> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://sensible.mintlify.site/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Match object Matches are instructions for matching lines of text in a document. They're valid elements in anchors and other objects. See the following sections for more information: [**Match types**](/senseml-reference/field-query-object/match#match-types) * [Global parameters](/senseml-reference/field-query-object/match#global-parameters) * [Simple match](/senseml-reference/field-query-object/match#simple-match) * [Regex match](/senseml-reference/field-query-object/match#regex-match) * [First match](/senseml-reference/field-query-object/match#first-match) * [Boolean matches](/senseml-reference/field-query-object/match#boolean-matches) [**Match arrays**](/senseml-reference/field-query-object/match#match-arrays) ## Match types ### Global parameters The following parameters are available to most\* types of Match objects. | key | values | description | | ------------- | ----------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | minimumHeight | number | The minimum height of the matched line's boundaries, in inches. | | maximumHeight | number | The maximum height of the matched line's boundaries, in inches. | | reverse | boolean. default: false | Use in match arrays. Don't set this to true for the first match in the array, except in the External Range parameter for [sections](/senseml-reference/sections/index-sections). If true, searches for a match in lines that precede the previous match in the array. For example, in an array with matches A and B, if B is a First match with "reverse":true, then Sensible matches the first line that *precedes* the line matched by A. For an example, see [Match arrays](/senseml-reference/concepts/match-arrays#reverse-match). | | xRangeFilter | object | Defines a left-to-right range, or "column", in which to search for a match. This option excludes lines that partially fall outside the column. Contains the following parameters:minX Specifies the left boundary of the range, in inches from the left edge of the page.maxX Specifies the right boundary of the range, in inches from the left edge of the page. | \*These parameters aren't available as top-level parameters for a Boolean match. ### Simple match Match using strings. **Parameters** | key | values | description | | ------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | text (**required**) | string | The string to match | | type (**required**) | equals, startsWith, endsWith, includes | equals: The matching line must equal the stringstartsWith: Match at beginning of lineendsWIth: Match at end of lineincludes: Match anywhere in line | | editDistance | integer. the number of allowed edits for a fuzzy match. | Configure this parameter to allow *fuzzy*, or approximate, string matching. This is useful for OCR text, like poor-quality scans or handwriting. For example, if you configure 3, then Sensible matches kitten in the document for sitting in the Text parameter. Sensible implements fuzzy matching using [Levenshtien distance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levenshtein%5Fdistance). Sensible recommends avoiding setting this parameter on short matches, like "A:" or "Sub", because an edit distance as low as 2 on a short match can result in a large number of line matches and impact performance. Generally, you increase edit distances values as you increase the length of the text match. See the Examples section for an example. | | isCaseSensitive | boolean. Default: false. | If true, match the string taking into account upper- and lower-case characters. | **SYNTAX EXAMPLE** The following config uses a simple match: ```JSON JSON { "fields": [ { "id": "simple_anchor", "anchor": { "match": { "type": "startsWith", "text": "The line to match must start with this text", } }, "method": { "id": "label", "position": "below" } } ] } ``` For even simpler matching syntax in anchors, you can use `"anchor":"some string to match"`. For more information see [Anchor](/senseml-reference/field-query-object/anchor). **EDIT DISTANCE EXAMPLE** The following example shows setting the Edit Distance parameter on a simple match for a poor-quality photographed document, so that the anchor `6 City state and ZIP code` matches the incorrect OCR output of `6 Chi state and ZIP code`. *Config* ```JSON JSON { "fields": [ { "id": "simple_anchor", "anchor": { "match": { "editDistance": 3, "isCaseSensitive": false, "type": "startsWith", "text": "6 city state and zip code" } }, "method": { "id": "label", "position": "below" } } ] } ``` *Example document*\ The following image shows the example document used with this example config: ![Click to enlarge](https://mintlify.s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/sensible/assets/v0/images/screenshots/edit_distance.png) | Example document | [Download link](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sensible-hq/sensible-docs/main/readme-sync/assets/v0/pdfs/edit%5Fdistance.pdf) | | ---------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | *Output* ```JSON JSON { "simple_anchor": { "type": "string", "value": "SomeCity, NJ, $70101" } } ``` ### Regex match Match using a regular expression. **Parameters** | key | values | description | | ---------------------- | ------------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | type (**required**) | regex | | | pattern (**required**) | valid JS regex | Javascript-flavored regular expression. This parameter doesn't support capturing groups. See the [Regex method](/senseml-reference/methods/regex) instead.Double escape special characters since the regex is in a JSON object. For example, \\\s, not \s , to represent a whitespace character.Sensible throws an error if you specify a pattern that can match an empty string, for example, .\*. | | flags | JS-flavored regex flags. | Flags to apply to the regex. for example: "i" for case-insensitive. | **Example** For an example, see the [Passthrough method example](/senseml-reference/methods/passthrough). ### First match This is a convenience match to find the first line encountered. **Parameters** | key | values | description | | ------------------- | ------ | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | type (**required**) | first | Matches the first line encountered, either 1. in the first page of the document or 2. after the preceding matched line in a match array. | **Example** This example matches the first line after a matched line in an array: ```JSON JSON { "fields": [ { "id": "first_line_after_match", "anchor": { "match": [ { "type": "includes", "text": "match this line, then anchor on the first line after it" }, { "type": "first" } ] }, "method": { "id": "label", "position": "below" } } ], } ``` ### Boolean matches Use Boolean matches to write Boolean logic about your matches. For example, use the Any match to match on an array of synonymous terms if a document contains small wording variations across revisions. **Parameters** | key | values | description | | -------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | type (**required**) | any, all, not | any : Same behavior as Boolean operator "or". Finds a line that meets any of the match conditions in the array.all Same behavior as Boolean operator "and". Finds a line that meets all of the match conditions in the array.not Same behavior as Boolean operator "not". Finds a line if it doesn't meet the match condition. | | matches (**required** for any and all) | Array of Match objects. All match types are valid in the array except first | Use with any and all. You can nest Boolean matches using this parameter. | | match (**required** for not) | Match object. All match types are valid except first | Use with not | **EXAMPLE** *Config* ```JSON JSON { "fields": [ { "id": "test_boolean_matches", /* to show matching behavior, output all matching anchor lines, not just the first match */ "match": "all", "method": { /* to show matching behavior, use passthrough to output anchor text */ "id": "passthrough" }, "anchor": { "match": [ { /* match a line if meets the conditions of ANY of the following array of matches */ "type": "any", "matches": [ /* match a line that includes "special" */ { "type": "includes", "text": "special" }, /* match a line that meets ALL of the conditions: it includes "header" but NOT "should not" */ { "type": "all", "matches": [ { "type": "includes", "text": "header" }, /* note that "not" */ { "type": "not", "match": { "type": "includes", "text": "should not" } } ] } ] } ] } } ] } ``` *Example document*\ The following image shows the example document used with this example config: ![Click to enlarge](https://mintlify.s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/sensible/assets/v0/images/screenshots/boolean_match.png) | Example document | [Download link](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sensible-hq/sensible-docs/main/readme-sync/assets/v0/pdfs/boolean%5Fmatch.pdf) | | ---------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | *Output* ```JSON JSON { "test_boolean_matches": [ { "type": "string", "value": "This is a header." }, { "type": "string", "value": "This is a special line." } ] } ``` ## Match arrays You can create complex matches by using any of the preceding match types in an array. For information, see [match arrays](/senseml-reference/concepts/match-arrays).