Logical structure analysis: From HTML']HTML to XML

This paper presents an efficient method for extracting a logical structure from a Web document. The proposed method consists of three phases: visual grouping, element identification, and logical grouping. To produce a logical structure more accurately, the proposed method defines a document model that is able to describe logical structure information of a specific document class. Since the proposed method is based on a visual structure from the visual grouping phase as well as a document model that describes logical structure information of a document type, it supports sophisticated structure analysis. Experimental results with HTML documents from the Web show that the method has performed logical structure analysis successfully, compared with previous work. Particularly, the method generates XML documents as the result of structure analysis, so that it enhances the reusability of documents. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.