Intelligent Form Extractor

Properties panel

• DisplayName - The display name of the activity.

• ApiKey - Specifies the API key of the account.
• Endpoint - The URL to UiPath® server. By default, the endpoint is https://du.uipath.com/svc/intelligentforms. For more information, visit Document Understanding Public Endpoints.
• MinOverlapPercentage - Specifies the minimum overlap area (in percentage) between a box in the document and a box in the template required to make an extraction. The percentage value can be set between 0 and 100. The default value is 65.
• Timeout - Specifies the amount of time (in milliseconds) to wait for a response from the server before an error is thrown. The default value is 100000 milliseconds (100 seconds).

• Private - If selected, the values of variables and arguments are no longer logged at Verbose level.
  Important: By using the cloud-based version of this document data extraction software with any UiPath® Community API Key, the documents processed with the software are stored and used by UiPath® along with any personal data they may contain for service monitoring. Documents processed using any UiPath® server endpoint with Enterprise API Keys are not stored by UiPath®. No documents are processed by UiPath® if the software is set up and used on your premises.
  Note:

  After a template is created, the activity might display a warning informing you that the permitted number of handwritten areas allowed on one page might have been exceeded.

  The workflow can still be run and an error is thrown only if the number of handwritten areas has been indeed exceeded (more than 60/page).

Creating a template

• Add an Intelligent Form Extractor activity to your workflow, within a Data Extraction Scope.
• Configure the extractor by selecting Manage Templates.

  The Template Manager window opens.

  Figure 1. Overview of the Template Manager wizard
  

  

  
  
• Select Create Template for creating a new template.
  Figure 2. Overview of the Create Template wizard
  

  

  
  
  Note:

  If the UiPath.IntelligentOCR.Activities package has been updated to v5.1.0, then the ForceApplyOCR parameter has been replaced with the ApplyOcrOnPDF. Here is the compatibility between the old and new parameters:

  • ForceApplyOCR = True is replaced by ApplyOcrOnPDF = Yes;
  • ForceApplyOCR = False is replaced by ApplyOcrOnPDF = Auto;
  • ForceApplyOCR = Empty is replaced by ApplyOcrOnPDF = Auto;
  • ForceApplyOCR = <user-defined variable> is replaced by ApplyOcrOnPDF = Auto.
• Select the document type for your template from the Document Type dropdown list.
  Note: All Document Types are based on the Taxonomy. Make sure to add or create a taxonomy inside the project's folder.
• Add the name of the template in the Template name field. Choose a relevant name that reflects the version or the layout of your document.
• Add the document's path in the Template document field.
• Navigate to the file's path by using the Browse button.
• Select an OCR from the OCR Engine dropdown list, and configure it according to its needs.
• Select Configure to trigger the template editing.

  The Apply OCR on PDF option establishes if the OCR process should be applied or not to PDF documents. Three options are available in the dropdown list: True, False, and Auto.

  If set to True, the OCR is applied to all PDF pages of the document. If set to False, only digitally typed text is extracted. The default value is Auto, determining if the document requires to apply the OCR algorithm depending on the input document.

  Each OCR engine comes with its own set of custom options. Visit OCR engines for more details about all options available for each OCR engine.

  If you have already created a template, then it can be edited, exported, or removed.

  The Delete and Export options become available only when at least one template is selected. The Edit and Remove options for an individual template are always available.

Exporting Procedure

1. Create one or more templates by following the steps explained at the beginning of this page.
2. Select the templates you want to export.
3. Select an Export option:
   1. Export with original files

      Exporting with original files attaches them to the export.

   2. Export without original files
      Figure 5. The available Export options available in the Template Manager wizard
      

      

      
      
4. Save the template's archive with the desired name.
5. A message is displayed once the template is saved. Select OK.
   Figure 6. The "X template(s) successfully exported" message
   

   

   
   
   Note:

   If you cannot share the content of the documents you have built your templates on, then use the Export without original files option. You are still able to share and import the template archive in other projects, but you cannot edit or view them anymore.

   If you want to edit the templates once imported in a different project, make sure to use the Export with original files option when exporting and then importing them.

Importing Procedure

1. Select Import.
   Figure 7. The action of selecting Import
   

   

   
   
2. Select an archive. The import wizard appears and presents all document types and all templates available in the selected export archive. Select the templates you wish to import and choose the right Import option:
   1. Import with original files
   2. Import without original files
      Figure 8. The available Import options in the Template Manager wizard
      

      

      
      
      Note:

      • When templates are imported, Document Types are created automatically in the project's Taxonomy. If a Document Type with the same name already exists, another one is created by appending a count to the Document Type name.
      • If you are importing templates that have been exported without the original files, or if you choose to import templates without the original files, then you have no view or edit options for those templates.

Special Situations when Importing a Template

• New document type: If a new document type is imported, then a new field is added in the wizard configuration, informing you that a new template is to be created.
• Duplicate document type: If an identical document type is imported, then the following warning message appears: "This template already exists and it will be overwritten."
• Extended template: If a document type template that includes extra fields than the already existing one, is imported, then the following warning message appears: "This document type will be updated as follows: The following field(s) do not exist and will be created."
• Extended document type: If the user imports a document type that includes extra fields than the already existing one, then the following warning message appears: "This document type will be updated as follows: The following field(s) don't have configurations to import".
• Document type with identical name but different content: If the user imports a document type that has the same name as the existing one but different fields, then the following warning message appears: "This document type will be updated as follows":
  • "The following fields do not exist and will be created"
  • "The following fields don't have configurations to import"
• Document type with missing table: If the user imports a document type that doesn't include a table, then the following warning message appears: "This document type will be updated as follows: The following field(s) don't have configurations to import."
• Document type with extended table: If the user imports a document type that includes a table with extra columns, then the following warning message appears: "This document will be updated as follows: The following field(s) do not exist and will be created."
• Document type with reduced table: If the user imports a document type that includes a table with missing columns, then the following warning message appears: "This document will be updated as follows: The following field(s) don't have configurations to import".
• Table template with different document types: If the user imports a document type template that includes a table with different document types, then a new template is created.

  If your taxonomy includes a table that has a field with a different document type, then the following message appears:

  The field with id xyz was found both in the imported taxonomy as well in the existing taxonomy but their types are incompatible (either both should be tables or neither of them).

General Considerations

Configuring Anchors

Configuring Simple Fields

Configuring Tables

• Define each cell one by one, once the Table Editor is expanded, by adding Custom Area selection to each cell individually.
• Use the table markup functionality, by marking the table area, drawing row, and column separators, and then assigning the thus marked table to the field. Make sure that the extracted area has the same number of columns and rows as the template area.

• Identify if a page-level template matches, and extract information according to the best page-level template match it recognizes;
• Identify if any anchor-based settings match, and extract information according to their application in the document to be processed;
• Compute appropriate confidence scores for all possible matches, to be able to report the best result (highest probability match) of all available options.

Creating a New Anchor Setting

1. Make sure you are in the Anchor Selection mode.
2. Draw a box around the value area.
3. Select a Label (main anchor) for your value area by using one of the following methods:
   • Select the first word and then use Ctrl + Selectfor the last word of the selection.
   • Select, drag, and then release to capture a word range.
     Note: A Label can only contain consecutive words from the same visual line.
4. Select any additional anchors that would uniquely identify your Label. The same selection principle applies.
5. Assign your anchor construct to the appropriate field by selecting Extract Value for that particular field.
   Figure 12. Example of creating multiple anchors for a field
   

   

   
   
   Note: You can also use the previous examples from this page to learn how to create a template and define extraction areas and anchors.

Edit an Existing Anchor Setting

1. Highlight your anchor setting.
2. Make changes to it (delete any anchors, the label, even the value area if you wish, add new elements, etc.).
3. Select More Options for a field anchor, and then use the Change Extracted Value option to update your field association.
   Figure 13. Example of changing the extracted value for a field
   

   

   
   
   Note:

   • If you delete the target area, all anchors get deleted and you start over.
   • If you delete the Label (main anchor), the first anchor in the order it was created becomes the new Label.

Delete an Existing Anchor Setting

• Select More Options for a field anchor and use the Mark as Missing option for a saved value.
  Figure 14. Example of using the Mark as Missing option to delete an anchor setting
  

  

  
  
• Select More Options for a field anchor and use the Remove Value option, case of a list of anchors defined for a given field.
  Figure 15. Example of using the Remove Value option to delete an anchor setting
  

  

  
  

Mix and Match Configurations