Text TakeOut

• Download demo - 31.9 KB
• Download source code - 83.7 KB

Introduction

Using the Code and Using the Utility Application

The Find and Replace With features in the utility application will prepare the full string before iterating through your ExtractSet definitions. The application actually uses a List<ExtractSet> to store the user defined Find and Replace With sets. I found this useful for broken HTML tag sets that I needed to keep together so that when the iteration began, no data would be missed. For example, on one raw document I was working with, I had to perform a prep on the main string:

tempcopy = tempcopy.Replace("Date \r\n      Entered:", "Date Entered:");
tempcopy = tempcopy.Replace("Date \r\n     Entered:", "Date Entered:");
tempcopy = tempcopy.Replace("Date \r\n    Entered:", "Date Entered:");
tempcopy = tempcopy.Replace("Date \r\n   Entered:", "Date Entered:");

Text TakeOut can automate this when the user creates sets as follows:

Find:"Date \r\n Entered:" 
Replace With:"Date Entered:"
Find:"Date \r\n Entered:" 
Replace With:"Date Entered:"
Find:"Date \r\n Entered:" 
Replace With:"Date Entered:"
Find:"Date \r\n Entered:" 
Replace With:"Date Entered:"

The basic steps to use the application are as follows:

1. Click on the 'Browse to raw data file...' button, and select the file you wish to extract your data from.
2. Create your Find Replace Sets to prep the main string.
3. Create your main Extract Sets to extract and define the data you need from the main document.
4. Click the 'Extract!' button.
5. Click the 'Create CSV File' button to create the .csv file in the same location as your main.

Conclusion

Text TakeOut still needs some fine tuning, but it can get a lot of useful, sometimes critical, data from some pretty ugly sources into a very common format. You can do almost anything you need to do with CSV. The ExtractSet and CSV class may be useful for an application that needs an object to store a string Start, End, Value, and FieldName. The CSV is used to create a CSV file using a System.Collections.Generic.List<ExtractSet> object.

Updates

2/11/07

• Article and Text TakeOut version 1.0.0.0 posted.

2/13/07

• Updated Text TakeOut version 1.1.0.0 uploaded.
• Automatically removes "\r\n" and "\n" from the extracted value.
• Exception handling and user explanation if extraction error occurred during extraction.

1/13/09

• Fixed download link text.