MetaTool > Help > How does MetaTool work?

How does MetaTool work?

MetaTool acts as a pass-through export connector. A pass-through connector is a connector that performs a function and exports the result to another connector. That means that you export first to MetaTool and after performing a set of defined rules, you export to the final export connector.

For example, first automatically extract the Tax ID from invoices, lookup the supplier name based on Tax ID with MetaTool, then export the result to a SharePoint 365 library. The documents pass through MetaTool and the result ends up in SharePoint 365.

MetaTool can be used to perform following functions:

Automatic Document Separation

Image Editing & Document Editing

Index Data Extraction

Index Data Validation

Merging documents

Once MetaTool has processed the documents, the result is exported to an export connector of choice selected in the MetaTool Export tab.

A batch of documents is scanned with Kofax Express The Kofax Express Export button starts the processing of documents in MetaTool Once all documents are processed with MetaTool, they are exported to the export connector selected in the MetaTool Export tab
To get a functional overview, you can refer to the MetaTool product page.

It’s recommended to get acquainted with Kofax Express before starting with MetaTool. We have provided multiple quick learning videos explaining different features of Kofax Express. If you want to become an expert, you can download a free in-depth training tutorial. If you don’t have Kofax Express yet, you can download a trial from here.

01 Installing MetaTool

01 Where to get it and how to install it?

To install MetaTool, go to the CaptureBites MetaTool product page and click “Download for Kofax Express 3.2 & 3.1”.
This installer includes a functional version of MetaTool that can be tested in demo mode. It also includes some sample images and jobs to show the functionality, we will talk more about those later.
In demo mode, a demo seal will be placed on all exported images. You can switch from demo version to full production mode by entering an activation code which you can purchase from our partners. You can continue using any of the jobs you configured in demo mode after activating the software.

When downloading is complete, launch the installer.

If you just want to install MetaTool without any of the sample images, jobs and batches, disable the “Install configuration files” option in the installer.
You can view the contents of the installer by pressing the Contents button.
TIP: To open the Contents window in custom mode, hold the Shift + Control key on your keyboard and press the Contents button.

In this mode, you can select specific connectors, jobs, batches, etc to be installed.

Next to MetaTool, some other export connectors are installed. These additional connectors are used in some of the sample jobs.

The installed connectors are:

Email
Folder
MetaTool
Multi-export
– Reject Batch (mainly used with AutoBites)

02 MetaTool – Demo Jobs

Under the Configuration files, you will find 20 different Demo jobs to help you get acquainted with MetaTool and its functions.

A quick overview of these Demo jobs:

01 – CB MetaTool Advanced Barcode

Uses following connectors:

– MetaTool
– Multi-Export
– Folder

Read degraded barcodes on each page using the Advanced Barcode rule, regardless where they are located, and merge the ones with the same barcode value.
02 – CB MetaTool Clipping

Uses following connectors:

– MetaTool
– Multi-Export
– Folder

Clip Images and export them as separate JPG files. The job is based on a use case in the Netherlands about clipping multiple photo-id pictures from a form to generate access ID-cards.
03 – CB MetaTool Compare Page Count

Uses following connectors:

– MetaTool
– Multi-Export

Separate the documents based on a separator sheet with a bar code value holding the expected number of pages. Then compare that value with the effective number of pages. If a mismatch occurs, the document opens in MetaTool Validation for approval.

Next, documents with the correct page count and an incorrect page count are exported to separate folders.

This job makes extensive use of the Set Field conditions.

04 – CB MetaTool Cupom Fiscal

Uses following connectors:

– MetaTool
– Folder

Extract the Brazilian CNPJ and NFE numbers from receipts.

This job makes use of the Find Word based on check sums feature to extract the CNPJ and NFE numbers on the receipts.

05 – CB MetaTool DB Drill Down

Uses following connectors:

– MetaTool
– Folder

Look up a zip code in a database by drilling down through different levels.

Level 1 = State

Level 2 = County

Level 3 = City

This job makes use Database Lookup filters.

This job makes use of an Excel file as the database.

The Excel file is located in C:\State_County_City_Zip_TZ.xls

06 – CB MetaTool DB Lookup

Uses following connectors:

– MetaTool
– Folder

Multi-field DB Lookup: Find a person by different database lookup fields: by Number, by Name or by City.

If the data is machine printed on the document, the lookup is completely automatic. If that data is handwritten, the database can be searched via multiple fields for the correct person in MetaTool Validation.

This job makes use of an Excel file as the database.

The Excel file is located in C:\CaptureBites\DB\CaptureBitesTables.xls.

The job makes use of the “International Names” sheet in the Excel file.

07 – CB MetaTool Doc Classification

Uses following connectors:

– MetaTool
– Multi-Export
– Folder

Automatically classify and index real estate documents.

This job makes use of keyword lookup to classify real estate documents by document type and property location. The keywords are stored and maintained in an external SharePoint 365 list.

Note: this job uses the CaptureBites SharePoint 365 demo site and requires an internet connection.

08 – CB MetaTool Drop Out

Uses following connectors:

– MetaTool
– Folder

Demonstrates software Red, Green and Blue color drop out.

To see the effect of the color drop out, test the extraction rules of this job or refer to the Drop Out section of the Advanced OCR help page.

09 – CB MetaTool Factures

Uses following connectors:

– MetaTool
– Folder

Extract header data from French car repair shop invoices.

This job makes use of most of MetaTool Extraction and Validation rules.

This job makes use of an Excel file as a database to lookup the supplier name via the extracted VAT ID.

The Excel file is located in C:\CaptureBites\DB\CaptureBitesTables.xls.

The job makes use of the “Garages” sheet in the Excel file.

10 – CB MetaTool Floating Data

Uses following connectors:

– MetaTool
– Folder

An ideal job to familiarize yourself with MetaTool as a first-time user.

Extract floating data like Date, Loan Number and Reference from attorney letters.

There is also a step-by-step demonstration video available.

11 – CB MetaTool Giro Codes

Uses following connectors:

– MetaTool
– Folder

Extract a code from the bottom part of a document with varying sizes.

The OCR zone anchors with the bottom of each image and makes use of the Align Zone feature of the Advanced OCR rule to extract data from the bottom part of the page.

We make use of the Find Word based on check sums feature to extract the Giro code.

We als make use of multiple techniques to get rid of redundant spaces in the giro code.

12 – CB MetaTool Index Cards

Uses following connectors:

– MetaTool
– Folder

Extract floating data from index cards including Album, Folder, Item, Subject, Dimensions, Content and the Author.
13 – CB MetaTool Keyword Doc Sep

Uses following connectors:

– MetaTool
– Folder

Find keywords on the first page of each document using OCR to separate documents.

There is also a step-by-step demonstration video available.

This job makes use of a lot of functionality, going from document separation over automatic data extraction of a variety of index data, to database lookup and validation of dates, amounts, quick choice fields.

This job makes use of an Excel file as a database to lookup the inspector’s name via the inspector’s license ID.

The Excel file is located in C:\CaptureBites\DB\CaptureBitesTables.xls.

The job makes use of the “Inspectors” sheet in the Excel file.

This job comes highly recommended to get more familiar with the full range of MetaTool functionality.

As a first time user, we recommend to start with the CB MetaTool Floating Data job first.

14 – CB MetaTool Merge Documents

Uses following connectors:

– MetaTool
– Folder

Merge documents with the same bar code, regardless of where they are located in the batch. More details how this demo job works are explained on the Merge documents help page.
15 – CB MetaTool OMR Separators

Uses following connectors:

– MetaTool
– Multi-Export
– Folder

Use separator sheets with check boxes to mark the type of document. Use red drop out to get rid of the red check boxes.

The same separator sheet can be printed in large quantities. By checking the correct document type and placing it in front of a document in a batch it acts as a QR code seperator and also indicates the document type.

The sheet in word format is installed in C:\CaptureBites\Word Masters\ and can easily be adjusted.

16 – CB MetaTool Patch Code Separation

Uses following connectors:

– MetaTool
– Folder

Find Type I patch codes (and skip other patch types) with the Advanced Bar code rule to separate documents.

There is also a step-by-step demonstration video available.

17 – CB MetaTool Redaction

Uses following connectors:

– MetaTool
– Folder

Use the Image Editor to manually redact / anonymize images.

You can watch a short video about how redaction / anonymization works using this demo job.

18 – CB MetaTool Signature Detection

Uses following connectors:

– MetaTool
– Folder

Extract data based on labels in front of each data element and detect if the document is signed using Mark Detection.
19 – CB MetaTool Single Click OCR

Uses following connectors:

– MetaTool
– Multi-Export
– Folder
– Email

Demonstrates Single Click OCR.

Just single-click on the left top of the name on the envelope to trigger a lookup and index the documents. Documents are exported as PDF files, using the Email connector to send it to the receiver.

This job makes use of an Excel file as the database to lookup the recipient’s name and email address via the extracted company name.

The Excel file is located in C:\CaptureBites\DB\CaptureBitesTables.xls.

The job makes use of the “Entreprises” sheet in the Excel file.

A demonstration video of Single Click OCR can be found here.

The video below shows a complete incoming mail solution for a business centre in Brussels. It also makes use of single click OCR to quickly lookup the recipient’s name and email. The video is in French.
20 – CB MetaTool Sticky & Counters

Uses following connectors:

– MetaTool
– Folder

Demonstrates the Sticky and Counter feature in Validation.

Extract data, like Date, Number, Text, from the first document from the batch.

Keep certain data in the following documents in the same batch using the Sticky feature. Change certain values, like Saved Counter, Counter, Text Counter,… by incrementing or decrementing the value using the Counter feature.

03 MetaTool – Enable MetaTool

After the installation is complete, open Kofax Express.

To enable the CaptureBites MetaTool, press the Job Setup tab and select MetaTool as the export connector in Kofax Express. Press the Setup button next to MetaTool to configure it.

The MetaTool setup window opens.

04 MetaTool – Setup

By default, the Extraction setup tab is selected when opening MetaTool setup. Please refer to the help pages for a more in-depth explanation of all the functions and rules.

TIP: in the title bar, you can always check the current version of MetaTool.

01 – The MetaTool Tabs:
The batch will go through the 6 MetaTool functions in the same sequence as the tabs.

  1. Separate Documents
  2. Edit
  3. Extract
  4. Validate
  5. Merge Documents
  6. Export

Each of the 6 MetaTool functions is optional and only if you define rules in a tab, will the function be enabled.

The sequence of the functions fits most use cases. You can change the sequence by exporting to MetaTool a second time.

For example, if you first want to open validation to set a global value for a set of unseparated documents and then perform separation. To do so, just export to MetaTool and define your validation rules, then export to MetaTool again from the MetaTool export tab and define your separation rules in this second instance of MetaTool.

You can chain as many MetaTools or any other pass through connectors together.

CaptureBites pass through connectors (connectors that perform a function and export the result to another connector) are:

  1. Booklet Splitter
  2. Digital Imprinter
  3. Folder Forms Splitter
  4. Macro
  5. MetaTool
  6. Multi-Export
  7. Print

Validation / Export  Options

With this option enabled, 2 additional export destinations become available. One for Valid document and one for Invalid document. You can also define an export connector to export both valid & invalid documents to, but you would typically disable that option.

Press the drop-down arrow button to select an export connector for each of the export destinations. Press the Setup button to open the setup window of the export connector you want to configure.

In the example below, valid documents are exported to a file server and invalid documents are emailed to a person handling the exceptions.

You can also select the same connector twice and configure each one differently. Like valid document to a file server and invalid documents to an exception folder.
02 – Copy / Paste MetaTool Settings: You can copy the full MetaTool configuration. This means that all the rules and settings of each function tab in MetaTool gets copied when pressing the Settings / Copy function. Open another instance of MetaTool in the same job or in another job to paste the settings by applying Settings / Paste. If you copy settings from one job to another job, be aware that copied rules refer to index fields defined in Kofax Express. You may need to adjust the rules if the target job does not have the same index definition as the source job.
03 – Help: throughout the MetaTool setup, you will find Help buttons. These will direct you to the corresponding online help page. The Help button at the bottom of the main MetaTool setup window, will lead to an overview of all help pages.
04 – Considerations about compatibility

  • MetaTool 3.2.x is compatible with both Kofax Express 3.1 and 3.2.
  • Jobs defined in Kofax Express 3.1 can be used in Kofax Express 3.2. But jobs defined in Kofax Express 3.2 cannot be used in Kofax Express 3.1.
  • All the demo jobs included in the MetaTool installer work with both Kofax Express 3.1 and Kofax Express 3.2.
  • Jobs defined with a version of MetaTool cannot be used with a version prior to that version. For example if you defined a job using MetaTool 3.2.31, you cannot use it with MetaTool version 3.2.20. The reason is that 3.2.31 contains new features that don’t exist in version 3.2.20.  So if you share a job with someone, we recommend to make use of the Create Installer Tool (free of charge for our partners) and include the latest version of MetaTool and any other connectors used in your job configuration in your installer. This ensures that the target system works with the correct MetaTool version.

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