Named Entity Recognition 25.2
Named Entity Recognition User and Programming Guide

# AllowOverlaps

A Boolean value that specifies whether to return more than one match, when Named Entity Recognition finds overlapping matches that start at different characters (offsets). To return overlapping matches set this parameter to `True`.

NOTE: To specify whether to return overlapping matches that have the same offset, use the configuration parameter AllowMultipleResults.

Example

The following table shows how the results from Named Entity Recognition change when you set the parameters `AllowMultipleResults` and `AllowOverlaps`.

In this example, the input is "The President of the United States of America is in London today to meet the British Prime Minister", and three entities have been defined:

- entity1 matches political offices, for example "President of the United States".
- entity2 matches corporate titles including "President".
- entity3 matches places including "United States" and "United States of America".

Parameters | AllowOverlaps=False | AllowOverlaps=True
AllowMultipleResults =False | Named Entity Recognition returns the match "President of the United States" (entity1). The match "President" (entity2) is ignored because it shares the same starting point as "President of the United States" and `AllowMultipleResults=FALSE`. The matches "United States" and "United States of America" (entity3) are ignored because they overlap with "President of the United States" and `AllowOverlaps=FALSE`. | Named Entity Recognition returns the match "President of the United States" (entity1). The match "President" (entity2) is ignored because it shares the same starting point as "President of the United States" and `AllowMultipleResults=FALSE`. Overlapping matches are allowed, so Named Entity Recognition returns a match "United States of America" (entity3). The match "United States" (entity3) is ignored because it shares the same starting point as "United States of America" and `AllowMultipleResults=FALSE`.
AllowMultipleResults =OnePerEntity | Named Entity Recognition returns the match "President of the United States" (entity1). Named Entity Recognition returns the match "President" (entity2). Although it shares the same starting point as "President of the United States" it is matched by a different entity and `AllowMultipleResults` is set to `OnePerEntity`. The matches "United States" and "United States of America" (entity3) are ignored because they overlap with "President of the United States" and `AllowOverlaps=FALSE`. | Named Entity Recognition returns the match "President of the United States" (entity1). Named Entity Recognition returns the match "President" (entity2). Although it shares the same starting point as "President of the United States" it is matched by a different entity and `AllowMultipleResults` is set to `OnePerEntity`. Overlapping matches are allowed, so Named Entity Recognition returns a match "United States of America" (entity3). The match "United States" (entity3) is ignored because it shares the same starting point as "United States of America" and `AllowMultipleResults` is set to `OnePerEntity`.
AllowMultipleResults =True | Named Entity Recognition returns the match "President of the United States" (entity1). Named Entity Recognition returns the match "President" (entity2) because `AllowMultipleResults=True`. The matches "United States" and "United States of America" (entity3) are ignored because they overlap with "President of the United States" and `AllowOverlaps=FALSE`. | Named Entity Recognition returns all of the matches. These are "President of the United States" (entity1), "President" (entity2), "United States" (entity3), and "United States of America" (entity3).

Type: | Boolean
Default: | False
Required: | No
Configuration Section: | Eduction
Example: | `AllowOverlaps=True`
See Also: | AllowMultipleResults NonGreedyMatch

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Version 25.2 | Last updated April 2025

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Product: Knowledge Discovery Named Entity Recognition 25.2

Topic Title: AllowOverlaps