Overview
Flow ID: configure-advanced-chunks
Category: Blockify Processing
Estimated Duration: 3-10 minutes
User Role: All Users
Complexity: Moderate
Purpose: Access detailed chunk preview showing exactly how each uploaded file will be split based on current settings. Allows fine-tuning chunk size and overlap while seeing real-time preview of results for each file.
Related Flows
- Configure Basic Chunk Settings - Simpler settings interface
- Upload Files for Processing - Files needed for preview
- Create New Blockify Job - Full job creation workflow
- Create Basic Chunking Job - Alternative processing mode
Prerequisites
Before starting, users must have:
- Job creation screen open with files uploaded
- Text extracted from uploaded files
- Basic chunk settings configured (or using defaults)
Step-by-Step Flow
Main Path (Happy Path)
Step 1: Access Advanced Preview
- User Action: On job creation screen, click "Show Advanced Settings" or "Preview Chunks" button
- System Response: Interface expands to show advanced chunk preview
- UI Elements Visible:
- Expanded advanced settings panel
- Left side: Enhanced chunk settings sliders
- Right side: File preview area with tabs
- File tabs showing each uploaded file
- Current file's chunks displayed
- Visual Cues:
- Smooth expansion animation
- Panel takes over significant screen space
- Clear division between settings and preview
Step 2: Review Interface Layout
- User Action: Observe advanced interface structure
- System Response: Full advanced interface visible
- UI Elements Visible:
- Left Panel - Settings:
- Chunk size slider
- Allow overlap checkbox
- Overlap size slider
- Current values displayed
- Real-time update indicators
- Right Panel - Preview:
- File tabs at top (one per uploaded file)
- Active file tab highlighted
- Chunk preview area below tabs
- Individual chunks displayed as cards
- Left Panel - Settings:
- Visual Cues:
- Two-panel layout
- File tabs horizontally scrollable if many files
- Clean, organized structure
Step 3: Select File to Preview
- User Action: Click on a file tab to see its chunk preview
- System Response:
- Selected tab highlights
- Preview area updates to show that file's chunks
- Chunk count for file displayed in tab
- UI Elements Visible:
- Active file tab with highlight/underline
- File name in tab
- Chunk count: "(15 chunks)"
- Chunk cards for selected file below
Step 4: Review Chunk Preview
- User Action: Scroll through chunks to see how file is divided
- System Response: All chunks for file displayed
- UI Elements Visible:
- Series of chunk cards, each showing:
- Header: "Chunk #1 (892 characters)"
- Content: Actual text that will be in this chunk
- Character count per chunk
- Chunks numbered sequentially: #1, #2, #3, etc.
- If overlap enabled: Visual indication of overlapping text (may be highlighted)
- Scrollable area if many chunks
- Series of chunk cards, each showing:
Step 5: Assess Chunk Quality
- User Action: Check if chunk boundaries make sense
- Are chunks breaking at natural points?
- Is important information kept together?
- Are chunk sizes reasonable?
- System Response: Static display of chunks
- UI Elements Visible: Full chunk text visible for assessment
Step 6: Adjust Settings While Viewing Preview
- User Action: Move chunk size or overlap sliders to optimize
- System Response:
- Preview updates immediately (or after brief delay)
- Chunk cards regenerate with new settings
- Chunk count updates
- All file tabs update with new counts
- UI Elements Visible:
- Updated chunk previews
- New chunk counts per file
- Real-time recalculation
- May see brief "Recalculating..." indicator
- Visual Cues:
- Smooth preview updates
- Numbers change dynamically
Step 7: Preview Multiple Files
- User Action: Click through different file tabs to verify chunking for each file
- System Response: Each file shows its specific chunk breakdown
- UI Elements Visible:
- Different chunk counts per file (files vary in size)
- Chunk previews specific to each file's content
- Can compare chunking across files
Step 8: Finalize Settings
- User Action: Once satisfied with preview, close advanced settings or proceed with job
- System Response: Settings confirmed
- UI Elements Visible:
- May have "Apply" or "Done" button
- Or simply proceed to job creation
- Visual Cues: Settings locked in
Final Step: Advanced Settings Configured
- Success Indicator:
- Verified chunking looks good for all files
- Settings optimized based on preview
- Confident in configuration
- System State Change:
- Chunk settings finalized
- Ready for job processing with verified configuration
- Next Possible Actions:
- Start job processing
- Return to basic settings view
- Upload additional files
- Make final setting adjustments
Alternative Paths & Strategies
Strategy A: Test Different Settings for Each File
When to use: Files have different optimal chunk sizes
Steps:
- Select first file tab
- Adjust settings to optimize for this file
- Note settings that work well
- Select next file tab
- Observe how same settings work for different file
- Find compromise settings that work for all files
QA Note: Cannot set per-file chunk sizes; must find settings working for all files.
Strategy B: Focus on Problematic File**
When to use: One file chunks poorly with current settings
Steps:
- Review all file previews
- Identify file with bad chunking
- Adjust settings to fix that file specifically
- Verify other files still acceptable
- Balance competing needs
Strategy C: Quick Check and Proceed**
When to use: Trust defaults, just want quick verification
Steps:
- Open advanced preview
- Glance at first file's chunks
- If looks reasonable, proceed without detailed review
- Close preview and start job
- Saves time if comfortable with defaults
Error States & Recovery
Error 1: Preview Doesn't Update
Cause: Caching issue or calculation error
User Experience:
- Adjust sliders but preview stays same
- Chunk counts don't update
Recovery Steps:
- Click different file tab and back
- Close and reopen advanced settings
- Refresh page
- Preview should recalculate
QA Note: Real-time updates should work. If fails, indicates calculation or caching bug.
Error 2: Preview Calculation Times Out
Cause: Very large files or many chunks
User Experience:
- "Calculating..." indicator continues long time
- Preview never appears
- May show error or empty preview
Recovery Steps:
- Increase chunk size to reduce chunk count
- Wait longer (may just be slow)
- Try previewing smaller file first
- If specific file consistently fails, may need to split file
Error 3: Out of Memory During Preview
Cause: Too many chunks or large files overwhelming browser
User Experience:
- Browser becomes slow or unresponsive
- Preview laggy or frozen
- May see memory warnings
Recovery Steps:
- Increase chunk size to reduce total chunks
- Close other browser tabs
- Refresh page
- Preview fewer files at once
- Use basic settings without preview for very large sets
Version History
| Date | Version | Author | Changes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-10-04 | 1.1 | Iternal Technologies | Initial comprehensive documentation |
Notes
Important Considerations:
- Preview shows exact chunks that will be created
- Settings changes update preview in real-time (brief delay for calculations)
- Preview caches chunks per setting combination for performance
- Can preview all uploaded files individually
- Large files (100+ pages) may have hundreds of chunks; preview may be slow
- Preview is optional; can proceed with basic settings if confident
Advanced Preview Benefits:
- See exact chunk boundaries before committing to processing
- Identify documents that chunk poorly
- Optimize settings with visual feedback
- Build confidence in configuration
- Learn how chunk size affects different document types
When to Use Advanced Preview:
- First time using blockify with new document types
- Documents have special structure (tables, lists, formatted sections)
- Want to optimize for best search results
- Processing many documents (worth time to get settings right)
- Experimenting with chunk parameters
When to Skip Advanced Preview:
- Using proven settings from previous jobs
- Documents are simple, plain text
- Time-constrained
- Comfortable with defaults
Best Practices for Using Preview:
- Review at least 2-3 files to see variation
- Look for chunks that break mid-sentence or mid-paragraph
- Adjust chunk size if chunks too small (< 300 characters) or too large (> 2500 characters consistently)
- Enable overlap if seeing important context split across chunks
- Aim for chunks that feel like complete "thoughts" or "topics"
- Don't over-optimize; good enough is better than perfect
Common User Questions:
- "Do I need to preview?" - No, optional; but recommended for first jobs or important documents
- "Will final results match preview exactly?" - Yes, preview shows actual chunking algorithm
- "Why does preview take time to update?" - Recalculating chunks for every setting change requires processing
- "Can I preview without uploading files?" - No, need actual file content to show chunks
- "What if preview shows bad chunking?" - Adjust settings until chunks look better
Trigger
What initiates this flow:
- User manually initiates
Specific trigger: User wants to see precisely how files will be chunked before processing, typically because:
- Want to verify chunk boundaries make sense
- Optimizing settings for specific document structure
- Files have special formatting requiring customization
- Want confidence settings are correct before long processing
User Intent Analysis
Primary Intent
Preview exact chunking results for each file to verify settings produce good chunk boundaries and appropriate chunk sizes.
Secondary Intents
- Optimize chunk settings with visual feedback
- Understand how different files will be processed
- Identify potential chunking issues before processing
- Fine-tune for specific document structures
Subintents
- See chunk boundaries for each file
- Count chunks per file
- Verify no information split awkwardly
- Ensure chunk sizes consistent