Special features of ABBYY FlexiLayout Studio for creating additional FlexiLayouts

ABBYY FlexiLayout Studio has several special features for developing additional FlexiLayouts for invoice projects:

You can specify element locations relative to the field regions detected when the main FlexiLayout of the invoice project was applied.
You can use identifiers of vendors and business units in requests to the data set of the Document Definition.
You can export lists of keywords and other FlexiLayout parameters to an XML file. You can then edit them without editing the FlexiLayout or the Document Definition.

Create an additional FlexiLayout

Open a batch in FlexiCapture

Open a batch with recognized invoices in FlexiCapture.

Create a FlexiLayout Studio project

Create a new project in ABBYY FlexiLayout Studio. On the main menu, select Tools → Export Batch to FlexiLayout Studio → Create New FlexiLayout Studio Project….This command is available only for FlexiCapture projects stored on your computer. In a distributed installation, if the project is stored on the server, download it to your computer first. To do this, click Export Project… on the Project menu.

The new ABBYY FlexiLayout Studio project contains all the documents from the FlexiCapture batch. It also contains the field regions detected during recognition, in the form of a reference layout. The suffix of the project name indicates the version of the Document Definition at the time the project was created.

Tree	Node	Description
SearchElements	CommonBlockRegions	Contains elements that correspond to all fields of the Document Definition. The ABBYY FlexiLayout Studio project saves the coordinates of all block regions detected when FlexiLayouts were applied to each document in FlexiCapture. By default, regions with these coordinates are assigned to elements with the same names as fields in the Document Definition. You can use them to specify relative locations of elements and to create new elements.
SearchElements	CustomSearchElements	Contains sample elements. They are disabled by default so that they do not interfere when the FlexiLayout is applied. DataSetRequestSample is an example of a request to the data set of vendors and business units stored in the Document Definition. This data set includes identifiers of vendors and business units.

Add a field to an additional FlexiLayout

To add a field to an additional FlexiLayout, create a block for the field and specify its search element. Fields in the Document Definition must have unique names, so name the block according to what you want to do:

To	Create a block with
Describe the search logic for a new field	A unique name
Change the search logic for a field that already exists in the Document Definition	The same name as that field

Add pages to an additional FlexiLayout

To test changes to an additional FlexiLayout on new images, export FlexiCapture batches into an existing invoice project in ABBYY FlexiLayout Studio. Click Tools → Export Batch to FlexiLayout Studio → Add to Existing FlexiLayout Studio Project…. You can export FlexiCapture batches only into ABBYY FlexiLayout Studio projects created with the Create New FlexiLayout Studio Project… command. Each exported FlexiCapture batch becomes a new batch in the ABBYY FlexiLayout Studio project.

Export fields added after the project was created

The new Document Definition can have more fields than the one used for the ABBYY FlexiLayout Studio project. In that case, the export log contains a warning for each extra field. To export the extra fields, add a block with the same name for each one in the CommonBlockRegions node of the SearchElements tree.

Make requests to data sets from the Document Definition

You can find a sample request in the DataSetRequestSample element. This element is disabled by default.

NamedValue type

A named value. Constructor: NamedValue( String, String )

Method	Description
`String Name()`	Returns the name of a named value.
`String Value()`	Returns the value of a named value.

NamedValueArray type

An array of named values. Constructors:

NamedValueArray()
NamedValueArray( NamedValue namedValue )

Method	Description
`Int Count()`	Returns the total number of elements in the array.
`NamedValue GetAt( Int index )`	Returns the element with the specified index number.
`Void Add( NamedValue namedValue )`	Adds a named value to the array.
`Void Add( NamedValueArray namedValueArray )`	Adds a named value array to a named value array.
`Void InsertAt( Int index, NamedValue namedValue )`	Inserts the named value into the position index.
`Void DeleteAll()`	Deletes all elements in an array.
`Void DeleteAt( Int index )`	Deletes an element in the position index.
`Int FindByName( String name )`	Returns the position of the value named name.

Function parameters

Parameter	Description
connectionString	The connection string, in the format `"dbtype=FCDataset;fcTemplate=path_to_Document_Definition;datasetName=name_of_Data_Set;"`. Separate parts of the path with double backslashes (`\\`). In ABBYY FlexiLayout Studio, the path to the Document Definition and the name of the data set are used to access the data set. After a compiled FlexiLayout is added to a Document Definition in FlexiCapture, only the data set name is used.
searchFields	An array of names of the columns from which to retrieve values.
searchCriteria	An array of Column-Entry pairs. If the array is empty, all values are returned.

When a request in searchCriteria contains several values, combine them with the OR and AND operators:

The request contains	Use
Multiple values for one field	OR
Multiple values, each of which corresponds to only one field	AND
Multiple values for one field and values for multiple fields	OR between the values of one field, and AND between the fields

Functions

Function	Description
`Logic TestAccessToFCDataSet( String connectionString )`	Tests the connection to the data set.
`Logic TestFCDataSetSearchCriteria( String connectionString, StringArray searchFields, NamedValueArray searchCriteria )`	Tests search conditions for the data set.
`StringArray FieldNamesOfFCDataset( String connectionString )`	Returns a list of all fields from the data set, sorted in ascending order of their index numbers.
`StringArray FieldNamesOfFCDataset( String connectionString, StringArray searchFields )`	Returns a list of data set fields from the specified data set in ascending order of their index numbers. Use it with the RecordOfFCDataset function when there are complex columns.
`Int RecordCountOfFCDataset( String connectionString, StringArray searchFields, NamedValueArray searchCriteria )`	Returns the number of entries from the data set that match the search conditions. Use it to find out how many entries the RecordOfFCDataset function can return.
`Void PrepareRecordsetOfFCDataset( String connectionString, StringArray searchFields, NamedValueArray searchCriteria, Int maxRecordsCount = DefaultMaxRecordsCount )`	Prepares data for a query to the data set. Call it for every new set of search conditions before calling the RecordOfFCDataset function.
`StringArray RecordOfFCDataset( String connectionString, StringArray searchFields, NamedValueArray searchCriteria, Int rowIndex )`	Returns an array of values from the entry with the number rowIndex in the results of a query to the data set. The number of values equals the number of fields passed in searchFields, including the case of complex columns.
`Quality ValidateByFCDataSet( String word, String connectionString, Int fieldIndex, NamedValueArray searchCriteria, Int maxErrors, Rational maxErrorsPart, Logic ignoreSpaces = true, Int maxRecordsCount = DefaultMaxRecordsCount )`	Returns the quality of the string word. Accepts index numbers of fields. You can get index numbers by indexing the output of the FieldNamesOfFCDataset function.
`Void SearchTextFromFCDataSet( String connectionString, Int fieldIndex, NamedValueArray searchCriteria, Int maxRecordsCount = DefaultMaxRecordsCount )`	Specifies search conditions for words for the Static Text function. Each call replaces the existing search conditions with new ones. Accepts field index numbers. You can get index numbers by indexing the output of the FieldNamesOfFCDataset function.
`Void RegularExpressionFromFCDataSet( String connectionString, Int fieldIndex, NamedValueArray searchCriteria, Int maxRecordsCount = DefaultMaxRecordsCount )`	Specifies search conditions using regular expressions for the CharString function. Each call replaces the existing search conditions with new ones. Accepts field index numbers. You can get index numbers by indexing the output of the FieldNamesOfFCDataset function.

Search for rows from a column in an external database on an image

List the columns

Use FieldNamesOfFCDataset to get a list of columns sorted in ascending order of their index numbers.

Find the column index

Determine the index number of the column from which you need to find data.

Build the filter

Create an array of conditions for filtering data from the data set.

Run the search

Pass the index numbers of the column and the filter conditions to SearchTextFromFCDataSet (or RegularExpressionFromFCDataSet, if you need to use regular expressions).

This code is generated automatically when a recognized batch is exported from FlexiCapture.

Search an image for entries from multiple columns

Each call to the SearchTextFromFCDataSet function replaces the search parameters, so calling it repeatedly has no effect. As a workaround, get strings from an external database and pass them to the SearchText function. SearchText adds each string to the existing search parameters instead of replacing them.

List the columns

Create an array of names of columns from which you need to find data.

Build the filter

Create an array of filter conditions for filtering data from the data set.

Count the entries

Determine the number of entries that are returned using the RecordCountOfFCDataset function.

Prepare the query

Prepare query data using the PrepareRecordsetOfFCDataset function.

Read each record

Go through all records and get the array for each record using the RecordOfFCDataset method.

Pass the values to SearchText

Pass the value of each element in the array to the SearchText function.

Complex columns

A complex column in a data set is stored as several columns in the encoded external database. In the following examples, the complex column Name is stored as three columns, so the data set fields are {VendorId, VATID, Name, Name, Name, City}.

Function or parameter	Behavior with a complex column
FieldNamesOfFCDataset	Returns the name of the complex column once for each column instance in the encoded external database, for example `{VendorId, VATID, Name, Name, Name, City}`.
searchCriteria	A condition for a field that corresponds to a complex column checks all of its column instances.
searchFields	If searchFields includes a field that corresponds to a complex column, the result contains the values from each column instance. For example, requesting `{ VATID, Name, City}` returns `{VATID_value, Name_valueInColumn1, Name_valueInColumn2, Name_valueInColumn3, City_value}`.

To get the list of columns that a request returns, pass the searchFields array to the FieldNamesOfFCDataset function.

Make a request to an XML file that contains FlexiLayout settings

You can make requests to an XML file with FlexiLayout settings using two standard functions that are described in the documentation for ABBYY FlexiLayout Studio:

StringArray ReadFromXML(String filename, String xPathQuery)
String ReadSingleStringFromXML(String filename, String xPathQuery)

To use this file when working on a FlexiLayout in ABBYY FlexiLayout Studio, place it in the project folder or one of its subfolders. The path to the file is relative to the ABBYY FlexiLayout Studio project file. If you load a compiled FlexiLayout to a Document Definition in FlexiCapture and use it as an additional FlexiLayout, the XML file is placed in the Templates folder. You can edit it there. When the FlexiLayout is applied, the program manages access to this file automatically.

ABBYY FlexiCapture for Invoices

ABBYY FlexiCapture for Invoices Cloud

Special features of ABBYY FlexiLayout Studio for creating additional FlexiLayouts

Create an additional FlexiLayout

Add a field to an additional FlexiLayout

Add pages to an additional FlexiLayout

Export fields added after the project was created

Make requests to data sets from the Document Definition

NamedValue type

NamedValueArray type

Function parameters

Functions

Search for rows from a column in an external database on an image

Search an image for entries from multiple columns

Complex columns

Make a request to an XML file that contains FlexiLayout settings

​Create an additional FlexiLayout

​Add a field to an additional FlexiLayout

​Add pages to an additional FlexiLayout

​Export fields added after the project was created

​Make requests to data sets from the Document Definition

​NamedValue type

​NamedValueArray type

​Function parameters

​Functions

​Search for rows from a column in an external database on an image

​Search an image for entries from multiple columns

​Complex columns

​Make a request to an XML file that contains FlexiLayout settings

Create an additional FlexiLayout

Add a field to an additional FlexiLayout

Add pages to an additional FlexiLayout

Export fields added after the project was created

Make requests to data sets from the Document Definition

NamedValue type

NamedValueArray type

Function parameters

Functions

Search for rows from a column in an external database on an image

Search an image for entries from multiple columns

Complex columns

Make a request to an XML file that contains FlexiLayout settings