NEXT operator

NEXT is an operator that combines the Boolean operator AND with the flexible positional sequence operator (<>).

The syntax is:

operand1
NEXT
operand2

where NEXT is a language keyword and must be written in uppercase. The operator requires two input text tokens to match the combined operands in the order in which they are declared in the rule. For the rule to trigger, the two elements must not occur in the same sentence, but in two sentences—or more—according to the rule scope.

For example, consider this extraction rule:

SCOPE SENTENCE*2
{
    IDENTIFY(TEST)
    {
        @NAME[TYPE(NPH)]
        NEXT
        @PHONE_NUMBER[TYPE(PHO)]
    }
}

The rule's condition matches a person's name (TYPE(NPH)) followed by a phone number (TYPE(PHO)) in the scope of at least two consecutive sentences.

If the rule is run against this text:

Personal Data
------------
Name: Tom Smith
Phone number: +1 123 456 7890
Date of birth: 21/10/1967

the condition is met by Tom Smith and +1 123 456 7890, which occur in consecutive sentences, so the rule is triggered.

Tip

In order to alternatively combine the NEXT operator functionality with the OPTIONAL operator functionality, consider this workaround.

For example, suppose that you want to extract people's names and—eventually—their addresses, if they occur in the text.

Consider this template:

TEMPLATE(PERSONAL_DATA)
{
    @Name,
    @Address
}

The following rule will generate a syntax error:

IDENTIFY(PERSONAL_DATA)
{
    @Name[TYPE(NPH)]
    NEXT
    OPTIONAL
    {
        @Address[TYPE(ADR)]
    }
}

if applied to this input text:

John is 20. He lives in Naples.

but if you change the rule like this:

IDENTIFY(PERSONAL_DATA)
{
    @Name[TYPE(NPH)]
    NEXT
    (
        @Address[TYPE(ADR)]
        OR
        POSITION(BEGIN SENTENCE)
    )
}

you will get this record:

Template: PERSONAL_DATA

Field	Value
@Name	John

If, on the other hand, the changed rule is applied to this input text:

John is 20. He lives in Baltimora Street.

you will get this record:

Template: PERSONAL_DATA

Field	Value
@Name	John
@Address	Baltimora Street

The rule above allows you extract the address if it occurs in a text or it will extract nothing more than the Name field, thanks to the POSITION attribute workaround.