Creating a PDF Layout using Layout Builder

In Adeptia Connect, you can create a PDF layout by using the Layout Builder. Once you have the PDF layout ready, you can use that in your custom Templates or Transactions at the source side only. A PDF Layout can also be created from within a custom template, transaction, and Process Designer. 

This page guides you on how to create a PDF Layout from an unstructured PDF file. The following sections on this page govern the aspects of creating and using a PDF Layout.

You can create a PDF Layout by following the instructions given in the sections Uploading the PDF file through Viewing, and downloading the XSD and XML files of the PDF Layout.

Uploading the PDF file

1. Click Configure > LAYOUTS > PDF

2. On the PDF manage page, click Create PDF Layout.
   
   
3. On Create New PDF Layout screen, enter a name and description for the PDF Layout in respective fields.
4. In Upload Data File field, attach the PDF file from which you want to create a PDF Layout.
5. In Project field, select a project.
6. Click Continue.
   

Creating Table Data

1. Enable Table Selection mode (if not enabled).

   By default, Table Selection Mode is enabled.

   
   

   You can arrange the data on the uploaded PDF by applying some parameters as explained in the section Applying filter parameters.
2. Select any row from the File View area. 
3. Right-click the selected row, and click New Table.
   As you click New Table, a Table Data window opens.
   

4. On the Table Data screen, mark a field as a Unique Key by selecting its corresponding checkbox. 

   Unique Key helps you to split data into different records.
5. In the Table Name field, enter a name for the table.

6. Select Start Token Identifier check box.
   

   Start Token Identifier helps you to define a value as the starting point of the table.

   As you select the Start Token Identifier check box, you'll be redirected to the Table Selection Enable screen.

7. Select a field to identify the start of the table.

8. On the Table Data screen, select End Token Identifier check box.

   • End Token Identifier helps you to define a value as the end point of the table.
   • If you have nothing to select as an End Token after the table data, you need to select any data lying above the table. This ensures that the system starts reading the file again from the beginning, and finds an End Token.

   As you select the End Token Identifier check box, you'll be redirected to the Table Selection Enable screen.

9. Select a field to identify the end of the table.

10. On the Table Data screen, expand the Modify Properties for advanced options. Refer to the properties and their description in the table given below.

    Property Name	Description
    Skipped Table Header Row	Enter the number of rows in the Skip Table Header Row. The number of rows you enter in this field wont be a part of the table.
    Skipped Page Header Row	Enter the number of rows in the Skip Page Header Row. The number of rows you enter in this field wont be a part of the table.
    Format	In the Format field, select Single Page Header option if you wish to have the table header only on the first page. You can choose Multi Page Header option to get the table header on all the pages.
    Parent Table	In the Parent Table field, choose a table that you want to specify as parent table.
    Read All Data	Select the Read All Data checkbox if data of the table lies outside the table.
    Single Line Value	Select the Single Line Value checkbox to have the values lying in single line of all the columns across the table.
    Table Info Required	Select the Table Info Required checkbox if you want any additional information to be picked up and displayed in table.
    Allow Less Field	Select the Allow Less Field checkbox to read the table data even if the number of columns in the sample is less than what you have defined.
    Allow Discontinuous Order	Select Allow Discontinuous Order checkbox to make sure that the table data is read from the columns irrespective of the column's exact location.
    Allow Dynamic Table Header	Select Allow Dynamic Table Header checkbox to make sure that the table data is read from the columns even if the column names are partially different across the files.

11. Click Save.

Table Info Required

If the table has any additional information that you need to include in the layout, you can select Table Info Required checkbox in Modify Properties while creating the table data.  

Applying filter parameters

You may sometimes find the data misarranged in the uploaded PDF, for example text overlapping. You may also sometimes need to ignore the text with a certain font height, or duplicate characters. To achieve this, you can apply filter parameters from Filter  option as discussed below.

1. On Table Selection Screen, click the Filter icon to open filter section.

2. Based on your need, apply the parameters as explained in the table followed by the screenshot.

   

   Parameter	Description
   Ignore Font Height	Enter a value of specific font size that you want to exclude from the layout.
   Row Diff	Enter a value to adjust the space between the rows.
   Column Diff	Enter a value to adjust the space between the columns.
   Ignore Duplicate Characters	Select the checkbox if you want to skip the duplicate characters.

3. Click Apply .

Working with Table Data

Consider a PDF file that has one or more sub-tables/child-tables within a parent table.

You can create Table Data in such cases by following the steps given below:

1. Load the PDF file for which you want to create the layout.

2. Follow the steps mentioned in Creating Table Data, to create a Parent Table.

   While following the steps for 'Creating Table Data', make sure that you select the End Token as the Field mentioned at the bottom of the table. In the example given here, we've selected Total (PCS.) as the End Token. 

3. Now create the Child Table as instructed below:

   1. In the File View area, select the child table column headers.

   2. Right-click the selection, and click New Table.
   3. In the Table Data screen, select Unique Key, and enter a name for the child table.
   4. Select the End Token – same as selected for Parent Table.
   5. On the Table Data window, expand Modify Properties, and select the parent table from Parent Table field.

   6. Click Save to save the child table.
      
      
      

      For quick understanding, you can take a look at this video explaining the concept discussed in this section.

Creating an Active Key Value Section

1. On the Key () menu, select Active Key Value Section.
   
2. Select the key first and then the value.
3. Right-click the selected key-value pair, and then select Key Value Section.
   
   
4. On the Section Data screen, in the Section Name field, enter the name of the section.

5. Select Start Token Identifier check box.

   Start Token Identifier helps you to define a value as the starting point of the section.

   
   

   As you select the Start Token Identifier check box, you'll be redirected to the Key-Value Selection Enable screen.

6. Select a field to identify the start of the section.

7. On the Section Data screen, select End Token Identifier check box.

   End Token Identifier helps you to define a value as the end point of the section.

   As you select the End Token Identifier check box, you'll be redirected to the Key-Value Selection Enable screen.

8. Select a field to identify the end of the section.

9. On the Section Data screen, expand the Modify Properties for advanced options. Refer to the properties and their description in the table given below.

   Property Name	Description
   Keep EndToken	Select Keep EndToken checkbox to make sure that the End Token is also parsed.
   Single Line Value	Select Single Line Value to have the values lying in the single line of all the key values.
   Table Section Type	Select the Table Section Type for the section that you're defining.
   Parent Table	Select the Parent Table for the section that you're defining.

10. Click Save.

    For quick understanding, you can take a look at this video explaining the concept discussed in this section.

Creating an Active Fixed Section

1. On the Key () menu, select Active Fixed Section.
   
2. On the Fixed Selection Enable screen, select a value.
3. Right-click the selected value, and then select Fixed Section.
   
4. On the Section Data screen, in the Section Name field, enter the name of the section.

5. Select Start Token Identifier check box.

   Start Token Identifier helps you to define a value as the starting point of the section.

   
   
   As you select the Start Token Identifier check box, you'll be redirected to the Fixed Selection Enable screen.

6. Select a field to identify the start of the section.

7. On the Section Data screen, select End Token Identifier check box.

   End Token Identifier helps you to define a value as the end point of the section.

   As you select the End Token Identifier check box, you'll be redirected to the Fixed Selection Enable screen.

8. Select a field to identify the end of the section.

9. On the Section Data screen, expand the Modify Properties for advanced options. Refer to the properties and their description in the table given below.

   Property Name	Description
   Keep EndToken	Select Keep EndToken checkbox to make sure that the End Token is also parsed.
   Single Line Value	Select Single Line Value to have the values lying in the single line of all the key values.
   Table Section Type	Select the Table Section Type for the section that you're defining.
   Parent Table	Select the Parent Table for the section that you're defining.

10. Click Save.

    For quick understanding, you can take a look at this video explaining the concept discussed in this section.

Viewing, and downloading the XSD and XML files of the PDF Layout

• You can view the XSD file of the PDF Layout by clicking the XSD View (). You can also download it by clicking the download button () at the top-right corner.
  
• You can view the XML file of the PDF Layout by clicking the Test Layout (). You can also download it by clicking the download button () at the bottom-left corner.
  

Using a PDF Layout in a Process Designer

You can use a PDF Layout in the Process Designer while creating a Process Flow by following the steps given below:

1. In the Process Designer, open Repository View by clicking the icon ().
2. Expand Layout (Schema), and then PDF.
3. Drag and drop the PDF Layout in the canvas area.
   

Using a PDF Layout in Web Mapper

Once you have a PDF Layout ready, you can use it in a Mapping as a Source Layout.

Editing an existing PDF Layout

To edit an existing PDF Layout, follow the steps below:

1. Click Action () corresponding to the PDF Layout to be edited.
2. Click Edit to open the PDF Layout in the Layout Builder.