Kofax KTM is a Powerhouse Product
Kofax Transformation Module is one very powerful product once you learn some of its secrets. In this installment I plan to show you two of KTM’s abilities to modify the out of the box functions, Validation Design and Scripting.
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The scripting language and class object models of KTM allow you to modify how Extraction works and also how Validation works. In the case of extraction, out of the box KTM does not recognize negative amounts as in the case of a Credit Memo. In order to allow KTM to recognize negative amounts requires the use of a script function. This script is listed in the HELP documentation and is simple to add. It performs the original function of validating that what was extracted from the invoice is indeed an amount and it also validates the amount if the negative sign is present. Another example is during extraction, an amount is not considered valid if it consists of just a decimal point followed by 2 digits, such as “.75”. A lot of invoices are printed in just such a fashion if the amounts are only cents and no dollars are involved. A script of only one or two lines of code is then used to force KTM to recognize the value by adding a zero in front of the decimal point to form the amount of “0.75”. In this manner scripts can be used to add additional validation of the extracted values and to modify the extracted values if necessary. This also applies to field values that are not extracted as we will see in the discussion of Validation.
The Validation screen is what is presented to the user to validate what was extracted from the invoice with the actual invoice image presented.
The Validation screen is designed as part of the project and consists of adding the fields defined for the invoice class to the form through a simple point and click operation. You have the ability in the Validation design to move the fields around the screen and they can be grouped together. Also, you can add features like Buttons to perform functions through scripts or fields can be modified to have a list of valid values for the user to select in a pull down combo box. The buttons are used to activate scripts to perform various functions. The most common one is to perform a fuzzy lookup in a flat file to find Vendor information or PO information. The fuzzy lookups are done through an object class that is not visible and therefore cannot be changed, but you can add your own lookup coding or add code to make other changes based on the value selected by the user. In addition, fields can be defined that do not have any data extracted for them from the invoice, but are set to values based on other fields through scripting. As an example, you could define a field for Document Type that has no locator for extraction, but is defined on the Validation Form as a Pull down Combo box. A script could then be written that sets the original value of the Document Type to Credit Memo if the total amount is a negative number. In addition the Document Type field could be set to PO Invoice if there is a PO number present extracted from the invoice and it has been verified through a lookup to be valid in the Line of Business application database. This can help in situations where the KTM data is being passed through Kofax Capture to another Document Management application, like IBM FileNet, EMC Documentum or Oracle IPM | UCM, that has a workflow component to route the invoice to a queue to be worked on based on the Document Type.
Together scripts and Validation design can be used to lessen the number of mouse clicks or keyboard entries the validation user must perform to validate the extracted invoice data. This gives KTM a very powerful interface that can be developed to help streamline the processing of invoices and lower data entry labor costs.
This just barely scratches the surface of what can be done in KTM to process both unstructured forms like invoices and structured and semi-structured forms to help manage the paper in almost any business environment. Together with current Document Management applications like Oracle’s IPM, KTM improves the labor and time intensive operation of data entry and tracking of paper or electronic documents.
Chris Hillenburg
Senior System Engineer
ImageSource, Inc.
