Define Answer Types

When adding or editing an Answer, you need to set an Answer Type. The parameter defines an input field type and format.

Depending on the Answer Type selected, you need to set different options or Data Store input.

Single-value, multi-value, combined answers

In general, it is possible to divide Answer Types into the following groups:

• Single-value: the answer is a single string containing a unique value, for instance, text, number, date, and so on.
• Multi-value: the result is a string containing multiple values. Mind that the multi-value input fields do not record duplicated values.
• Combined: the answer is a set of values with different answer codes.

tip

Currently, there are two possible types of standard delimiters: comma (",") and pipe ("|").

Most common Answer Types

Answer Type	Description	Field example
Select one	A drop-down list from where you can select a single option.	Classification Use Case
Price	A combined input field used to enter monetary values.	Total, Price
Number	Allows entering integers only.	Quantity, Bank Account Number
Line Item	Allows tagging multiple similar combinations of values that are supposed to be grouped together.	Product Name, Price
Free Text	Allows entering a single-line text string.	Entity Type, Company Name
Date	Allows entering a date in the mm/dd/yyyy format.
Country	A drop-down list of countries. To speed up the selection, you can start typing the country name.	Country
Check one	A radio button group to select a single option.	Classification Use Case

All Answer Types

Field Type	Value Type and Separator	Can be not applicable
Free text	Single	Yes
Long text	Single	Yes
Rich text	Single	Yes
Check One	Single	No
Check Multi	Multi or Pipe	No
Select One	Single	No
Select Multi	Multi or Pipe	No
Number	Single	Yes
Price	Combined	Yes
Date	Single	Yes
Time	Single	Yes
Phone	Single	Yes
E-mail	Single	Yes
URL	Single	Yes
Address	Combined	Yes
Country	Single	Yes
Map	Single	No
Calendar	Combined or Pipe	No
Masked Text	Single	Yes
Tags	Multi or Comma	Yes
Slider	Single	Yes
Limitation text	Single	Yes
File upload	Single	Yes
Label	Single	Yes
Select Date	Single	Yes
Correlated Fields	Multi or Pipe	No
Information Extraction
Group	Multi or Pipe	No
Taxonomy	Multi	Yes
Grid	Single (JSON)	Yes
Invoice Answer Types		Yes

Answer Type descriptions

Free text

The Answer Type allows entering single-line text strings.

As an option for the Answer Type, you can select an autocomplete source from Data Stores.

To enable the autocomplete feature, create a Data Store with two columns:

• id: unique identifier
• name: label to be displayed in the drop-down list

Long text

The Answer Type allows entering multi-line text strings. You can resize the text box width by dragging the bottom right corner.

As an option for the Answer Type, you can set the number of rows to display by default.

Rich text

The Answer Type allows entering multi-line text strings with the Rich Text formatting and HTML source code.

Rules for text formatting:

• For character formatting, such as Bold, Italic, or Underline, select the text to be formatted, then apply the corresponding function.
• To apply styles, move the pointer over a point along the target line and select a style from the drop-down list.
• To delete a text, highlight it and press the Backspace or Delete key.

You can also switch to writing the HTML source code.

Check one

The Answer Type is a radio button group that allows you to select one option.

For the Answer Type, the following options are available:

• name=value list or Input from Data Store
• Shuffle Options

Options for multi-variant answers in the name=value format: Option_Name1=Value1. To set the options, you can use dynamic expressions.

To add a new option, press Enter or TAB. You can also delete any options or reorder them by dragging.

Check multi

The Answer Type is a checkbox group control that allows multiple selections.

For the Answer Type, available options are the same as for Check One.

Select one

The Answer Type is a drop-down list that allows selecting a single option.

If the Answer has no default value, the Description field is displayed above the available options.

For the Answer Type, available options are the same as for Check One.

If you check the Input from Data Store option, display the id and name column values in the drop-down list by selecting the Append Data Store options checkbox.

If the SELECT_ONE answer is a sub-answer (tag) in Information Extraction and its options are loaded from a Data Store, you can enable the Let workers select custom values option. In this case, users can tag a text chunk, and if it is not in the list, it can be added by clicking the Add to list button:

After a task with the custom value is submitted, the answer is written to Results > Data to a respective <answer_code> column together with a special true attribute in a new <answer_code>`_custom_value` column.

Select multi

The Answer Type is an expanded list box that allows selecting multiple options.

Selected options are displayed as tags and then removed from the drop-down list. See the Tags section.

For the Answer Type, available options are the same as for Check One.

Number

The Answer Type is an input field used to enter integers only.

Price

The Answer Type is a combined input field used to enter monetary values. To set it up, follow the steps below:

1. In the drop-down box, select a currency.
2. Enter a number. Supported numbers are real, integer, or negative.

Date

The Answer Type is an input field for entering a date in the mm/dd/yyyy format.

Time

The Answer Type is an input field for entering time in the following format: hh:mm (AM or PM).

To enter a time value, type it directly in the field or use the up and down arrow buttons. The keyboard up and down arrow keys are also supported.

Phone

The Answer Type is an input field for entering a phone number in the following format: (three-digit Area Code) three-digit prefix-four-digit line number.

By default, this field is configured to accept US phone numbers. To enter non-US numbers, click the link below the field.

E-mail

The Answer Type is an input field for entering an email address in the following format: username@host_or_domain.

URL

The Answer Type is an input text field for entering a URL address according to the standard URI scheme: http:// or https://.

You can enter a URL without http:// or https://. In that case, the http:// prefix is added in the beginning of the string automatically.

Answer Comparator:

• Domain only. Answers are compared by domain only. The path and port are skipped.
• Domain and path. The path is also included in the Answer comparison, but all text that comes after ? and # is skipped. The port is skipped.

Address

The Answer Type is a group of text input fields to enter the address details: Address, City, State, ZIP. You can add an extra address line or remove it by clicking the appropriate link.

By default, the address has the US format. To change the country, click the appropriate link and select a country from the drop-down list. To speed up the selection, you can start typing the country's name.

Country

The Answer Type is a drop-down list of countries. To speed up the selection, start typing the country's name.

Map

The Answer Type is an interactive control for selecting an address by dragging the man's figure from the top left corner to a location on the map.

tip

You can drag and drop the man's icon only in the streets highlighted with blue color.

Options:

• With Streetview

• Without Streetview

Calendar

The Calendar field allows you to set events within a specific time span:

• Create an event by clicking an appropriate time and day.

• Edit or delete an event by clicking it.

Masked text

The Answer Type is an input field that allows you to restrict input to combinations of numbers and letters.

As an option for the Answer Type, you can set a mask for text: 9=any digit; a=any letter; *=any letter or digit.

Tags

The Answer Type is a text input field for entering tags. To create a new tag, follow the steps below:

1. Start typing it.
2. When finished, press Enter or TAB.
3. Repeat steps 1-2 if needed.

Slider

The Answer Type is a slider field for selecting values within a particular range.

Options:

• Enter comma-separated values, such as: (1,10,20,30,40,50).

• Enter the bottom and top range values for the slider (1-100).

Limitation text

The Answer Type is a text input control that allows a limited number of input characters or words. The counter in the bottom right corner shows the number of entered or allowed words and characters.

You can limit the numbers for only characters, only words, or both: characters=n|words=n.

File upload

The Answer Type is a control for uploading a file. When uploaded, the file name is displayed under the progress bar.

note

When working with the Answer type in Workspace, remember that the name of any uploaded file can be no more than 60 characters long.

Options:

• File
• Photo, Camera, Microphone: for mobile devices only.

Label

The Answer Type provides a field used for entering a description and does not support training.

Options:

• Text
• Image

Select date

The Answer Type is a combined control for selecting a date in the mm/dd/yyyy format using three drop-down boxes.

Correlated fields

The Answer Type is a dynamic answer block. See the Correlated Fields topic for additional information.

Information Extraction

The Answer Type is used for extracting structured content from raw unstructured text. See the Information extraction topic for additional information.

Group

The Answer Type is used to create Tag Groups and is added only as a sub-answer for Information Extraction Answer. See the Information extraction topic for additional information.

Taxonomy

The Answer Type is used for the classification of things, such as products, businesses, and articles. See the Taxonomy topic for additional information.

Grid

The Answer Type allows workers to enter answers in the grid with a defined column structure and a dynamic number of rows. See the Grid Answer Type topic for additional information.

Invoice Answer Types

Invoice-specific answer types can only be sub-answers of the Information Extraction answer and are intended to facilitate the tagging of invoices used for Cognitive Automation.