Methods of object search and recognition

A computer-implemented method for searching for elements in an electronic image of a form, the method comprising:

• detecting, via instructions operating on a computing device, objects in the electronic image of the form;
• allocating a position for each object in the electronic image;
• selecting text objects;
• recognizing text within the text objects;
• and
• searching for elements in the electronic image of the form based on a structural description of the form, wherein said searching includes:
• selecting an element in the structural description for the searching operation;
• determining an algorithm for determining search constraints for the searching operation;
• determining search constraints using the determined algorithm;
• and
• searching for the element using one or more of the search constraints, wherein searching for the element includes:
• searching using a spatial characteristic of a search area for the element;
• searching using a parametric characteristic of the element;
• searching using an absolute or relative spatial characteristic of the element;
• and
• searching using a result of said text recognition within the text objects;
• identifying variants of the element;
• estimating, for the obtained variants of the element, a degree of correspondence of the respective variants to the element description.