Create annotation using regexp on document text - ruta

Question

I am trying to annotate a json document using regular expression. I can create a simple annotation to mark a "JsonBlock" using the following, but, I cannot seem to turn around and use that annotaiton "JsonBlock" in a loop.
My document looks something like this:
{ "Key": { "JsonBlock": { [
{"id":"123","value":"This is some multi-line long text..." },
{"id":"456","value":"This is some multi-line long text..." } ] } } }
Here is a simple regex based expression that creates an annotaiton
("([{\\s\"]*id.*?\\})")-> JsonBlock;
But, why can't I iterate over JsonBlock annotations using the following? I should be missing something!
BLOCK(myBlock)JsonBlock{}{
}
Beyond that too, I have another annotation that represents the id as "JsonBlockId", I have tried to use PARTOF to check if the JsonBlockId is part of JsonBlock and that rule does not seem to fire. I should be missing something.
Any pointers would be appreciated.
Thanks!

Answer 1

The BLOCk does not match because the JsonBlock annotations are visible.
Please mind that all annotations are invisible if their begin offset or end offset is covered by any invisible annotation. In you example, this is BREAK and/or SPACE.
You can fix the problem by either changing your regex not to include the whitespaces, or you can make whitespace visible, or you can change the offsets of the annotations not to include the whitespaces. Here are the latter two options:
DECLARE JsonBlock;
"([{\\s\"]*id.*?\\})"-> JsonBlock;
RETAINTYPE(WS);
BLOCK(first) JsonBlock{}{
}
RETAINTYPE;
RETAINTYPE(WS);
JsonBlock{-> TRIM(WS)};
RETAINTYPE;
BLOCK(first) JsonBlock{}{
}
Your example rule was not valid. I removed the brackets.
DICLAIMER: I am a developer of UIMA Ruta