PDF Table Traps

Garden materials estimate
Case A: ruled table, one header row, three material rows
| Material         | Volume (m3) | Unit price ($) |        | Line total ($) |           |
| ---------------- | ----------- | -------------- | ------ | -------------- | --------- |
| Cedar mulch      |             | 12.5           | 64.00  |                | 800.00    |
| Screened compost |             | 3.25           | 88.00  |                | 286.00    |
| River gravel     |             | 1.8            | 145.00 |                | 261.00    |
| Materials total  |             |                |        |                | $1,347.00 |
Keep each price attached to its material. The total alone is not a table check.
Synthetic test fixture by LydiaTools. Fictional values; not a supplier quote. 1 / 1

{
  "tables": [
    [
      [
        "Material",
        "Volume (m3)",
        "Unit price ($)",
        "Line total ($)"
      ],
      [
        "Cedar mulch",
        "12.5",
        "64.00",
        "800.00"
      ],
      [
        "Screened compost",
        "3.25",
        "88.00",
        "286.00"
      ],
      [
        "River gravel",
        "1.8",
        "145.00",
        "261.00"
      ]
    ]
  ]
}

Garden materials estimate
Case B: borderless table with one material name wrapped onto a second line
| Material    | Volume (m3) | Unit price ($) |       | Line total ($) |        |
| ----------- | ----------- | -------------- | ----- | -------------- | ------ |
| Cedar mulch |             | 12.5           | 64.00 |                | 800.00 |
fine-grade
| Screened compost |     | 3.25 | 88.00  |     | 286.00    |
| ---------------- | --- | ---- | ------ | --- | --------- |
| River gravel     |     | 1.8  | 145.00 |     | 261.00    |
| Materials total  |     |      |        |     | $1,347.00 |
A wrapped name belongs to its original row, not a new empty-price material.
Synthetic test fixture by LydiaTools. Fictional values; not a supplier quote. 1 / 1

{
  "tables": []
}

Reading a garden estimate

Case C: prose with aligned text and repeated numbers; no table exists

A list of familiar numbers is not proof that a table survived conversion.

The estimate mentions Cedar mulch at 64.00 dollars per cubic metre.

It also mentions Screened compost at 88.00 dollars per cubic metre.

River gravel is priced at 145.00 dollars per cubic metre in this example.

These are independent sentences in a paragraph, not cells in a grid.

A checker must not infer a table merely because all three values occur.

What should remain true

The prose stays prose. Material names retain their own prices.

A missing table is different from a table with a wrong cell.

Review the source before trusting a tidy-looking Markdown preview.

Synthetic test fixture by LydiaTools. Fictional values; not a supplier quote.

1 / 1

{
  "tables": []
}