METHOD OF GENERATING TEXT FEATURES FROM A DOCUMENT

1 . A method of generating text features from a document, the method carried out by one or more processors, the method comprising the steps of:

a) grouping text comprised in the document into multiple logical text blocks, wherein each of the logical text blocks comprises one or more tokens;

b) selecting one of the logical text blocks for generating features;

c) identifying the logical text blocks neighbouring the selected logical block disposed along multiple directions using associated visual layout information of the text blocks to determine directionality;

d) qualifying one or more of the neighbouring logical text blocks for generating features; and

e) generating features for one or more of the tokens in the selected logical block using one or more of the one or more qualified logical text blocks.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising, the one or more processors selecting each of the logical text blocks for generating features and carrying out the steps “c” to “f” for each of the selected logical text blocks.

3 . (canceled)

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the multiple directions comprise upward, downward, rightward, leftward and diagonal directions from the selected logical text block.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein qualifying the one or more of the neighbouring logical text blocks for generating features comprises the one or more processors qualifying those neighbouring logical text blocks that are within one or more threshold distances from the selected logical text block.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the threshold distance for at least one direction is different from the threshold distance for at least one of the remaining directions.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein qualifying the one or more of the neighbouring logical text blocks for generating features comprises the one or more processors qualifying the neighbouring logical text blocks based on the size of the neighbouring logical text blocks.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein qualifying the one or more of the neighbouring logical text blocks for generating features comprises the one or more processors qualifying the neighbouring logical text blocks based on the number of words in the neighbouring logical text blocks.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein qualifying the one or more of the neighbouring logical text blocks for generating features comprises the one or more processors qualifying the neighbouring logical text blocks based on combination of distances of the neighbouring logical text blocks from the selected logical text block, the size of the neighbouring logical text blocks and the number of words in the neighbouring logical text blocks.

10 . The method of claim 3 , wherein generating the features using the qualified logical text block comprises the one or more processors including, in the feature, the direction in which the qualified logical text block is disposed relative to the selected logical text block.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein “n”-gram is used for generating the features, wherein “n” is at least equal to 1.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein a preconfigured number of tokens are used in the qualified logical text block for generating the features.

13 . The method of claim 11 , wherein one or more tokens in the qualified logical text block are ignored for the purposes of generating the features.

14 . The method of claim 10 , wherein each of the logical text blocks comprises of the tokens that form logical structure of text, wherein one logical block is separated from the other by whitespace.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein each of the logical text blocks captures concept comprising one of paragraph, section, table cells or list.

16 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising, prior to the qualifying step, classifying the directionality of each of the logical text blocks by considering contextual meaning of the tokens in the selected logical text block relative to tokens in qualified neighboring logical text blocks.