IntelliGet 2.8

Overview

Data extraction from various kinds of files is a helpful but very daunting task. However to succeed you need a tool that can do this type of work and will let you configure it appropriately, since you won’t be dealing with the same files and requirements all the time. IntelliGet is a very powerful software that can extract data from text and PDF files by using a scripting language that is customizable and efficient. In fact, all you have to do to extract data from a simple text document is import it and run the Extract command to generate the output file.

Installation

The installation procedure of this software is very easy and short, just like any other typical program’s installation. Just run the installer, follow the instructions to go through the few easy steps and then wait for the main installation process to complete.

The setup package is clean from any type of malware, plus it’s free of any additional 3^rd party software.

IntelliGet works under all versions of Windows.

Interface

The interface of this program is very plain and is not what you would describe as attractive, but at least it’s functional and easy to use. It has 9 items in the toolbar menu (Input, Script, Extract, Output, Examples, Edit, Tools, Help and Exit) and a few other buttons on the toolbar menu below. The main screen is divided into 3 tabs: Input, Script and Output, and each tab displays the same input file but in a different way.  The lower part of the window is split into two textboxes; the left one displays any errors the program has encountered during the extraction process, and right textbox displays sections identified in the input file.

Pros

IntelliGet supports many input file types such as TXT, CSV, XML, HTML and PDF, although it can open other, less common files but with more chances of failing to extract data normally from them. There are various examples that come along with the program which you can find under the “Examples” tab and you can use to see how the program works.

The software has its own scripting language that is used to define sections and subsections of the input file, and with a set of rules generate the output file with the extracted contents. Usually the scripting language can identify on its own how to split sections and subsections in the input file, but when it doesn’t or when you want to have better control over the output contents then you can interfere and adjust the scripting language and rules accordingly.

The scripting language has many functions that allow you to perform various operations on the text you’d like to extract, such as replace words, convert to uppercase/lowercase, adjust lines/paragraphs and others.

You can simply use the program to convert files from one type to another (XML to CSV, FIX to CSV, SWIFT to CSV, CSV to XML).

Multiple file processing is supported too.

IntelliGet can be used as a command line tool too.

The documentation included covers everything you need to know on how to use the program.

Cons

Doesn't support Excel files as input files.

Alternatives

An alternative to IntelliGet is Data Extractor (paid), but it’s for Mac OS X only. Regardless, it’s a piece of software that does the same job as IntelliGet and has plenty of options and settings, as well as customizable rules for different kinds of data extraction (similarly to IntelliGet’s scripting language).

Conclusion

Although it has an outdated interface, it’s one of the best software of its kind due to its high level of customizability.