Define and Edit Regular Expressions

SmartZone ICR/OCR allow you to use Regular Expressions to provide the format of expected data contents. If you know the expected format(s), providing that information will make your recognition results more accurate. (See Regular Expressions for information on syntax.)

Specify the Regular Expression String
Get the Regular Expression of the Field Type
Clear the Regular Expression of the Field Type
Set Case Insensitivity

Specify the Regular Expression String

Use the SetRegularExpression method (ICR: SetRegularExpression; OCR: SetRegularExpression) to specify the regular expression string.

Note that the FieldType must be set to RegularExpression for your regular expression to impact the recognition.
An InvalidRegularExpressionException (ICR: InvalidRegularExpressionException; OCR: InvalidRegularExpressionException) will be thrown if the regular expression is not valid.

ICR C# Example - Set and get regular expression, and use it in recognition

try
{
   …
   //Set FieldType to RegularExpression and specify regular expression string
   mySmartZoneICR.Reader.FieldType = Accusoft.SmartZoneICRSdk.FieldType.RegularExpression;

   mySmartZoneICR.Reader.SetRegularExpression("(\\d{4}){4}");

   //Get the regular expression string previously set
   string myRegex = mySmartZoneICR.Reader.GetRegularExpression();

   //Perform Recognition
   TextBlockResult textBlockResult = mySmartZoneICR.Reader.AnalyzeField(imageToRecognize.ToHbitmap(false));
   …
}

catch (Accusoft.SmartZoneICRSdk.InvalidRegularExpressionException ex)
{
    MessageBox.Show(ex.Message);
}
catch (Accusoft.SmartZoneICRSdk.BitDepthException ex)
{
    MessageBox.Show(ex.Message);
}

OCR C# Example - Set and get regular expression, and use it in recognition

try
{
   …
   //Set FieldType to RegularExpression and specify regular expression string
   mySmartZoneOCR.Reader.FieldType = Accusoft.SmartZoneOCRSdk.FieldType.RegularExpression;

   mySmartZoneOCR.Reader.SetRegularExpression("(\\d{4}){4}");

   //Get the regular expression string previously set
   string myRegex = mySmartZoneOCR.Reader.GetRegularExpression();

   //Perform Recognition
   TextBlockResult textBlockResult = mySmartZoneOCR.Reader.AnalyzeField(imageToRecognize.ToHbitmap(false));
   …
}

catch (Accusoft.SmartZoneOCRSdk.InvalidRegularExpressionException ex)
{
    MessageBox.Show(ex.Message);
}
catch (Accusoft.SmartZoneOCRSdk.BitDepthException ex)
{
    MessageBox.Show(ex.Message);
}

To use regular expression to supplement the recognition of a field type, set the SetFieldRegularExpression method (ICR: SetFieldRegularExpression; OCR: SetFieldRegularExpression).

Supported field types for regular expression are Currency, CurrencyPlus, Date, Email, SocialSecurityNumber, Time, UnitedStatesPhoneNumber, URL, and RegularExpression.

For a regular expression example, consider there is a format for part numbers that consists of alpha and digits, you can use [[alpha]]{2}\d{4} for AB1234.

Get the Regular Expression of the Field Type

Use the GetFieldRegularExpression method (ICR: GetFieldRegularExpression; OCR: GetFieldRegularExpression) to get the regular expression of the field type.

ICR C# Example - Set and Get regular expression of a certain field type

…
mySmartZoneICR.Reader.SetFieldRegularExpression(Accusoft.SmartZoneICRSdk.FieldType.Date, "\\d{2}\\/\\d{2}\\/\\d{4}");

string dateRegularExpression = mySmartZoneICR.Reader.GetFieldRegularExpression(Accusoft.SmartZoneICRSdk.FieldType.Date);}
…

OCR C# Example - Set and Get regular expression of a certain field type

…
mySmartZoneOCR.Reader.SetFieldRegularExpression(Accusoft.SmartZoneOCRSdk.FieldType.Date, "\\d{2}\\/\\d{2}\\/\\d{4}");

string dateRegularExpression = mySmartZoneOCR.Reader.GetFieldRegularExpression(Accusoft.SmartZoneOCRSdk.FieldType.Date);}
…

Setting a regular expression does not mean it will be used in the actual recognition. You will need to set the FieldType properly for the corresponding regular expression to be used.

ICR C# Example - regular expression and recognition

…
//Set field regular expression for Currency and Date               
mySmartZoneICR.Reader.SetFieldRegularExpression(Accusoft.SmartZoneICRSdk.FieldType.Date, "\\d{2}\\/\\d{2}\\/\\d{4}");
mySmartZoneICR.Reader.SetFieldRegularExpression(Accusoft.SmartZoneICRSdk.FieldType.Currency, "\\$\\d{2}");

//Set FieldType to Date, so only the regular expression of the Date field type will be used in this recognition.
mySmartZoneICR.Reader.FieldType = Accusoft.SmartZoneICRSdk.FieldType.Date;

TextBlockResult textBlockResult = mySmartZoneICR.Reader.AnalyzeField(imageToRecognize.ToHbitmap(false));

//Set FieldType to Currency, and the regular expression of the Currency field type will be used in the following recognition process.
mySmartZoneICR.Reader.FieldType = Accusoft.SmartZoneICRSdk.FieldType.Currency;

TextBlockResult textBlockResult = mySmartZoneICR.Reader.AnalyzeField(imageToRecognize.ToHbitmap(false));

OCR C# Example - regular expression and recognition

…
//Set field regular expression for Currency and Date               
mySmartZoneOCR.Reader.SetFieldRegularExpression(Accusoft.SmartZoneOCRSdk.FieldType.Date, "\\d{2}\\/\\d{2}\\/\\d{4}");
mySmartZoneOCR.Reader.SetFieldRegularExpression(Accusoft.SmartZoneOCRSdk.FieldType.Currency, "\\$\\d{2}");

//Set FieldType to Date, so only the regular expression of the Date field type will be used in this recognition.
mySmartZoneOCR.Reader.FieldType = Accusoft.SmartZoneOCRSdk.FieldType.Date;

TextBlockResult textBlockResult = mySmartZoneOCR.Reader.AnalyzeField(imageToRecognize.ToHbitmap(false));

//Set FieldType to Currency, and the regular expression of the Currency field type will be used in the following recognition process.
mySmartZoneOCR.Reader.FieldType = Accusoft.SmartZoneOCRSdk.FieldType.Currency;

TextBlockResult textBlockResult = mySmartZoneOCR.Reader.AnalyzeField(imageToRecognize.ToHbitmap(false));

Setting the field regular expression for RegularExpression field type is equivalent to setting regular expression directly.

ICR C# Example - The 2 lines below have the same effect

// The 2 lines below have the same effect
…
mySmartZoneICR.Reader.SetRegularExpression("[A-Z]{3}");
mySmartZoneICR.Reader.SetFieldRegularExpression(Accusoft.SmartZoneICRSdk.FieldType.RegularExpression, "[A-Z]{3}");
…

OCR C# Example - The 2 lines below have the same effect

// The 2 lines below have the same effect
…
mySmartZoneOCR.Reader.SetRegularExpression("[A-Z]{3}");
mySmartZoneOCR.Reader.SetFieldRegularExpression(Accusoft.SmartZoneOCRSdk.FieldType.RegularExpression, "[A-Z]{3}");
…

Clear the Regular Expression of the Field Type

Use the ClearFieldRegularExpression method (ICR: ClearFieldRegularExpression; OCR: ClearFieldRegularExpression) to clear the regular expression of the field type.

ICR C# Example

//Clear field regular expression for the Time field type
……
mySmartZoneICR.Reader.ClearFieldRegularExpression(Accusoft.SmartZoneICRSdk.FieldType.Time);
……

OCR C# Example

//Clear field regular expression for the Time field type
……
mySmartZoneOCR.Reader.ClearFieldRegularExpression(Accusoft.SmartZoneOCRSdk.FieldType.Time);
……

Set Case Insensitivity

Case insensitivity for all the regular expressions is defined by the RegularExpressionCaseInsensitivity property (ICR: RegularExpressionCaseInsensitivity; OCR: RegularExpressionCaseInsensitivity). This property works for all the regular expressions.

ICR C# Example

……
// Set all regular expression to be case insensitive
mySmartZoneICR.Reader.RegularExpressionCaseInsensitivity = true;
……

OCR C# Example

……
// Set all regular expression to be case insensitive
mySmartZoneOCR.Reader.RegularExpressionCaseInsensitivity = true;
……