Data types of the text entry field

The data type is one of the most important settings for a text field. It affects recognition quality, preliminary checks, and how field data is modified. ABBYY FlexiCapture uses data types when recognizing text. The correct data type improves recognition quality and raises the confidence of recognized characters, reducing the Data Verification Operator’s workload. Data type creation is flexible: select a type from the list of existing types, or create a custom type from a regular expression alphabet or a user dictionary. For more information, see Create custom data types. Set data types on the Data tab of the field’s properties dialog box.

Common text field settings

These settings apply to all text field data types.

Setting	Description
Data type	The type of data expected in the field, such as an address, time, date, amount of money, name, code, text, or number. Select it from the dropdown list.
Default value	The value assigned to the field if it is empty after the Document Definition is applied or the document is assembled. It is also assigned if the field’s region is deleted, but not if a user leaves the field empty (for example, during verification). If the default value is empty, the field stays empty until a value is entered. Available for text fields and text columns of tables.
AutoCorrect options	Determine how FlexiCapture automatically corrects field values, for example by replacing or removing characters or spaces, or changing letter case. For more information, see Processing entered values.
Validation	Settings that check values and set limits, such as the number of characters, the minimum and maximum for numbers, or a permitted date range. The Cannot be blank option makes the field required. You can also limit values with an external database, text file, or data set.
Use normalization	Sets the output format for Time, Date, Amount of Money, and Number fields. Disabled by default, so recognized data is shown and exported in its original format.

An external source of allowed values improves recognition (recognized values are matched to the list) and lets you check recognized values against a local or external list. Set up custom dictionaries with the content-type settings, and lists of allowed values with the validation settings.

The following sections describe the settings specific to each data type. Default value, AutoCorrect options, and Validation work as described in this section unless a data type notes otherwise.

Address

Use the Details settings to change the recognition language, specify a custom dictionary, and select more specific types such as e-mail and postal addresses. Click Edit to the right of the summary field to open them:

Language sets the recognition language.
Content settings: General connects a custom dictionary to improve recognition. Enable Use custom dictionary, click Edit, and add words with Add or import them from a TXT or DIC file with Load.
Content settings: Special selects a predefined data type or lets you create a custom one. For more information, see Create custom data types.

For validation constraints, see Value range constraints for text data type.

Amount of Money

Enable Process value as text to process the value as regular text, for example when a sum cannot be brought to the standard format. You can then check the value with a custom dictionary and set value range constraints as for text. Use the Details settings to change the recognition language, set parameters for whole numbers and fractions, and select more specific types such as two-digit numbers and Roman numerals. Click Edit to the right of the summary field to open them:

Language sets the recognition language.
Content settings: General sets options for whole numbers and fractions. For negative numbers, you can allow the minus sign on the right (- 54) and allow parentheses to mean negative ((54) equals -54). Fraction options are Must have fractional part, Allow more than two digits in fractional part, and Allow space as decimal mark. If Only integer values is selected, separators between the whole number and the fraction (decimal points, commas, hyphens, equal signs, and spaces) are ignored. Currencies from Document Definition properties holds a predefined list of major currency codes and symbols; click Edit to add or remove them in the Currency Symbols dialog box. For more information, see Document Definition properties.
Content settings: Special selects a predefined data type or lets you create a custom one. For more information, see Create custom data types.

The Allow space as decimal mark option works only if the One word option on the Recognition tab is disabled.

For validation constraints, see Value range constraints for numbers. To set a custom output format, use Use normalization. Click Edit Normalization Settings to open the Currency Normalization Settings dialog box, which previews a positive and a negative number as they will appear.

Setting	Description
Minimum number of digits in integer part	0 to 9.
Digit grouping	Separates groups of three digits with the grouping symbol.
Digit grouping symbol	Space, comma, or period.
Decimal symbol	Period or comma.
Minimum number of digits after decimal marker	0 to 4.
Maximum number of digits after decimal marker	0 to 4. Setting this to 0 rounds the fraction to the nearest integer.
Use brackets for negative values	Encloses negative numbers in parentheses instead of using a minus sign.
Currency format	The currency format, selected from the dropdown list.

Normalized numbers must be available for the field. If the Use normalization settings contradict the Details settings, an error occurs when the Document Definition is checked.

Do not use number data types for fields that only contain digits but are more than just a number, such as card numbers and passport numbers, because leading zeroes can be removed. Instead, create a custom data type with an alphabet that includes all digits (0 to 9) using a regular expression. If you still use a number data type, enable Process value as text.

Code

A code contains letters and digits. Use the Details settings to change the recognition language, specify a custom dictionary, and select more specific types such as a social security number. Click Edit to the right of the summary field to open them:

Language sets the recognition language.
Content settings: General connects a custom dictionary to improve recognition. Enable Use custom dictionary, click Edit, and add words with Add or import them from a TXT or DIC file with Load.
Content settings: Special selects a predefined data type or lets you create a custom one. For more information, see Create custom data types.

For validation constraints, see Value range constraints for text data type.

Date

Enable Process value as text to process the value as regular text, for example when a date cannot be brought to the standard format. You can then check the value with a custom dictionary and set value range constraints as for text. Use the Details settings to change the recognition language, change the order of the date parts, add the time or day of the week, and select a more specific type. Click Edit to the right of the summary field to open them:

Language sets the recognition language.
Content settings: General sets standard date options: May include month in words, May include day of week, and May include time.
Content settings: Special selects a predefined data type or lets you create a custom one. For more information, see Create custom data types.
Order of date components selects one or more date formats. If several are selected and Use first acceptable date format is disabled, FlexiCapture chooses the suitable format.

For validation constraints, see Values range constraints for date. To set a custom output format, use Use normalization. Click Edit Normalization Settings to open the Date Normalization Settings dialog box, which previews entries as they will appear.

Setting	Description
Date format	The output format for dates.
Date delimiter	The character that separates the parts of the date.
Has day of week	Puts the day of the week first. If none is found during recognition, FlexiCapture determines it from the date.
Has time	Adds the time after the date. If none is found, `00:00` is added.
Time format	The output format for time values.
Time delimiter	The character that separates the parts of the time.

FlexiCapture includes an intelligent data detection mechanism.

For an ambiguous date such as 01/02/02, FlexiCapture offers a list of possible values based on the settings. If the date contains a day of the week that does not match the date, a formatting error is reported during verification. Values with spelling or recognition errors are corrected automatically (for example, Wensday becomes Wednesday and Septembere becomes September).

Name

Use the Details settings to change the recognition language, specify a custom dictionary, and select more specific types such as a last name. Click Edit to the right of the summary field to open them:

Language sets the recognition language.
Content settings: General connects a custom dictionary to improve recognition. Enable Use custom dictionary, click Edit, and add words with Add or import them from a TXT or DIC file with Load.
Content settings: Special selects a predefined data type or lets you create a custom one. For more information, see Create custom data types.

For validation constraints, see Value range constraints for text data type.

Number

Enable Process value as text to process the value as regular text, for example when a number cannot be brought to the standard format. You can then check the value with a custom dictionary and set value range constraints as for text. Use the Details settings to change the recognition language, set parameters for whole numbers and fractions, and select more specific types such as two-digit numbers and Roman numerals. Click Edit to the right of the summary field to open them:

Language sets the recognition language.
Content settings: General sets options for whole numbers and fractions. For negative numbers, you can allow the minus sign on the right (- 54) and allow parentheses to mean negative ((54) equals -54). Fraction options are Must have fractional part, Allow more than two digits in fractional part, and Allow space as decimal marker. If Only integer values is selected, separators between the whole number and the fraction (decimal points, commas, hyphens, equal signs, and spaces) are ignored.
Content settings: Special selects a predefined data type or lets you create a custom one. For more information, see Create custom data types.

The Allow space as decimal marker option works only if the One word option on the Recognition tab is disabled.

For validation constraints, see Value range constraints for numbers. To set a custom output format, use Use normalization. Click Edit Normalization Settings to open the Number Normalization Settings dialog box, which previews a positive and a negative number as they will appear.

Setting	Description
Minimum number of digits in integer part	0 to 9.
Digit grouping	Separates groups of three digits with the grouping symbol.
Digit grouping symbol	Space, comma, or period.
Decimal symbol	Period or comma.
Minimum number of digits after decimal marker	0 to 4.
Maximum number of digits after decimal marker	0 to 4. Setting this to 0 rounds the fraction to the nearest integer.
Use brackets for negative values	Encloses negative numbers in parentheses instead of using a minus sign.

Normalized numbers must be available for the field. If the Use normalization settings contradict the Details settings, an error occurs when the Document Definition is checked.

Text

Use the Details settings to change the recognition language, specify a dictionary, and select more specific types. Click Edit to the right of the summary field to open them:

Language sets the recognition language.
Content settings: General connects a built-in or custom dictionary to check the field value. Select Use built-in dictionary, or enable Use custom dictionary, click Edit, and add words with Add or import them from a TXT or DIC file with Load. A DIC file is a Microsoft Office text file with one word per line.
Content settings: Special selects a predefined data type or lets you create a custom one. For more information, see Create custom data types.

For validation constraints, see Value range constraints for text data type.

Time

Enable Process value as text to process the value as regular text, for example when a time cannot be brought to the standard format. You can then check the value with a custom dictionary and set value range constraints as for text. Use the Details settings to change the recognition language, change the time formatting, and select more specific types such as 12-hour time. Click Edit to the right of the summary field to open them:

Language sets the recognition language.
Content settings: General is used for standard time notations.
Content settings: Special selects a predefined data type or lets you create a custom one. For more information, see Create custom data types.

To set a custom output format, use Use normalization. Click Edit Normalization Settings to open the Time Normalization Settings dialog box and specify the time format and the symbol that separates the parts of the time (for example, a colon between hours and minutes).

ABBYY FlexiCapture architecture

Program settings

Document Definitions

Classification and training

Operate a configured project

Using NLP to process unstructured documents

Reference

Data types of the text entry field

Common text field settings

Address

Amount of Money

Code

Date

Name

Number

Text

Time

​Common text field settings

​Address

​Amount of Money

​Code

​Date

​Name

​Number

​Text

​Time

Common text field settings

Address

Amount of Money

Code

Date

Name

Number

Text

Time