Modifying a hierarchical data structure according to a pseudo-rendering of a structured document by annotating and merging nodes

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing one or more programs configured for execution by a server system comprising one or more processors, the one or more programs comprising instructions for:

• translating a structured document that includes a plurality of semantic elements into a first hierarchical data structure in accordance with syntactic elements defined in the structured document, the first hierarchical data structure including a plurality of nodes corresponding to the syntactic elements;
• modifying the first hierarchical data structure in accordance with a pseudo-rendering of the structured document by annotating nodes of the first hierarchical data structure with a set of attributes including geometric parameters, wherein:
• the geometric parameters are assigned in accordance with the pseudo-rendering of the structured document;
• and
• the pseudo-rendering of the structured document has a geometric structure for the entire structured document;
• and
• after said annotating, merging semantically related sibling nodes from the first hierarchical data structure into a tree of merged nodes in accordance with
• attributes of the annotated nodes of the first hierarchical data structure, including the geometric parameters, and
• a set of predefined rules, the set of predefined rules including rules for merging the semantically related sibling nodes having nearby positions in the pseudo-rendering and/or having compatible attributes,
• such that the tree of merged nodes is in accordance with the geometric structure of the pseudo-rendering of the entire structured document,
• wherein when semantically related sibling nodes are merged, geometric parameters of the semantically related sibling nodes are combined so that a respective merged node in the tree of merged nodes includes geometric parameters that represent a position and extent of the respective merged node.

A server system, comprising:

• one or more processors;
• memory;
• and
• one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs including instructions for:
• translating a structured document that includes a plurality of semantic elements into a first hierarchical data structure in accordance with syntactic elements defined in the structured document, the first hierarchical data structure including a plurality of nodes corresponding to the syntactic elements;
• modifying the first hierarchical data structure in accordance with a pseudo-rendering of the structured document by annotating nodes of the first hierarchical data structure with a set of attributes including geometric parameters, wherein:
• the geometric parameters are assigned in accordance with the pseudo-rendering of the structured document;
• and
• the pseudo-rendering of the structured document has a geometric structure for the entire structured document;
• and
• after said annotating, merging semantically related sibling nodes from the first hierarchical data structure into a tree of merged nodes in accordance with
• attributes of the annotated nodes of the first hierarchical data structure, including the geometric parameters, and
• a set of predefined rules, the set of predefined rules including rules for merging the semantically related sibling nodes having nearby positions in the pseudo-rendering and/or having compatible attributes,
• such that the tree of merged nodes is in accordance with the geometric structure of the pseudo-rendering of the entire structured document,
• wherein when semantically related sibling nodes are merged, geometric parameters of the semantically related sibling nodes are combined so that a respective merged node in the tree of merged nodes includes geometric parameters that represent a position and extent of the respective merged node.