Syntax Guide
Overview
This page provides descriptions (and in some cases examples) of the syntax for functions, methods, objects and properties available in various ScanToPDF plugins. The available syntax will be displayed in a small pop-up window in the software when an open curly brace is entered in any setting where a syntax is available. Figure 1 illustrates the pop up window and shows the syntax and a brief description of that syntax. In this document the syntax is listed in alphabetical order
Capitalise Function
Purpose
return a capitalized version of an input string
Syntax
{Capitalise(input)}
Example (Automatic file namer output file path setting)
{Capitalise(“scantopdf”)}
Result = SCANTOPDF
Concatenate Function
Purpose
Concatenate 2 strings together into 1 output
Syntax
{Concatenate(string 1, string 2)}
Example
C:\PDF Files\{Concatenate(“Invoice”,GetBarcodeText())}.pdf
Date Function
Purpose
Provides a date in a specified format
Syntax
{Date():format specifier}
Examples
{Date():dd-MM-yyyy} Result=01-01-2016 (1st January 2016)
{Date():hh-mm} Result = 10:15
{Date():ddd} Result = Thu
{Date():dddd} Result = Thursday
Extract Function
Purpose
Returns an extracted substring from a given input using delimiter and index
Syntax
{Extract(input,delimiter,index)}
Example
{Extract(“FIELD1-FIELD2-FIELD3″,”-“,3)}
Result = FIELD3
GetFilenameWithoutExtension
Purpose
Returns the file name of a given file path without the file extension
Syntax
{GetFilenameWithoutExtension(filepath)}
Example (in the Error case name generation in the Automatic file namer plugin)
C:\PDF Files\Errors\{GetFilenameWithoutExtension(ImportFilePath)}.pdf
This would save the file using the name of the imported source file
GetFilePathWithUniqueVersion Function
Purpose
Returns a unique file path with a formatted version suffix
Syntax
{GetFilePathWithUniqueVersion(string filepath, string format, boolean useOriginal, integer startIndex}
filepath – a string to represent the path of the output file
format – a string to represent the format to use for the version number
useOriginal – a boolean set to true to use just the name for the first version, set to false to use the name and version
startIndex – an integer to represent the number to use for the first version (1 by default)
Example 1 (in the “Output file path” setting of the Automatic file namer plugin)
{GetFilePathWithUniqueVersion(“C:\PDF Files\doc.pdf”,”_{0:000}”, true,1)}
Results in file names as follows
“C:\PDF Files\doc.pdf” – no version number
“C:\PDF Files\doc_001.pdf” – version 1
“C:\PDF Files\doc_002.pdf” – version 2
Example 2 (in the “Output file path” setting of the Automatic file namer plugin)
{GetFilePathWithUniqueVersion(“C:\PDF Files\”+ GetBarcodeText()+”.pdf”,”_{0:000}”,true,1)}
Would use the barcode value for the file name, and then create new versions if the same barcode was recognised again, for example if the barcode value was TMC7200
Results in file names as follows:
“C:\PDF Files\TMC7200.pdf” – no version number
“C:\PDF Files\TMC7200_001.pdf” – version 1
“C:\PDF Files\TMC7200_002.pdf” – version 2
GetWeekOfYear Function
Purpose
Returns the week number corresponding to a date
Syntax
{GetWeekOfYear(Date)}
Example
{GetWeekOfYear(Date())}
Result = Integer representing the current week number of the current year
IsNull Function
Purpose
Returns true if a variable is null
Syntax
IsNull(variable)
Example (used in the “Condition” setting of the Document Indexing plugin
IsNull(invoiceNumber)
RemoveChars Function
Purpose
Removes chars defined as ASCII codes (single or comma separated list) and returns result
Syntax
{RemoveChars(string input,asciiCodes)}
Example 1
{RemoveChars(“HELLO WORLD”,32)}
Example 2
{RemoveChars(“HELLO WORLD”,’ ‘)}
Result = “HELLOWORLD”
NOTE : ASCII CODE DECIMAL 32 IS THE SPACE CHARACTER
RemoveExtraSpaces Function
Purpose
Removes trailing and leading spaces and sequences of 2 or more spaces from an input string
Syntax
{RemoveExtraSpaces(string input)}
Example
{RemoveExtraSpaces(” HELLO WORLD “)}
Result = “HELLO WORLD”
RemoveSpaces Function
Purpose
Returns a string stripped of all spaces from a string input
Syntax
{RemoveSpaces(string input)}
Example
{RemoveSpaces(“HELLO WORLD”)}
Output = “HELLOWORLD”
Replace Function
Purpose
Replace an old value in a given string with a new value
Syntax
{Replace(string input, string old-value, string new-value)}
Example
{Replace(GetBarcodeText(),”SO”,”SALES-ORDER”)}
Input=SO-12345
Result=SALES-ORDER-12345
SubString Function
Purpose
Retrieves a substring from a given string. The substring starts at a specified character position and has a specified length.
Syntax
SubString(string, startindex, length)
Parameters
string – the string to be processed
startindex – the starting position of the substring (zero based)
length – the length of the substring
Example
C:\PDF Files\{SubString(GetBarcodeText(),0,3)}.pdf
would return the first 3 characters of a barcode
Ternary Function
Purpose
Returns a string from choices decided by conditions. Var1 is returned for the true condition. Var2 is returned for a false condition.
Syntax
Ternary(Boolean condition, String var1, String var2)
Example
{Ternary(docType=”INV”,”INV” + invoiceNumber,”PO” + poNumber)}
Improved in version 5.1.2.14
extended Ternary syntax:
Ternary(condition1, value1, [condition2], [value2], …, [elseValue])
each condition is tested sequentially
Example
{Ternary(docType=”INV”,”INV” + invoiceNumber,docType=”PO”,”PO” + poNumber)}
Translate Function
Purpose
Returns a translated input string where all found elements in list1 have been replaced by their corresponding element in list2. The lists are separated by the pipe ‘|’ character.
Syntax
{Translate(String input, String list1, String list2)}
Example
{Translate(docType,”SO|PO|INV”,”Sales Order|Purchase Order|Invoice”)}
SO would become Sales Order
PO would become Purchase Order
INV would become Invoice
TranslateUsingCSVFile
Purpose
Returns a translated input string from a CSV file.
Syntax
{TranslateUsingCSVFile(Object input, String csv file path, Object default, Boolean skip 1st line, Integer search column, Integer result column)}
Example
{TranslateUsingCSVFile(alpha,”c:\oic\translate.csv”,”NOT FOUND”,true,1,2)}
This syntax would translate the variable called alpha into a new value using the 1st column of the CSV file c:\oic\translate.csv as the search column, returning the value in column 2 as the result. If the search was un-successful the return value would be NOT FOUND. The CSV file has column headers in the 1st line so the 1st line is skipped (setting the Boolean skip 1st line to True)
ValueMatchesRegex Function
Purpose
Returns true if input matches regex pattern
Syntax
{ValueMatchesRegex(String input, String Regex)}
Example (used in the “Condition” setting of the document indexing plugin
{ValueMatchesRegex(GetBarcodeText(),”INVOICE”)}
Would display the document indexing window if the barcode value was INVOICE