or automatically).

FIG.28Dillustrates a report2830of a sheet reference verification module identifying sheets without a sheet name2831and sheets that are not referenced by other sheets2833. The sheet reference verification module may determine if the sheets that do not have a sheet name2831have been OCRed or not, at2832. The sheets that are not referenced2833within each file may be listed by sheet name2834.

FIG.28Eillustrates a report2840from an indexed sheet verification module identifying sheets2842within a plurality of files2841of a project that are not referenced by an index sheet of the construction document set.

FIG.28Fillustrates a report2850from a detail reference verification module identifying details on sheets from a plurality for which no reference is found within a set of documents. The detail reference verification module may process a number of files2851to identify sheets2852that contain details that are never referenced by a sheet within the project2853. The lack of any reference to the detail may be indicative of a problem or, for example, indicate that a set of construction documents are missing information.

FIG.28Gillustrates a report2860from a bad link identification module that identifies links for which the referenced sheets are missing. The bad link identification module2860may process a plurality of files2861to identify sheets2862that include sheets2863that reference details2864that do not exist elsewhere in the set of construction documents. For example, the 005_A0.5—CODE ANALYSIS.pdf file may include a sheet with a sheet name A05 that references detail A on sheet A32. However, the bad link identification module may identify this link as a “bad link” for the reason2865that sheet A32 does not exist within the set of construction documents. The reason2865that link is identified as bad may be because the sheet is missing (as illustrated) or because the specific detail does not exist on the referenced sheet.

FIG.28Hillustrates a report2870from an authored anchor comparison module to identify potential discrepancies between the number of anchors on sheets identified by different authors or identification approaches. As illustrated, the authored anchor comparison module may compare the number of anchors identified by different dates2874and2875. The authored anchor comparison module may determine an anchor count delta2873based on differences between the number of anchors identified on each particular date2874and2875.

The difference may be expressed in absolute numbers (as illustrated), as percentages, or even by simply indicating “discrepancy” or “no discrepancy.” The authored anchor comparison module may process every file in a set of construction documents, or a subset list of files2871. Each file may have only one page (as illustrated), or a plurality of pages. In embodiments in which the authored anchor comparison module processes a plurality of pages in a single file, the anchor count delta may be shown for each page of the file or for the file as a whole.

FIG.29Aillustrates summary document2900of the results of hyperlinking and indexing a set of construction documents, according to one embodiment. The report may be generated by the system illustrated inFIG.27using any of the various techniques, methods, and algorithms described herein

FIG.29Billustrates a report2910from a sheet reference verification module that shows a list of sheets within a project that are not referenced by an index sheet of the set of construction drawings (e.g., a table of contents). The sheet reference verification module may process all or a subset of files2911within a set of construction documents to identify those sheets2912that are not included in a master index sheet or in a sub-index sheet (e.g., an index of just plumbing documents or an index sheet of just electrical documents).

FIG.29Cillustrates a report2920from a detail reference verification module showing every referenced detail in the project and each sheet that references each respective detail. As illustrated, a detail reference verification module may provide a comprehensive list of sheets2922, detail numbers, sheets that reference the detail or sheet2923, and the reference file path2924. The detail reference verification module may process all of the files2921of a set of construction documents or a subset thereof. As in many of the illustrated reports, previous-page and next-page links may allow a user to navigate a report generated by a module if the report does not fit on a single page.

FIG.29Dillustrates a report2930from a detail reference verification module showing details within a project that are not referenced. For any number of files2931, the detail reference verification module may identify those sheets2932that contain one or more details that are not referenced2933.

FIG.29Eillustrates a report2940from the bad link identification module showing a list of links or details2944for which no sheet or detail can be found. For example, the bad link identification module may process a number of files to identify those sheets2942on which an anchor reference is found that cannot be or is not hyperlinked because the referenced sheet2943is missing2945or the referenced anchor notation2944is not found on the referenced sheet2943. Such an anchor reference notation constitutes an erroneous anchor reference notation because the anchor reference notation does not exist on the referenced sheet or the referenced sheet does not exist.

FIG.30illustrates a system for identifying potential or actual errors, omissions, discrepancies, warnings, missing items, mistakes, bad links, and the like, according to various embodiments. It is appreciated that some identified anomalies may or may not represent mistakes, errors or omissions. For example, it may be intentional that an anchor notation on a sheet is not referenced by any other sheet. However, it is unlikely that a construction document will intentionally include an anchor reference with an anchor reference sheet name and/or an anchor reference notation that does not actually exist.

Thus, error reporting module2775ofFIG.27may include one or more modules of error identification device3010and/or interface with a specialized error identification device3010to identify potential or actual errors, omissions, discrepancies, warnings, missing items, mistakes, bad links, or the like. The error identification device3010may be customized in manufacturing or programming to perform various identification, reporting, or verification functions for the hyperlinked and/or indexed documents. Each module3034-3048may represent hardware, firmware, and/or software components for performing a specialized function relating to identification, reporting, or verification.

The device3010may be tailored to perform those functions in an improved manner over a general-purpose computer, and one or more of the modules may modify a device having a processor3030and memory3032to become a special purpose or specialized device. The error identification device may be construction document specific. The error identification device may include various user interfaces, electronic displays, input devices, communication ports, network capabilities, and/or the like.

A link comparison module3034may identify a number of files that have been processed on one or more dates and compare the number of links found during each processing event. The link comparison module3034may identify and/or report a “link count delta” summarizing discrepancies between the number of links identified on each date. An OCR verification module3036may identify files for which no OCR has been performed and pages with corrupt OCR2823. The numbers may be expressed as an actual page range, a number of pages, or a percentage of pages.

The error identification device3010may include a sheet reference verification module3038. The sheet reference verification module3038may identify sheets that do not have a sheet name and, optionally, determine if these un-named sheets have been properly OCRed. Moreover, the sheet reference verification module3038may also determine which of the sheets within a set of construction documents or specific files within the set of construction documents are not referenced by any other sheet.

The error identification device3010may also include an index sheet verification module3040that identifies any sheets not included on an index sheet of a set of construction plans. The detail reference verification module3042may process a number of files to identify sheets that contain details that are never referenced by a sheet within the project. For example, the detail reference verification module3042may identify anchor notations that are never referenced by an anchor reference on any other sheet within the set of construction documents or at least within the processed files.

A bad link identification module3044may identify links, references, anchor references, anchor reference sheet names, anchor reference notations, or similar pointers that point to something that does not exist within the set of documents or files.

For example, the bad link identification module3044may identify sheets that include anchor reference notations that include (1) a reference sheet name notation and (2) a reference to an anchor notation on the referenced sheet. If the referenced sheet does not exist or the anchor reference on the referenced sheet does not exist, the bad link identification module3044may notify a user or otherwise report the error.

An authored anchor comparison module3046may compare the number of anchors identified on different dates for a particular sheet or file and determine a delta. The delta or difference may be expressed as a number, as a percentage, or in a pass/fail fashion. Each of the modules3034-3046may implement a processing or identification function based on the algorithms and methods described herein. The error identification device3010may utilize an error reporting or identification module3048to generate a report and/or otherwise notify a user or other system of a potential or actual error or discrepancy.

In various embodiments, the error identification device3010may include an API to allow other systems or programs to utilize the functionalities or results of the various modules3034-3048. Any of the modules3034-3046may be broadly referred to as an “error identification module” configured to identify and/or report one or more actual errors or potential errors as per the specific functionality of the module.

Many changes may be made to the details of the above-described embodiments without departing from the underlying principles and scope of the present disclosure.