Expressiontype Attribute

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Last Updated: May 13, 2026
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Semaphore
Documentation

Defines the type of expression, influencing what kind of text is matched by an expression rule.

For more details and examples, see the EXPRESSION documentation.

NB TYPE is a synonym for EXPRESSIONTYPE and behaves in exactly the same manner (when an attibute of an expression rule) and is more commonly used

Applies to

EXPRESSION

NB to discover the zone name for use as an expressiontype it is often the simplest to use the zones debug target within the CSTI (Test interface) which will display all zones that CS has found for a particular document - the zone name may then be used as the expressiontype

Values always available

SENTENCE
PARAGRAPH

Values with Date zoner enabled

DATE
DATE_AMBIGUOUS (Dates which have multiple normalisations possible)
DATE_UNAMBIGUOUS (Dates which are normalised without ambiguity)

The Date zoner is enabled/disabled in the Classification Server config file - see Date Handling to enable the Date zoner.

Values with Validating Zoner enabled

ABARTN-NUMBER
CC-NUMBER
NHS-NUMBER
NL-BURGER-NUMBER

Values in conjunction with a Language Pack from Semaphore 4.1

PERSON
ORGANIZATION
PRODUCT
LANGPACK::LOCATION
LANGPACK::RELIGION
LANGPACK::NATIONALITY
LANGPACK::TITLE
LANGPACK::IDENTIFIER:EMAIL
LANGPACK::IDENTIFIER:MONEY
LANGPACK::IDENTIFIER:PERSONAL_ID_NUM
LANGPACK::IDENTIFIER:URL

Values in conjunction with a Language Pack from Semaphore 4.0

ADDRESS1
ADDRESS2
COUNTRY
CONTINENT
CURRENCY
DATE
DAY
FACILITY
FACILITY/AIRPORTS
FACILITY/BUILDGROUNDS
FACILITY/PATH
FACILITY/PLANT
FACILITY/SUBAREA
GEO_AREA
GEO_AREA/DOMESTIC
GEO_AREA/INTL
GEO_FEATURE
GEO_FEATURE/BOUNDARY
GEO_FEATURE/CELESTIAL
GEO_FEATURE/LAND
GEO_FEATURE/WATER
GEOCOORD
HOLIDAY
LANGUAGE
LOCALITY
MEASURE
MGRS
MISC_NUMERIC
MONTH
NAME_DESIGNATOR
NIN
NOUN_GROUP
ORGANIZATION
ORGANIZATION/COMMERCIAL
ORGANIZATION/EDUCATIONAL
ORGANIZATION/ENTERTAINMENT
ORGANIZATION/GOVERNMENT
ORGANIZATION/MEDIA
ORGANIZATION/MEDICALSCIENCE
ORGANIZATION/RELIGIOUS
ORGANIZATION/SPORTS
ORGANIZATION/OTHER
PEOPLE
PERCENT
PERSON
PHONE
PRECURSOR
PRODUCT
PROP_MISC
REGION
REGION/MAJOR
REGION/MINOR
SOCIAL_MEDIA
SSN
TICKER
TIME
TIME_PERIOD
TITLE
URI
URI/EMAIL
URI/URL
VEHICLE
VEHICLE/AIR
VEHICLE/LAND
VEHICLE/WATER
VEHICLE/SUBAREA
VEHICLE/OTHER
WEAPON
WEAPON/BIOLOGICAL
WEAPON/CHEMICAL
WEAPON/EXPLODING
WEAPON/NUCLEAR
WEAPON/PROJECTILE
WEAPON/SHARP
WEAPON/SHOOTING
WEAPON/OTHER
YEAR

Common noun (rather than proper noun) zones (Semaphore 4.0 with Language Pack)

NB. Common noun mention detection is disabled by default - to enable it edit english-tf-cg.config (for english common nouns) in the language pack directory.

COMMON_ADDRESS1
COMMON_ADDRESS2
COMMON_CONTINENT
COMMON_COUNTRY
COMMON_FACILITY
COMMON_FACILITY/AIRPORTS
COMMON_FACILITY/BUILDGROUNDS
COMMON_FACILITY/PATH
COMMON_FACILITY/PLANT
COMMON_FACILITY/SUBAREA
COMMON_GEO_AREA
COMMON_GEO_AREA/DOMESTIC
COMMON_GEO_AREA/INTL
COMMON_GEO_FEATURE
COMMON_GEO_FEATURE/BOUNDARY
COMMON_GEO_FEATURE/CELESTIAL
COMMON_GEO_FEATURE/LAND
COMMON_GEO_FEATURE/WATER
COMMON_LOCALITY
COMMON_ORGANIZATION
COMMON_ORGANIZATION/COMMERCIAL
COMMON_ORGANIZATION/EDUCATIONAL
COMMON_ORGANIZATION/ENTERTAINMENT
COMMON_ORGANIZATION/GOVERNMENT
COMMON_ORGANIZATION/MEDIA
COMMON_ORGANIZATION/MEDICALSCIENCE
COMMON_ORGANIZATION/RELIGIOUS
COMMON_ORGANIZATION/SPORTS
COMMON_ORGANIZATION/OTHER
COMMON_PERSON
COMMON_PRECURSOR
COMMON_PRECURSOR/CHEMICAL
COMMON_PRECURSOR/NUCLEAR
COMMON_REGION
COMMON_REGION/MAJOR
COMMON_REGION/MINOR
COMMON_VEHICLE
COMMON_VEHICLE/AIR
COMMON_VEHICLE/LAND
COMMON_VEHICLE/WATER
COMMON_VEHICLE/SUBAREA
COMMON_VEHICLE/OTHER
COMMON_WEAPON
COMMON_WEAPON/BIOLOGICAL
COMMON_WEAPON/CHEMICAL
COMMON_WEAPON/EXPLODING
COMMON_WEAPON/NUCLEAR
COMMON_WEAPON/PROJECTILE
COMMON_WEAPON/SHARP
COMMON_WEAPON/SHOOTING
COMMON_WEAPON/OTHER

Values when operating in conjunction with Semaphore 3.7.* Language Packs

ADDRESS
CITY
CONTINENT
COUNTRY
CURRENCY
DATE
DAY
DISTRICT
FACILITY
FEDERATION
HOLIDAY
LANGUAGE
MEASURE
MISC_NUMERIC
MONTH
NOUN_GROUP
ORGANIZATION
PEOPLE
PERCENT
PERSON
PERSON_PRE (Title such as Mr etc)
PERSON_GIV (Given name)
PERSON_FAM (Family name)
POSITION
POSITION_POS
POSITION_AFF
PHONE
PLACE_OTHER
PLACE_REGION
PRODUCT
PROP_MISC
PUBLICATION
SPECIAL
SSN
TICKER
TIME
TIME_PERIOD
URI

Semaphore Classification Server Rulebase Reference