Skip to main content
You can edit Document Definitions in the Document Definition editor window, where you can modify the layout of fields and static elements and edit their properties, rules, and export settings. To avoid interfering with the work of other project members, ABBYY FlexiCapture lets you edit a local copy of a Document Definition while the latest published version is used for recognition. You can modify and test Document Definitions locally, while Operators use the currently published version to verify and export documents. A Document Definition that one Administrator is editing cannot be edited by other Administrators. When you finish editing, you can either publish the Document Definition, making the new version available for recognition, or discard the changes.

​
Edit a Document Definition

1

Open the Document Definitions dialog box

In the main window, click Project → Document Definitions.
2

Select the Document Definition

Select the Document Definition that you want to edit.
3

Start editing

Click the Edit button in the Document Definitions dialog box. A local copy of the Document Definition is created on your computer, and the published version is locked for editing by other Administrators.
4

Make and save your changes

Make any necessary modifications to the Document Definition and click Save.
5

Test the Document Definition

Test your modified Document Definition on several images from test batches that can be used with the local version.
6

Publish the Document Definition

Click the Publish button in the Document Definitions dialog box. After publishing, the modified Document Definition is used for the recognition of documents in the working batches, and other Administrators can edit it. To revert to the original Document Definition, click Discard Changes.

​
How Document Definitions are matched

Matching Document Definitions are selected as follows:
  • First, FlexiCapture attempts to find a matching Document Definition among the fixed Document Definitions.
  • If none match, it uses the classifier project and header and footer elements to get a list of candidate FlexiLayouts.
  • Next, it matches each candidate FlexiLayout against the documents and selects the best match.
  • If no good match is found, it matches the remaining FlexiLayouts and selects the best match.
At each of these steps, Document Definitions are matched against the documents in the order in which they are listed in the Document Definitions dialog box. You can speed up the matching of FlexiLayouts that have no header or footer elements by selecting the Use first acceptable FlexiLayout option. In this case, FlexiCapture selects the first matching FlexiLayout instead of going through the entire list to select the best match.

​
Apply a modified Document Definition to in-progress documents

Your modified version of the Document Definition is used for recognition and further processing immediately after it is published. However, FlexiCapture continues to use the previous version for documents whose processing started before you published your modified version. To force FlexiCapture to use your modified version for such documents, select Tools → Update to Latest Version. Depending on your modifications, you may need to re-recognize the documents, re-check the rules, or re-export the documents. Re-recognize the documents if:
  • The structure of fields has changed (fields have been added or deleted, or field nesting levels have changed)
  • Field regions have changed
  • Recognition settings have changed (including data type settings, except for format checks and auto-correction settings)