Layout Provider

Defines the base class for all array layout providers in Grooper, enabling detection and extraction of arrays based on document structure.

Remarks

The Layout Provider class serves as the foundation for all array layout detection strategies in Grooper.

Layout providers are responsible for determining how arrays of values are identified within a document, based on their spatial arrangement, text flow, or other structural cues.

Derived classes implement specific layout detection logic, such as horizontal rows, vertical columns, or text flow-based arrays.

How It Works

• A Layout Provider analyzes the positions and relationships of candidate elements in a document to determine which ones should be grouped as an array.
• Each derived provider (such as Horizontal, Vertical, or Flow) uses its own rules for alignment, distance, and separator detection.
• Layout providers are configured as part of a data type or extraction node, allowing users to tailor array detection to the structure of their documents.

Configuration Guidance

• Choose the appropriate layout provider for your data: use Horizontal for rows, Vertical for columns, and Flow for sequential text.
• Configure provider-specific properties (such as alignment, distance, or separator expression) to match the expected document structure.
• Test extraction results and adjust settings as needed to ensure accurate grouping of array elements.

Properties

Name	Type		Description
Maximum Size Variation	Double	►	Specifies the maximum allowed variation in font size for elements to be considered part of the same array. ConverterPercent Converter Requiredtrue Default100% The 'Maximum Size Variation' property controls how much the font size can differ between adjacent array elements for them to be grouped together by the Layout Provider. The value is expressed as a percentage (e.g., 0.2 for 20%) and is calculated as the difference between the two font sizes, divided by the smaller of the two. A value of 1.0 (the default) disables this constraint, allowing any amount of font size variation. Lower values enforce stricter matching, which is useful for documents where array elements are expected to have consistent formatting. Increase the value to allow for more variation, which can be helpful for documents with mixed font sizes or inconsistent OCR results. Example If set to 0.2, two elements with font sizes of 10pt and 12pt (a 20% difference) will be grouped, but 10pt and 15pt (a 50% difference) will not. Usage Notes Use a lower value to prevent unrelated elements with different font sizes from being grouped together. Use the default value (1.0) to ignore font size differences and group all elements regardless of formatting.

Derived Types

There are 3 implementations of Layout Provider.

Flow	Detects cases where array elements occur one after another in the text flow of a document.
Horizontal	Detects cases where array elements are arranged in a horizontal row within the document layout.
Vertical	Detects cases where array elements are arranged in a vertical column within the document layout.