FRX Visualizer

A UI which helps designers troubleshoot fuzzy regular expressions and tune Fuzzy Match Weightings.

Remarks

The FRX Visualizer is an advanced UI component for analyzing, troubleshooting, and tuning fuzzy regular expressions (FRX) in Grooper. It provides a visual, interactive environment for understanding how fuzzy patterns are matched, how permutations are generated, and how match weightings affect extraction results. This tool is essential for solution designers working with inexact or error-tolerant pattern matching, such as OCR output or noisy data sources.

Purpose and Functionality

• Result Review:
  Displays a list of extractor hits, allowing users to select and inspect individual matches produced by a fuzzy regular expression.
• Permutation Analysis:
  Shows all possible runtime permutations of the fuzzy pattern, enabling users to see how the pattern is expanded and applied.
• Edit Distance Visualization:
  Presents an edit distance matrix for the selected result and permutation, making it easy to understand how insertions, deletions, and substitutions contribute to the match score.
• Interactive Tuning:
  Supports rapid iteration and tuning of Fuzzy Match Weightings, helping users optimize extraction accuracy and performance.

UI Components

• Result List:
  • Lists all matches (hits) found by the fuzzy extractor.
  • Selecting a result updates the permutation and matrix views.
• Permutation List:
  • Displays all runtime permutations of the fuzzy pattern.
  • Selecting a permutation updates the edit distance matrix and highlights the corresponding match.
• FRX Grid:
  • Visualizes the edit distance matrix for the current result and permutation.
  • Highlights matched, substituted, inserted, and deleted characters, as well as the overall match path and score.

Example

The following diagram illustrates the layout of the FRX Visualizer:

┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ FRX Visualizer                                                                                        │
├───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ ┌───────────── Result List ─────────────┐ ┌──────────── FRX Grid (Edit Distance Matrix) ────────────┐ │
│ │                                       │ │                                                         │ │
│ │                                       │ │                                                         │ │
│ │                                       │ │                                                         │ │
│ └───────────────────────────────────────┘ │                                                         │ │
│ ┌─────────── Permutation List ──────────┐ │                                                         │ │
│ │                                       │ │                                                         │ │
│ │                                       │ │                                                         │ │
│ │                                       │ │                                                         │ │
│ └───────────────────────────────────────┘ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

• Result List: Select a match to analyze.
• Permutation List: Select a permutation to view its effect on matching.
• FRX Grid: Visualizes the edit distance matrix and match path for the current selection.

Usage Tips

• Use the Result List to select and review individual matches produced by the fuzzy extractor.
• Explore the Permutation List to understand how the fuzzy pattern is expanded and which permutations contribute to matches.
• Analyze the FRX Grid to see how insertions, deletions, and substitutions affect the match score and path.
• Adjust Fuzzy Match Weightings in your extractor configuration and use the FRX Visualizer to validate and optimize results.

The FRX Visualizer streamlines the process of developing, troubleshooting, and tuning fuzzy regular expressions in Grooper, providing deep insight into pattern matching behavior and supporting the creation of robust, error-tolerant extraction logic.

Child Controls

Name	Type		Summary
Result List	Object List	►	The list of extractor hits. The 'ResultList' control displays all matches (hits) found by the fuzzy extractor for the current test. Purpose and Functionality Lists each result produced by the fuzzy regular expression. Allows users to select a result for detailed analysis. Selecting a result updates the permutation list and the FRX grid to reflect the current context.
Permutation List	String List	►	The list of possible regex permutations. The 'PermutationList' control displays all runtime permutations of the fuzzy pattern for the current extractor. Purpose and Functionality Shows each possible permutation generated by the fuzzy regular expression. Allows users to select a permutation to see how it affects matching and scoring. Selecting a permutation updates the FRX grid to visualize the edit distance matrix for that pattern. UI Elements List or dropdown of permutation strings. Selection highlights the active permutation.
Frx Grid	FRX Grid	►	Displays an edit distance matrix for the selected result and permutation. The 'FrxGrid' control visualizes the edit distance matrix for the current result and permutation, providing insight into how the fuzzy regular expression matched the input. Purpose and Functionality Shows a matrix of character-level operations (matches, insertions, deletions, substitutions) between the pattern and the input. Highlights the optimal match path and displays the overall match score. Updates dynamically as the user selects different results or permutations. UI Elements Grid or matrix visualization. Color-coded cells for different operation types (match, insert, delete, substitute). Highlighted path for the best match.