Import template PDF

An import template for PDF is a definition for a single securities transaction per document. An import template for a PDF consists of a PDF document of the trading platform converted into text. The values relevant to the transaction are then replaced by variables with anchor points. A field with anchor points is enclosed with “{}”, the anchor points are separated with a “|” from the field name and among themselves. An example of a valid field with anchor points, also called field position, could look like this {datetime|P|N}.

Note

With these import templates for PDF, GT follows a declarative instead of an imperative path for processing the PDF documents of the various trading platforms. This means that many GT updates can be avoided. In addition, hardly any ambitious software developer will volunteer to program this large number of pattern recognitions. This work is mostly simple-minded and completely contradicts the idea of generalization. GT does not create a bullshit job, which is useful for the user but only creates unnecessary work for the operator of a GT instance and the software developer

Anchor points

The values relevant to the transaction are distributed throughout the entire PDF document. Each of these transaction documents has a fixed structure that only changes slightly for the same type of transaction. GT can use this similar structure with anchor points to recognize values. The anchor point references a static text part that does not change per document.

  • The value can be recognized from a document line. If the structure in a line hardly changes, the following anchor points can be used.
    • P: Previous word. Also works if the value is at the beginning of a line. This anchor point can refer to a regular expression.
    • Pc: The value has a prefix, i.e. there is no space between the value and the prefix.
    • N: Following word. Also works if the value is at the end of a line. This anchor point can refer to a regular expression.
    • Nc: The value has a suffix, i.e. there is no space between the value and the suffix.
    • SL: The first word of the same line.
  • PL and NL are used if the anchor point cannot be fixed to a static text part within the line to be processed. It is possible that the beginning of the preceding or following line is static text.
    • PL: The first word of the beginning of the line of the previous line.
    • NL: The first word of the beginning of the following line.

Readable area

The readable area defines the contiguous area of lines in the document where the relevant values are located and which are referenced by anchor points. Normally, the first and last few lines are not included in the readable area, so these may be missing both in the import template and in the transformed PDF document.

Anchor points referenced set of static words at the beginning of the line

Sometimes you want to reference two variants of a static word with one anchor point. This flexibility is available for the beginning of the same line, the preceding line and the following line. This construct therefore works for PL, SL and NL. The possible words at the start of the line are enclosed in brackets and separated with “|” [w1|w2|w...]. In the following example, the start of the line of field tt1 can begin with “Withholding tax” or “Anticipatory tax”:

 
[Withholding tax|Anticipatory tax] 35% (CH) CHF {tt1|SL|N|O}

More variance for preceding and following words

The anchor point can be very flexible for the preceding and following word. The configuration can be quite demanding, as it allows the use of regular expressions. For anchor points P and N, (?:) can be used. This allows the use of a regular expression that is not processed as a group. It is a very powerful construct, which allows us a certain variance for the preceding and following word. Here are two examples:

 
AMOUNT WE CHARGE TO THE ACCOUNT (?:CREDIT|DEBIT) {cac|P|SL} {ta|SL|N} 
{units|P|NL} Vanguard FTSE Japan ETF {quotation|NL|N} (?:\[A-Z]{3}\$)
The first line expects either “CREDIT” or “DEBIT” as the preceding word in the Currency of bank account (cac) field. The second line is more complicated and states that the quotation field must be followed by a character string consisting of three capital letters at the end of the line.

Field position configuration

Sometimes a field position must be additionally configured, these are expressed like the anchor points in the field position.

  • O: There are optional values such as tax costs that only occur in certain documents. This can be configured with the “O” configuration.
  • R: The content of this line can be repeated several times. This configuration is helpful when selling and buying a security, as sometimes the transaction is executed over several stock exchange transactions. The configuration must be in the first field position. The following repetitions cannot be handled as the number of columns in the two lines differs:
17 AT A PRICE OF 136.5"
53 OF 136,5

Example of a PDF Template

Below is a template for the purchase and sale of securities.

 1
 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18

Gland, {datetime|P|N}
(?:Transaction:|Stock Trade:) {transType|P|N} Our Reference: 12121212
According to your purchase order from 12.12.2012, we have executed the following transactions:
Title Place of Execution
ISHARES $ CORP BND ISIN: {isin|P} SIX Swiss Exchange
Sec. No.: 1613957
Quantity Price Amount
{units|PL|R} {quotation} {cac} 8’000.00
Total USD 8’250.00
Commission Swissquote Bank AG USD {tc1|SL|N|O}
[Duty (Federal Stamp Tax)|Federal Stamp Tax] USD {tt1|SL|N}
Stock Exchange Fees USD {tc2|SL|N}
Charged to Your Account USD {ta|SL|N}
[END]
transType=ACCUMULATE|Purchase
transType=REDUCE|Sale
dateFormat=dd.MM.yyyy
overRuleThousandSeparators= '’

  • Line 1: The {datetime|P|N} refers to the transaction date, with the previous and following words used as anchor points. In this case, P refers to “Gland,” and N to the end of the line.
  • Line 2: This line contains a Regular Expression. For it to work correctly, the expression must be defined as a non-capturing group (?:…); otherwise, the grouping in GT may not function correctly.
  • Line 5: The ISIN is extracted from this line. Typically, at least two anchor points should be set. In this case, {isin|P} is unique across the entire document, so one anchor point is sufficient. Here, P references the static text “ISIN:”.
  • Line 8: {units|PL|R} {quotation} {cac} This line can be repeated. The R configuration must be in the first field position.
  • Line 10: This field position for the main tax costs {tc1|SL|N|O} is optional. The anchor points refer to the word “Commission” and the end of the line.