In short, the steps are:

1. Create a new SharePoint Syntex Content Center site collection.
2. Create a new model – content type.
   1. Show/train it how to identify which documents the model will understand – classifiers.
   2. Show/train it how to extract data out of the documents – entity extractors.
   3. Map the data to fields in the content type.
   4. Assign the model to a document library.
3. Drop documents into the document library, wait a bit and then discover that the metadata has been populated for you!

Sounds easy - And it kinda is.  Once I got my head around the separation between training it to identify the right kind of document versus training it to find the data fields I wanted to extract, it wasn’t too bad.

The whole document identification was a key thing that seemed to be missing from the Forms Processing Module in AI Builder, as my colleague had to find her own way to identify which documents were appropriate for a model - file name pattern in this case.

I also found that documents containing additional information, near to the information I was extracting, would then cause the model to extract the wrong data, and reduce its confidence score.  The lesson here? If there are variations in layout - for example, if a client PO number is included on an invoice - you will likely need to include a separate model.

I also couldn’t see how to pick up repeating rows, such as invoice line items, which AI Builder handles, but also doesn’t make a whole lot of sense in a SharePoint document library. Standard practice, if you must keep it all in SharePoint, is to push any complex multi-value fields out to a related list.

So, what do I see SharePoint Syntex being used for?

Well, in its current form, it’s unlikely to be invoices (who knew?  I happened to choose a bad test case, unless you only ever have one line-item per invoice.)

I can see it being used to capture data from a variety of form types, just not ones that would lead to parent-child relationships in the data.  This could still be forms like course-completion surveys, meal menu selections, work requests, H&S forms, and many others.  It could be well placed to tackle legacy paper filing, because all your current forms are already digital, right?

Still, it’s early days and I’m sure we’re going to see more from Microsoft in this area, to say nothing of the rest of Project Cortex.

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