Pattern Matching

Note: This process requires the purchase of a Quick Fields add-on.

The Pattern Matching process looks for a specified pattern within a user-defined value. You can use Pattern Matching to recognize social security numbers, telephone numbers, ZIP codes, or any other information that follows a specific pattern. It is also useful for looking for information that follows leading text: for example, looking for "Name:" and then extracting the text that comes after it. Another use is in reprocessing documents; for example, extracting a piece of information such as the date from a file name and entering it in a field. Pattern Matching works by "reading" through text strings to match patterns that are defined using Pattern Matching Expressions, also known as Regular Expressions. Pattern Matching can be used in Identification as well as in Pre-Classification Processing, Page Processing, or Storage Processing.

Note: When defining a pattern, you should only use the expressions defined under Regular Expression Reference. Wildcards are not supported for this process. The behavior for wildcard characters is overridden by the behavior assigned to the same character(s) under Regular Expression Reference.

To use Pattern Matching

1. In the Session Configuration Pane, select the stage of processing where you want to use Pattern Matching.
2. In the Tasks Pane, select Pattern Matching. Under More Options, you can select Wizard to display more information about each property or Skip Wizard to display the properties all at once without additional information.
3. Page Range: When configuring a process in Page Processing or Storage Processing, you will be prompted to specify a page range. In other stages, default settings will be automatically applied.
4. Pattern Configuration: To configure a pattern, click Create Token.... The New Token dialog box will open.
• Specify the name for the token that will be created by the pattern match. The best practice is to choose a name that will help you remember the function of the process when reviewing the session later.
• Choose whether to look for the pattern in an existing token value or the page text. If using a token value, you can use the token button to select tokens generated from the system or other processes in Quick Fields. If using page text, you can choose whether to run the pattern match on the entire page or specify a custom page range.
• Specify a pattern to match. For a list of common expressions, click the pattern button. For more information, see the Regular Expression Reference.
• To test the pattern, click the Test... button. Specify a value that you expect to fit the pattern. Click OK to see if the expected value is returned. If not, adjust the pattern and test again.
• To make the pattern match case sensitive, select Match case. To make it case insensitive, clear it.
• Choose what to do when multiple matches exist for the pattern:
  • First match only: returns the first value that matches the pattern.
  • All matches: returns all values as a single-valued token.
  • All matches (as multivalued token): returns all values as a multi-valued token.

  You can use the Token Editor to extract particular values from multi-valued tokens.

• Under Action, you can specify what will happen if the input value does not match the pattern.
  • Mark fields that use this token as invalid: If this is selected, fields will be highlighted in red so you can address them during Revision.
  • Use the input value as the token value: If this is selected, the token will be modified to match the input value.
5. Optional: To preview how this enhancement will affect scanned images and OCRed or extracted text, test processes. For the best results, add a custom sample image before testing. Adjust and test until you are satisfied with the results.