Placeholders
signoSign/2 offers the possibility to read information from a document in order to use it in different places. This information is defined using so-called placeholders. For example, a number or name can be read from the document and used in the file name when archiving.
General
The following options are available in the general settings for placeholders:
Option | Description |
|---|---|
Number of placeholders | Defines the number of available placeholders. The number can be set between 0 and 30. Depending on the selection, the list of available placeholders is shortened or extended. |
Define placeholder
The individual placeholders can be defined in the “define placeholder” area.
The number specified under “number of placeholders” is displayed as a list (placeholder 1 to placeholder 30). In addition to the list, the following functions are available:
The pen icon can be used to create a new placeholder or change the configuration of a placeholder.
The trash icon deletes the configuration of the corresponding placeholder.
A template file must be stored in the general settings of the document type for editing.
New placeholder / configure placeholder
The configuration of a placeholder is started in a new window by clicking the pen icon (“edit placeholder”).
Area | Description |
|---|---|
Left: Preview of the document | The preview of the document or the configured template file is displayed on the left-hand side. |
Right: Extracted text | The raw text that signoSign/2 has extracted from the template file is displayed on the right-hand side. If no text or cryptic special characters are displayed, the source file technically does not contain any text. In this case, a template file with searchable text must be stored. |
Bottom left: Configuration of the placeholder | The options for reading the placeholder are displayed in the bottom left-hand section of the window. There are different “types” for reading out information as placeholders. The individual options are briefly named here and described in detail in the following paragraphs. Start and end term: The content between two search terms (start term and end term) is read out. Start term and end of line: The content is read up to the end of the line, starting from a specific search term. Fixed number of characters from a start term: A fixed number of characters are read, starting from a specific search term. Form field: The content of a form field is read out. XMP: XMP metadata is read out. This metadata is generated when the document is created and contains information that describes the document, such as title, creation date and creator. Depending on the creator, individual content can also be saved as XMP information in the document. Barcode: A barcode is read out. |
Bottom right: Options | The general options for reading the placeholder are displayed in the bottom right-hand section of the window. These options are independent of the selected readout type and are available for every type of placeholder. Remove leading zeros: Determines whether leading zeros are to be removed from the read content. If, for example, an account number “0012041896” is read out, the two leading zeros can be removed with this setting. The result is “12041896.” Remove non-numeric characters: Determines whether non-numeric characters (e.g. special characters and letters) should be removed from the read content. If, for example, the date “17.10.2017” is read out, the dots can be removed with this setting. The result is “17102017.” Remove blanks: Determines whether all blanks should be removed from the read content. Only blanks are removed. Line breaks are retained. If, for example, the IBAN “DE96 2505 0180 0012 0418 96” is read out, the blanks can be removed with this setting. The result is “DE96250501800012041896.” Search terms are regular expressions: If the search term is to be a regular expression, this option must be activated. This option is useful if, for example, only the account number (the last 10 digits) is to be read from the IBAN “DE96 2505 0180 0012 0418 96.” As the value before the account number is variable, a regular expression can be used. “DE\d{2}[ ]\d{4}[ ]\d{4}[ ]” should be defined as the search term. If “start term and end of line” is selected as the type, the value “0012 0418 96” is read out. If the options “remove leading zeros” and “remove blanks” are also activated, the result is just the account number: “12041896.” |
Bottom right: Preview | A preview of the content that was read from the template file with the current settings is displayed under the general options. The preview or the content read out is representative of all other documents of the same type. |
Placeholder: General configurations
Many placeholder configurations have identical configuration fields, which are described in the following list. The specific configuration options for certain readout types are described in the following sections.
Option | Description |
|---|---|
Placeholder name | Defines the name of the placeholder that is displayed in the configuration interface (e.g. in the list of available placeholders). |
Occurrence | If the search term is found, the first occurrence of the search term in the document is always used first, regardless of the position of the selected text. If you do not want to use the first occurrence, you can search for further occurrences using the adjacent magnifying glass icon. The term found is highlighted in the text on the right-hand side. It is not possible to enter the occurrence manually. |
Extraction mode | Defines the mode in which the text is to be extracted from the document. “Original,” “physical” and “standard” modes are available. With an option, the text content of the document can be formatted and displayed differently during extraction. This can be helpful when configuring placeholders, as certain information is more difficult or easier to read depending on the extraction mode. Default: Physical |
Placeholder: “Start and end term”
If the “start and end term” option is used to read a placeholder, the following specific options are available:
Option | Description |
|---|---|
Search term | Defines the search term for the start term. The search term can be highlighted in the text. After a search term has been highlighted, the software automatically switches to the “end characters.” Alternatively, the desired term can be entered in the text field and searched for using the adjacent magnifying glass icon. |
End characters | Defines the search term for the end term. The search term can be highlighted in the text. Alternatively, the desired term can be entered in the text field and searched for using the adjacent magnifying glass icon. |
Placeholder: “Start term and end of line”
If the “start term and end of line” option is used to read a placeholder, the following specific options are available:
Option | Description |
|---|---|
Search term | Defines the search term for the start term. The search term can be highlighted in the text. Alternatively, the desired term can be entered in the text field and searched for using the adjacent magnifying glass icon. |
Skip lines | Defines whether one or more lines should be skipped during the search. Example: If 0 lines are skipped, the content after the search term up to the end of the line is extracted as a placeholder. If 1 or more lines are skipped, the number of lines is skipped. With this option, a complete line is always extracted. |
Reverse scan direction | This option reverses the scan direction. Activated: Scan direction from right to left. Deactivated: Scan direction from left to right. If this option is used together with “skip lines,” reading is not from right to left but from left to right, but the lines are not skipped (downward) but counted backwards (upward). Default: Deactivated |
Placeholder: “Fixed number of characters from a start term”
If the option “fixed number of characters from a start term” is used to read a placeholder, the following specific options are available:
Option | Description |
|---|---|
Search term | Defines the search term for the start term. The search term can be highlighted in the text. Alternatively, the desired term can be entered in the text field and searched for using the adjacent magnifying glass icon. |
Number of characters | Defines the number of characters to be read out as placeholders depending on the search term. |
Reverse scan direction | This option reverses the scan direction. Activated: Scan direction from right to left. Deactivated: Scan direction from left to right. Default: Deactivated |
Placeholder: “Form field”
If the “form field” option is used to read a placeholder, the following specific options are available:
Option | Description |
|---|---|
Form field name | Defines the form field whose content is to be read out as a placeholder. The drop-down list contains all the form fields contained in the template document. Make sure that the form field names match the final documents. |
Placeholder: “XMP”
If the “XMP” option is used to read a placeholder, the following options are available:
Option | Description |
|---|---|
XMP namespace | Contains a drop-down list with all XMP namespaces that are present in the document’s metadata. |
XMP element | Contains a drop-down list with all XMP elements of the selected XMP namespace. |
Placeholder: Barcode
If the “barcode” option is used to read a placeholder, the following options are available.
The use of barcodes is an additional function that is subject to a charge.
Option | Description |
|---|---|
Barcode type | Contains a drop-down list with all available barcode types. The barcode type must be explicitly selected so that the software can read the barcode efficiently. Available barcode types:
|
Page | Defines on which page the barcode is to be searched for. A single page or “all” can be selected. Searching on all pages without limiting the search area can lead to long loading times. |
Restrict search region | This option can be used to restrict the search to a specific region. When activated, a blue field appears in the preview on the left-hand side, the position and size of which can be set to the desired area. By changing the “page” option, the field jumps to the selected page. This option is not available if you want to search in all pages. Restricting the search region can help the software to scan barcodes better and much faster. This option is highly recommended if the position of the barcode does not change. |
Resolution | Defines the resolution (72–300 DPI) with which barcodes are to be scanned. The higher the resolution, the more accurate the result. However, a higher resolution also leads to significantly longer loading times. Default: 72 DPI |
Alternative scan directions | Specifies whether the software should also use alternative scan directions. These help to recognize barcodes in certain situations. Activated: Alternative scan directions are used. Deactivated: Only the standard scan direction is used. The use of alternative scan directions can increase loading times. Default: Deactivated |
Barcode | Contains a drop-down list with all barcodes found under the settings made. The desired barcode can be selected. The content of the barcode is displayed in the “preview” field. |
Split barcode | Specifies whether the content of the barcode should be split so that only a specific section of the content is used if the barcode contains multiple pieces of information. A delimiter and occurrence can be defined for this purpose. Example: A barcode contains the information “DE:signotec GmbH:Max Mustermann:070818.” The barcode therefore contains four pieces of information: “DE,” “signotec GmbH,” “Max Mustermann” and “070818.” However, only the name “Max Mustermann” is to be read out. The colon must be entered as the delimiter for the desired separation. The occurrence 3 is used because the name is the third piece of information in the barcode. Default: Deactivated |