Auto Recognize And Process A Form

Take the following steps to start a project and to add some code that creates a set of master forms and uses them to recognize and process a form using LEADTOOLS High Level Forms Interface:

Start Visual Studio.
Choose File->New->Project... from the menu.
In the New Project dialog box, choose either "Visual C# Projects" or "VB Projects" in the Projects Type List, and choose "Windows Application" in the Templates List.
Type the project name as "Recognizing and Processing a Form" in the Project Name field, and then choose OK. If desired, type a new location for your project or select a directory using the Browse button, and then choose OK.
In the "Solution Explorer" window, right-click on the "References" folder, and select "Add Reference…" from the context menu. In the "Add Reference" dialog box, select the ".NET" tab, browse to the "<LEADTOOLS_INSTALLDIR>\Bin\Dotnet\Win32" folder, and select the following DLLs:
- Leadtools.dll
- Leadtools.Barcode.dll
- Leadtools.Forms.Auto.dll
- Leadtools.Forms.Common.dll
- Leadtools.Document.Writer.dll
- Leadtools.Ocr.dll
- Leadtools.Forms.Processing.dll
- Leadtools.Forms.Recognition.dll
- Leadtools.Codecs.dll
- Leadtools.Codecs.Tif.dll
- Leadtools.Codecs.Fax.dll
- Leadtools.Ocr.LEADEngine.dll

Add the following lines at the top of the Form1.cs/Form1.vb file:

using Leadtools; 
using Leadtools.Codecs; 
using Leadtools.Forms.Common; 
using Leadtools.Ocr; 
using Leadtools.Forms.Processing; 
using Leadtools.Forms.Recognition; 
using Leadtools.Forms.Auto; 
using System.IO;

Imports Leadtools 
Imports Leadtools.Codecs 
Imports Leadtools.Forms.Common 
Imports Leadtools.Ocr 
Imports Leadtools.Forms.Processing 
Imports Leadtools.Forms.Recognition 
Imports Leadtools.Forms.Auto 
Imports System.IO

Add the following members to the Form1 class:

// Create the Auto Forms Engine 
AutoFormsEngine autoEngine; 
                  
RasterCodecs formsCodec; 
// Create the OCR Engine 
IOcrEngine ocrEngine; 
                  
// Create the repository of master forms 
DiskMasterFormsRepository formsRepository;

' Create the Auto Forms Engine 
Dim autoEngine As AutoFormsEngine 
                 
Dim formsCodec As RasterCodecs 
' Create the OCR Engine 
Dim ocrEngine As IOcrEngine 
                  
' Create the repository of master forms 
Dim formsRepository As DiskMasterFormsRepository

Add the following code to the Load event of the form (Form1_Load()):

NOTE: The developer key and the .LIC file are provided within the licensed toolkit.

try 
{ 
   string MY_LICENSE_FILE = "d:\\temp\\TestLic.lic"; 
   // Unlock LEADTOOLS special Support 
   string MY_DEVELOPER_KEY = "abc123xyz"; 
   RasterSupport.SetLicense(MY_LICENSE_FILE, MY_DEVELOPER_KEY); 
                     
   formsCodec = new RasterCodecs(); 
                 
   // Create an OCR Engine for each processor on the machine. This allows for optimal use of thread during recognition and processing. 
   ocrEngine = OcrEngineManager.CreateEngine(OcrEngineType.LEAD, false); 
   ocrEngine.Startup(formsCodec, null, null, @"C:\LEADTOOLS 20\Bin\Common\OcrLEADRuntime"); 
                     
   //Point repository to directory with existing master forms 
   formsRepository = new DiskMasterFormsRepository(formsCodec, @"C:\Users\Public\Documents\LEADTOOLS Images\Forms\MasterForm Sets\OCR"); 
   autoEngine = new AutoFormsEngine(formsRepository, ocrEngine, null, AutoFormsRecognitionManager.Default |   AutoFormsRecognitionManager.Ocr, 30, 80, true); 
} 
catch (Exception ex) 
{ 
   MessageBox.Show(ex.Message); 
}

Try 
   Dim MY_LICENSE_FILE As String = "d:\temp\TestLic.lic" 
   ' Unlock LEADTOOLS special Support 
   Dim MY_DEVELOPER_KEY As String = "abc123xyz" 
   RasterSupport.SetLicense(MY_LICENSE_FILE, MY_DEVELOPER_KEY) 
                     
   formsCodec = New RasterCodecs() 
   ' Create an OCR Engine for each processor on the machine. This allows for optimal use of thread during recognition and processing. 
   ocrEngine = OcrEngineManager.CreateEngine(OcrEngineType.LEAD, False) 
   ocrEngine.Startup(formsCodec, Nothing, Nothing, "C:\LEADTOOLS 20\Bin\Common\OcrLEADRuntime") 
                     
   ' Point repository to directory with existing master forms 
   formsRepository = New DiskMasterFormsRepository(formsCodec, "C:\Users\Public\Documents\LEADTOOLS Images\Forms\MasterForm Sets\OCR") 
   autoEngine = New AutoFormsEngine(formsRepository, ocrEngine, Nothing, AutoFormsRecognitionManager.Default Or AutoFormsRecognitionManager.Ocr, 30, 80, True) 
Catch ex As Exception 
   MessageBox.Show(ex.Message) 
End Try

LEADTOOLS ships several sample master and filled forms which we will use for this tutorial. The path to the images is hard-coded to the default install location so if you chose another path, you will need to change it accordingly. Add a button to the form and set its Text property to "Recognize and Process Form" then double-click it and add the following code to its handler:

try 
{ 
   // For this tutorial, we will use the sample W9 sample filled form. 
   string resultMessage = "Form not recognized"; 
   string formToRecognize = @"C:\Users\Public\Documents\LEADTOOLS Images\Forms\Images\W9_OCR_Filled.tif"; 
                     
   //Run the recognition and processing 
   AutoFormsRunResult runResult = autoEngine.Run(formToRecognize, null); 
   if (runResult != null) 
   { 
      FormRecognitionResult recognitionResult = runResult.RecognitionResult.Result; 
      resultMessage = String.Format("This form has been recognized as a {0} with {1} confidence.", runResult.RecognitionResult.MasterForm.Name, recognitionResult.Confidence); 
   } 
                     
   MessageBox.Show(resultMessage, "Recognition Results"); 
   ShowProcessedResults(runResult); 
} 
catch (Exception ex) 
{ 
   MessageBox.Show(ex.Message); 
}

Try 
   ' For this tutorial, we will use the sample W9 sample filled form. 
   Dim resultMessage As String = "Form not recognized" 
   Dim formToRecognize As String = "C:\Users\Public\Documents\LEADTOOLS Images\Forms\Images\W9_OCR_Filled.tif" 
                     
   ' Run the recognition and processing 
   Dim runResult As AutoFormsRunResult = autoEngine.Run(formToRecognize, Nothing) 
   If Not runResult Is Nothing Then 
      Dim recognitionResult As FormRecognitionResult = runResult.RecognitionResult.Result 
      resultMessage = String.Format("This form has been recognized as a {0} with {1} confidence.", runResult.RecognitionResult.MasterForm.Name, recognitionResult.Confidence) 
   End If 
                     
   MessageBox.Show(resultMessage, "Recognition Results") 
   ShowProcessedResults(runResult) 
Catch ex As Exception 
   MessageBox.Show(ex.Message) 
End Try

Add the following function to the class:

private void ShowProcessedResults(AutoFormsRunResult runResult) 
{ 
   if (runResult == null) 
      return; 
                        
   string resultsMessage = String.Empty; 
   try 
   { 
      foreach (FormPage formPage in runResult.FormFields) 
      { 
         foreach (FormField field in formPage) 
         { 
            if (field != null) 
            { 
               resultsMessage = String.Format("{0}{1} = {2}{3}", 
                  resultsMessage, 
                  field.Name, 
                  (field.Result as TextFormFieldResult).Text, 
                  Environment.NewLine); 
            } 
         } 
      } 
   } 
   catch (Exception ex) 
   { 
      MessageBox.Show(ex.Message); 
   } 
                     
   if (String.IsNullOrEmpty(resultsMessage)) 
      MessageBox.Show("No fields were processed", "Field ProcessingResults"); 
   else 
      MessageBox.Show(resultsMessage, "Field ProcessingResults"); 
}

Private Sub ShowProcessedResults(ByVal runResult As AutoFormsRunResult) 
   If runResult Is Nothing Then 
      Return 
   End If 
                     
   Dim resultsMessage As String = String.Empty 
   Try 
      For Each formPage As FormPage In runResult.FormFields 
         For Each field As FormField In formPage 
            If Not field Is Nothing Then 
               resultsMessage = String.Format("{0}{1} = {2}{3}", resultsMessage, field.Name, (CType(IIf(TypeOf field.Result Is TextFormFieldResult, field.Result, Nothing), TextFormFieldResult)).Text, Environment.NewLine) 
            End If 
         Next field 
      Next formPage 
   Catch ex As Exception 
      MessageBox.Show(ex.Message) 
   End Try 
                     
   If String.IsNullOrEmpty(resultsMessage) Then 
      MessageBox.Show("No fields were processed", "Field ProcessingResults") 
   Else 
      MessageBox.Show(resultsMessage, "Field ProcessingResults") 
   End If 
End Sub

Add the following clean-up code to the FormClosing event handler:

autoEngine.Dispose(); 
if (ocrEngine != null && ocrEngine.IsStarted) 
   ocrEngine.Shutdown();

autoEngine.Dispose() 
If Not ocrEngine Is Nothing AndAlso ocrEngine.IsStarted Then 
   ocrEngine.Shutdown() 
End If

Set the output folder of the project .exe to where LEADTOOLS .Net DLLs are installed. For example: <LEADTOOLS_INSTALLDIR>\Bin\Dotnet4\Win32.
Run the project and test it. Click the "Recognize and Process Form" button which will load a sample form image, recognize and process it, and display the results. NOTE: If you encounter an "Invalid File Format" or "Feature Not Supported" exception, please refer to the topic Invalid File Format/Feature Not Supported.