Adding Entities

Always save a new Document before adding Entities. This is to enable any possible existing Entities in the Document content to be identified via Suggested Entities.

The following methods can be used to add Entities to the Document. The Document must be in EditClick Edit from the upper Editing menu mode to add Entities.

• Suggested Entities
• Entity Extraction
• Search for an existing Entity to add
• Add Entity manually

Note: If there is no detail showing in the Content pane other than this message "Unable to extract content of the file. Check that it represented as text (not image) and has a correct format" the source document used for the content was an image and the text content could not be extracted. (The Document is saved and can be viewed on the Attachments page). In this case the Entity detail would have to be manually added into the Document Content and saved to be able to check for suggested or existing Entities or to Extract Entities. Or you can simply add and search for Entitles manually.

Suggested Entities are Entities that already exist within ModalConnect and have been automatically identifiedby an exact match to their Remembered Terms within the Document content (once saved). It is recommended to review these prior to adding new Entities to prevent Entity duplication and save time.

Review Suggested Entity

When a new Document has been saved, click 'View Suggested Entities' to loadIt can take 1-2 minutes as the background checks are made before all Suggested Entities are identified any Suggested Entities (shown in the lower pane under the Entities list).

To highlight or find a Suggested Entity in the Document content, click on the Entity label. The Entity's remembered terms are highlighted green.

A Suggested Entity can be reviewed and directly added to the Document's Entities list (if it is determined as the same Entity that appears in the Document being viewed). If a Suggested Entity is added to the Document it includes all the existing Entity's Properties and attributes.

To review a Suggested Entity, with the Document in Edit mode click on 'View Details' of the Suggested Entity. This opens the existing Entity's Properties record and provides 2 options;

1. Add to Document - If on review the Suggested Entity is determined as the same Entity that appears in the Document Content - select 'Add to Document' to add the existing Entity to the Entities list of the (current) Document. Additional properties can be added (prior to clicking 'Add to Document) by selecting these from the 'Add Property' list and completing the Property value\detail.
2. Unsure - If selected, the Entity details window is closed and the Entity will remain in the Suggested Entities list and can be reviewed at a later time.

To view a Suggested Entity's Profile right click on the Entity's name or Title from the Suggested Entity list and select 'Go to Entity Profile' (opens in a new tab).

Note: Suggested Entities are identified from the existing Entity's Remembered Terms.

New Entities can be easily created by extracting the details directly from the Document Content. This function is called 'Entity Extraction'. Entity Extraction improves accuracy (by limiting data entry errors), speeds up the process of adding new Entities and automatically creates remembered terms (which provide the required details to identify Suggested Entities).
An existing Entity search occurs automatically during the Entity Extraction process. The Search is made against Entity Properties.

To extract Entity information and search for an existing Entity or create a new Entity follow these steps.

1. Extract Entity detail: Highlight the Entity detail within the Document Content.
   
   
2. Right (oppositional) click on the highlighted text and mouse\hover over the Add Entity pop-up to show the list of available Entity Types.
   
   
3. Select the required Entity Type
   
4. The 'Add Entity' window opens (over the top of the Document content - this window can be dragged around the Entity Extraction page). The highlighted text creates the search terms and populates the Search field where an automatic search starts against existing Entities of the Type selected.
   Note: the Add Entity window can be dragged around the Document pagedon't drag it of the Document page if working with 2 screens. Cannot also edit or scroll the Document without closing the Add Entity window.

5. Search Results

   If the automatic search finds no results that match all of the search terms with an existing Entity's properties - a pop-up shows with the options to select;
   Yes - to create a new Entity - which opens the New Entity window with the extracted text.
   No - which closes the pop-up but keeps the Add Entity window open where the search terms can be modified for further searches.
   
   

   Modify Search Terms

   If a Search has returned no results or to explore other possible results, you can modify the terms by removing, modifying or adding search terms and\or applying search conditions. After modifying the search terms either click the Search button or 'Enter' from your keyboard.

   Tip: Before modifying the extracted Search terms from the search box, copy them so that these can be pasted back in if no Entity is found and used for adding to the Entity's properties if you need to create a new Entity.

   

   Entity Search Results

   If Entities are found that match all of the search terms against an existing Entity's properties, the Entity results are listed in the left pane of the Add Entity window.
   If the Entity has already been added to the current Document the text shows green - otherwise results are in grey text.
   

   Review Entity Results

   Click on a listed Entity to review their existing Properties in the right pane.
   

   Add Existing Entity to Document

   To add an existing Entity from the search results to the Document, click on the Entity to select it, then click 'Add to Document'.
   
   

   Entity not Found
   

   If following a modified search an existing Entity has not been found there are 2 options -

   1. Select the 'Create New Entity' button at the top of the top of the window (the current search terms in the search field will be available for the 'Selected Document Text').
   2. In the Search field enter or paste (if previously copied) in the original search termsthis then provides the extracted details (selected text) from the document content to add to the Entity's properties and click Search or Enter. From the No results pop-up select Yes to create the new Entity.
      

   Create a New Entity

   Where either the 'Create New Entity' button is selected or 'Yes' from the 'No Search Results Found' pop-up the 'Add Entity' window (for the Type) opens with the Selected Document Text on the left.
   From the 'Selected Document Text' in the left pane, click on content and Drag & Drop onto the relevant Property or enter the value detail.
   The Properties that show when the window first opens are the identifiers used for the Entity Types label.
   Further Properties can be added (where available for the type) by clicking the 'Add Property' button and selecting from the Property list.
   
   As Properties are completed the details are also added to the Remembered Terms (at the bottom of the New Entity window).
   Review the remembered terms and limit these to key identifiers - e.g a unique ID and or Names.
   Learn more about Remembered Terms.
   

   Add Entity to Document

   Once the property details and remembered terms have been completed, click 'Add to Document' and the Entity is added to the Documents Entities.
   

Entities can also be added manually if not using the Entity Extraction method. From the right side pane, click on 'New Entity' then select the required Entity Type from the drop-down list.

This opens the New Entity pane. In the Search field enter the Entity's details and click Search or Enter.
If the Entity is found in the results it can be selected and added to the Document.
If the Entity search produces no results, then select Yes to open the 'New Entity' window

1. Drag & Drop selected Text into the appropriate Property
2. Add and complete further Properties (as appropriate)
3. Review the Remembered Terms and edit if required to keep concise
4. Click Save and Finish
   

Remembered Terms are used to help identify existing Entities as Suggested Entities and play a valuable role to help prevent Entity duplication.
When creating a new Entity using selected textFrom document content and search terms, when content is added to a Property it is also added to the 'Remembered Terms- phrase' at the bottom of the New Entity window. When the Entity is saved/added to the Document if that Remembered term phrase appears in any other Document it can be identified as a 'Suggested Entity'.

The Remembered Terms are editable. It is recommended to remove any characters copied to Remembered Terms and to keep the remembered term phrase concise using main Names or Titles or unique identifiers. The order of the terms is also referenced for identification.
Example: In Document 1 - Entity 'Peter Person Wellington' detail was extracted from the document content and a new Entity created with the Remembered Term phrase saved as 'Peter Person Wellington'

In Document 2 the content contains the Remembered Term - 'Peter Person Wellington' which can now be identified and shown as a 'Suggested Entity' in the Document Entities pane.

If the remembered term is not an exact match or appears as separate text within the Content then it cannot be identified - e.g 'Peter Person of 13 High Street Wellington' because the text 'Wellington' does not immediately come after 'Peter Person' the Remembered Term phrase 'Peter Person Wellington' is not an exact match and will not be identified.

Characters, where used are treated as part of the remembered term - e.g in this example Peter Person (Wellington) would not be identified as a suggested Entity as with the brackets it does not exactly match the Remembered Terms. If the remembered term was simply Peter Person, the Entity would be identified.

Tip: Keep the remembered terms concise by using a unique IDClient\Person ID, Vehicle registration, Driver Licence or Passport number if available or the Entity identifier properties -e.g First Name and Last Name, Organisation name\title, Vehicle registration number etc. The property combinations & order used for remembered terms should be those that Entities would typically appear in Documents for the Organisation. E.G if the Documents loaded into ModalConnect typically show Person Entities by First name followed by Last name, then the Remembered terms phrase should follow that format.

Think of the Remembered terms as a phrase - so to identify a Suggested Entity, that exact phrase (and not just parts of it) needs to appear in the Document content.

Once a Document has been saved, if an Entity's Remembered Terms are detected in the (saved) Content of other Documents, then the Entity can be identified and will show as Suggested Entities which helps prevent Entity duplication.

Note - where Entities have been merged there may be more than 1 Remembered Terms record

Where potential duplicate Entities are found in the Search Results, a pop-up displays advising that potential duplicates have been found and provides the option to merge these.

Select Yes and the Potential Duplicates are listed in the results pane of the 'Merge Checked Duplicates' window. The other results found (that are not duplicates) are also listed but disabled from selection.

Select No and all results can be reviewed.
Selecting View Duplicates from the top of this window opens the Merge Duplicate window

Merge Entity Duplicates

Where 'Yes' has been selected from the initial search results, or, 'View Duplicates' selected from the Add Entity window - the 'Merge Checked Entities' window opens.

1. To review a Potential Duplicate, click on the Entity listed and their Properties can be reviewed in the right pane. If in any doubt go to the Entities profiles for further checks prior to merging.
2. Click into the checkbox to the left of the Entity's Title to select for merging. When at least 2 Duplicates have been selected the Merge Checked Entities button at the top of the window is enabled. (Note - more than 2 Duplicate Entities can be selected if there are more than 2 duplicates)
3. Click the 'Merge Checked Entities' button and the selected Entities will be merged.
   
   

Once merged the Add Entity window shows again with the search results and a single result for any merged Entities.

Caution: An Entity merge cannot be undone - so ensure Entities are reviewed and confirmed as genuine duplicates before merging.

To include any Entities found in the initial search results that have a similar Title but are not an exact match to be identified as Potential Duplicates, those Entities would need the relevant properties (that identify a Duplicate value) to be updated within a related Document or the Entity Profile.

Where merged Entities have the same properties but different values (these are from properties not used to identify a Duplicate) these are added to the merged Entity and may need reviewing to tidy-up unwanted duplicate properties. E.g a person showing 2 middle names when they should only have 1 - in this scenario delete the incorrect property. This can be done in the Document (edit Entity) or within the Entity Profile.

Learn more about Entity Duplicates