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Suppose no search constraints are specified on the Search Constraints and Relations tabs for the element and its parent Group elements. In this case, before FlexiLayout Studio applies the constraints from the Advanced pre-search relations section, the search area of the element coincides with the rectangle of the page. If there are no additional constraints on the Advanced tab, FlexiLayout Studio looks for the element on the entire page.

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How constraints shape the search area

Applying constraints of type 1, 2, and 4 described in Search constraints creates a search area consisting of an array of rectangles. FlexiLayout Studio takes the search area to consist of one rectangle that circumscribes the entire array, from which a specified set of rectangles (excluded rectangles) must be excluded. Applying the search constraints of type 3 described in Search constraints creates a range of allowed coordinates for each boundary of the hypotheses: left, right, top, and bottom. Each boundary is characterized by a range of coordinates on the corresponding axis, for example, [x1, x2] or [y1, y2]. Here x1 and x2 are of type XCoordinate, and y1 and y2 are of type YCoordinate. The section of the axis must meet the following condition: x1 <= x2 for the X-coordinates, and y1 <= y2 for the Y-coordinates. If several constraints are consecutively applied to a boundary, each constraint changes the range of allowed coordinates for the boundary.

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Example of LeftBound constraints

Suppose the Advanced pre-search relations section contains the following constraints:
Suppose the search area is not specified before these constraints run. For a one-page FlexiLayout (where the minimum and maximum allowed number of pages in a document is 1), the search area coincides with the rectangle of the page [PageRect.Left, PageRect.Top, PageRect.Right, PageRect.Bottom]. For a multi-page FlexiLayout, the search area has the maximum size of [-INF, -INF, INF, INF]. The coordinate ranges of the element boundaries are as follows: When the constraint LeftBound > 5mm is executed, only the left boundary changes. The range of its possible values becomes the segment [5mm, PageRect.Right] for one-page FlexiLayouts and the segment [5mm, INF] for multi-page FlexiLayouts. After the LeftBound < 15mm constraint is applied, the range of allowed coordinates of the left boundary will be [5mm, 15mm]. After the LeftBound < 10mm constraint is applied, the range of allowed coordinates of the left boundary will be [5mm, 10mm]. Similarly, you can set constraints for the other boundaries of the element. The specified boundaries of the search area form a fuzzy rectangle.