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A Tabular Survey of Automated Table Processing

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Graphics Recognition Recent Advances (GREC 1999)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 1941))

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Abstract

Tables are the only acceptable means of communicating certain types of structured data. A precise definition of “tabularity” remains elusive because some bureaucratic forms, multicolumn text layouts, and schematic drawings share many characteristics of tables. There are significant differences between typeset tables, electronic files designed for display of tables, and tables in symbolic form intended for information retrieval. Although most research to date has addressed the extraction of low-level geometric information from scanned raster images of paper tables, the recent trend toward the analysis of tables in electronic form may pave the way to a higher level of table understanding. Recent research on table composition and table analysis has improved our understanding of the distinction between the logical and physical structures of tables, and has led to improved formalisms for modeling tables. The present study indicates that progress on half-a-dozen specific research issues would open the door to using existing paper and electronic tables for database update, tabular browsing, structured information retrieval through graphical and audio interfaces, multimedia table editing, and platform-independent display. Although tables are not a conventional format for conveying the primary content of technical papers, here we attempt to subdue our natural garrulity by adopting this genre to communicate what we have to say about tables entirely in tabular form.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bell Labs, Lucent Technologies Inc., 600 Mountain Avenue, Room 2D-447, NJ 07974, Murray Hill

    Daniel Lopresti

  2. Department of Electrical, NY 12180-3590, Troy

    George Nagy

Authors
  1. Daniel Lopresti
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  2. George Nagy
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Verizon Communications, 500 Westchester Avenue, White Plains, 10604, NY, USA

    Atul K. Chhabra

  2. School of Engineering, Engineering Systems Division, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, USA

    Dov Dori

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© 2000 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Lopresti, D., Nagy, G. (2000). A Tabular Survey of Automated Table Processing. In: Chhabra, A.K., Dori, D. (eds) Graphics Recognition Recent Advances. GREC 1999. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 1941. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-40953-X_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-40953-X_9

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-41222-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-40953-3

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