What it does
Use this node to extract character strings from text shapes within your document.
Use it for
Supplying dynamic values (e.g., title, author, subject) to the Modify Document Metadata Node or other nodes that accept text input.
How to use it
- Drag and drop the node from the Node Library into your template:
Node Library > Folder Extraction - Connect the node with other nodes in the Data Flow of your template.
- Specify the settings in the Node Properties task pane.
Node Input
The Items input node accepts a node that contains text shapes, including those nested inside shape trees.
Node Output
Outputs a list of strings in the Character strings output port.
Important
Text shapes that are grouped within a shape tree will be extracted as a single string. You can insert custom text between the individual text shapes using the Seperator Expression.
Node Properties
Node Name
You can assign a custom name to the node to help identify its purpose within your template.
Node Selector
Use Path Language to navigate through the shape tree structure of the input node and target specific text shapes that you want to extract and/or modify using the Seperator Expression. Use the names assigned to shapes and shape trees (not the tags in brackets).
Seperator Expression
Use this expression to insert custom text between individual text shapes that are grouped within a shape tree and extracted as a single string. The text shapes (not the shape tree itself) must be selected using the Node Selector.
Use left to refer to the string of the text shapes before the inserted text, and right to refer to the string after it.
Expected return type: string
Example 1: insert spaces
The three text shapes "Hello", "wonderful" and "world" are grouped in one shape tree. Without a seperator the shapes would be extracted as the string "Hellowonderfulworld". To insert spaces between them, use the expression:
" "
This inserts a space between all text shapes before they are extracted as a single string.
Result: "Hello wonderful world"
Example 2: insert text with a condition
The four text shapes "Adress", "name", "street", and "city" are grouped in one shape tree. Without a separator, they would be extracted as the string: "Adressnamestreetcity"
To insert conditional text between them, use for example this expression:
"Adress" in left ? " - " : ", "
This checks if the text "Adress" appears in the shape to the left of the insertion point. If true, it inserts " - ". If false, it inserts ", ".
Result: "Adress - name, street, city"