Overview
A nested table is a data structure that represents a table within another table. It is embedded as a row into another table, creating a hierarchical or a “nested” structure. Nested tables allow you to extract data from tables with complicated structures where child-row data points inherit data points from parent rows.
Hyperscience currently supports one and multiple tables with a single level of nested hierarchy. Learn more about multiple tables in Table ID.
Elements
Nested tables consist of a Child Table and a Parent Table:
Child Table - the embedded element of the structure. It usually contains more rows with detailed information.
Parent Table - the “outline” of the Nested Table. It contains general information and usually consists of rows above and below the child table.
Creating a layout with nested tables
Аdd a new table by clicking the Add Table button at the bottom of the Tables card of the Layout Editor. Clicking the Add Table button automatically creates a new table.
To learn more about semi-structured layouts see Creating Semi-structured layout.
Define a nested table by adding a child table. Doing so automatically creates a parent table for this layout. Create a child table by clicking the Add Child Table button.
Annotating nested tables
You can annotate nested tables in Supervision and in Training Data Management (TDM).
Аnnotating a nested table through Supervision
Once you’ve submitted your documents, the system lets you annotate the child table first, and then the parent table.
Follow the steps described in Table ID to annotate your nested tables.
The right-hand sidebar indicates which table you’re currently viewing.
The parent table’s row boundaries are indicated with a solid line. The child tables’ rows are indicated with a dashed line.
Аnnotating a nested table through TDM
Navigate through each table by clicking on it on the right-hand side of the screen.
The number of columns and the type of table you’re currently annotating (child or parent) are displayed in the right-hand sidebar.
You can also display a certain column by selecting it in the Visible Columns drop-down menu at the top of the page.
Follow the steps described in Table Identification to annotate your tables.
The number on the left displays the consecutive number of the parent row (e.g., 1, 2, 3), while the number on the right is a combination of the consecutive number of the child row and the child row’s parent row (e.g., 1-1, 2-1, 3-1), as shown in the screenshot below:
Ensure that all child rows are within the correct parent rows’ boundaries. If they’re not included, a warning will appear when you try to save the changes in the document, and an exclamation mark will appear next to the excluded row.