# Understand the results
Once a pdf has been converted the results are displayed in the results table (see screenshot below). This guide describes what each of the columns of the results table mean.
# file
This is just the filename of the pdf which you uploaded.
# state
Indicates whether the conversion succeeded or failed
# parser
An identifier for the statement format. The full library of statement formats which Spike supports can be found here:
# type
Banks produce a wide variety of statements. These formats may change depending on:
- the account type (e.g. an ABSA cheque account has a different format to an ABSA transaction account)
- whether it's an official monthly statement or an interim statement
- whether you downloaded the statement from the mobile-app vs the web site
Statements can be grouped according to the sets of data which they contain. Spike identifies 4 groups which are represented in the "TYPES" column on the converter app:
| type | icon | available transaction data |
|---|---|---|
| normal bank statement | normal transaction fields - date, description, amount, balance | |
| simple bank statement | like above but does NOT have a running balance | |
| normal credit card statement | has sub-sections (aka category) - e.g. see the ABSA_CREDITCARD_EMAIL_0 sample. Also the transaction date is more accurately recorded as either transactionDate or processDate | |
| simple credit card statement | similar to simple bank statement - just a list of transactions with no running balance |
Only displayed if pdf processing succeeded.
# error
See our full error guide for all of the reasons why pdf processing can fail.
Only displayed if pdf processing failed
# score
The score is an overall trustworthyness rating of the statement. It's a synthesis of various underlying data like authenticity, breaks and statement specific knownledge.
| icon | name | meaning |
|---|---|---|
| good | the pdf appears to be an unmodified original statement | |
| warn | the pdf does not appear to be an original statement but the modification is likely accidental | |
| bad | you should be skeptical of this statement, it has been deliberately modified | |
| unknown | we don't have a conclusive answer on the authenticity of this statement | |
| none | score not calculated - e.g. a network error where the pdf did not reach our servers |
How you use the score depends on whether the pdf was processed successfully or not.
- in the case where the pdf was processed successfully, you can use the score in order to detect modification:
- we will warn you when accidental modification was detected;
- or alert you when deliberate (possibly fraudulent) modification was detected
- in the case where the pdf failed to process successfully, you can use the score in order to resolve support issues:
- we use the score to distinguish bad data (i.e. modified pdfs) vs bugs (i.e. spike's fault - e.g. unhandled edge-case in the statement format or new features on the statement)
See the guide on identifying modified statements for more.
Only displayed if pdf processing succeeded, and your subscription package (opens new window) includes the Authenticity feature.
# authenticity
Spike performs analysis to determine with the pdf is in it's original form or not. The table below lists the possible values and their meaning:
| category | caution level | description |
|---|---|---|
| original | green | this is the original unmodified statement as produced by the bank |
| library | green | library which is not in use by an original pdf pipeline atm (i.e. probably an original pipeline but for a pdf which is not part of our statement library) |
| reader | green | the pdf has been modified, but it's probably safe - i.e. "innocently modified" - the pdf software that modified the file does not offer pdf editing capabilities |
| browser | green | the pdf has been modified, but it's probably safe - i.e. has been opened in a browser and then file-save-as'ed. Browsers do not offer pdf editing capabilities. |
| printToPdf | orange | the user used a program which supports a Print option, and then used a printer driver which does print-to-pdf. It is possible that the file could have been editted in this case. This does occur routinely with some statement types tough - e.g. most nedbank statements are Microsoft:PrintToPDF |
| scan | orange | the statement was likely printed and then scanned. This does not indicate whether the data has been modified, however in most cases the scan will not be successfully parsed by our software anyway. |
| writer | red | the meta data indicates that this file was modified by a pdf writer. The transactions may have been edited. |
| blank | red | means that all the meta.info fields are blank. This probably indicates tampering - all legitimate pdf software writes metadata. |
| unmatched | - | the meta data didn't match any rules in our database - we will manually review this in due course and update our database |
| unknown | - | returned when Spike can't access the meta data - e.g. when the pdf is password protected and you don't supply the correct password |
| multiple | - | the meta data matched multiple rules in our database - we will manually review this in due course and update our database (this should happen infrequently) |
More info can be found in the product feature guide for authenticity.
Only displayed if pdf processing succeeded, and your subscription package (opens new window) includes the Authenticity feature.
# breaks
If transactions are presented in transaction date order and the statement format contains a balance then the balances should match the running total (i.e. previous balance + current amount = current balance). breaks indicates the number of times where the running total does not match the balance displayed on the statement.
We initially used this measure in order to detect modificiations to either transactions amounts. However this has not proved to be very useful in practice because many statements are simply not in order especially when multiple transactions occur on a single day.
Only displayed if pdf processing succeeded.
# trans.
A count of the number of transactions in the statement.
Only displayed if pdf processing succeeded.
# account no.
If the statement contains an account number then this will be shown here.
Only displayed if pdf processing succeeded.
# from
This indicates the first date of the period which the statement covers
Note: most statements formats specify 3 dates:
- issue date = the date upon which the statement was generated
- from date = the first date of the period
- to date = the last date of the period
Some statements don't provided an explicit period, in this case we infer the from and to dates from the first and last transaction dates.
Only displayed if pdf processing succeeded.
# to
This indicates the last date of the period which the statement covers. See from for notes on statement dates.
Only displayed if pdf processing succeeded.
# annotations
This indicates whether or not a statement contains any annotations within it.
| icon | name | meaning |
|---|---|---|
| true | the statement contains annotations | |
| false | the statement does not contain annotations |
PDF annotations are features within PDF documents that allow users to add comments, notes, highlights, drawings, or other types of markups to the document. These annotations serve various purposes, such as:
- Comments and Notes: Users can add text annotations to provide feedback, ask questions, or make observations about specific parts of the document.
- Highlighting: Important passages or sections can be highlighted for emphasis or future reference.
- Underlining and Strikethrough: Users can underline or strike through text to indicate corrections, changes, or deletions.
- Drawing Tools: Some PDF viewers offer drawing tools, allowing users to draw shapes, arrows, or freehand annotations directly onto the document.
- Bookmarking: Users can add bookmarks to quickly navigate to specific sections of the document.
- Attachments: PDF annotations can include file attachments, such as additional documents or images related to the content.
- Interactive Features: Some annotations may include interactive elements, such as hyperlinks or form fields.
annotations can not edit the underlying data of the statement therefore cannot be used to manipulate the statement.
# actions
The 2 action buttons do the following:
| button | description |
|---|---|
| downloads the data for the current statement | |
copies the requestId - useful for submitting a support query |