Wildcard Anchor
- Last Updated: May 29, 2026
- 2 minute read
- Semaphore
- Documentation
Summary of Usage
A Wildcard Anchor is used when the anchor is defined as a regular expression and will match text.
Wildcards (mixed in with actual text) that can be used include:
*– 0 to any number of characters?– a single character~– single numeric#– 0 to any numeric characters^– a single uppercase character
Example
The TTL format of an example model can be found here: UnsequencedInParagraph.WildcardAnchor.startOfDocument
To test:
- Create a new model and import the test TTL model file.
- Copy and paste the content text from the model’s associated test into DA and classify.
Example Test Content and Responses
Test Content 1:
wines and healthy ham.
gives this response:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<response>
<STRUCTUREDDOCUMENT>
<META name="Type" value="TEXT (4003)"/>
<SYSTEM name="DeterminedLanguage" value="english"/>
<SYSTEM name="LanguageGuessed" value="no"/>
<META name="DocumentType" value="Doc" score="1.00"/>
<META name="Mentioned food" value="Ham" score="1.00"/>
</STRUCTUREDDOCUMENT>
</response>
Test Content 2:
healthy ham and sparkling wines
gives this response:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<response>
<STRUCTUREDDOCUMENT>
<META name="Type" value="TEXT (4003)"/>
<SYSTEM name="DeterminedLanguage" value="english"/>
<SYSTEM name="LanguageGuessed" value="no"/>
</STRUCTUREDDOCUMENT>
</response>
Test Content 3:
wines. middle sentence. healthy ham.
gives this response:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<response>
<STRUCTUREDDOCUMENT>
<META name="Type" value="TEXT (4003)"/>
<SYSTEM name="DeterminedLanguage" value="english"/>
<SYSTEM name="LanguageGuessed" value="no"/>
<META name="DocumentType" value="Doc" score="1.00"/>
<META name="Mentioned food" value="Ham" score="1.00"/>
</STRUCTUREDDOCUMENT>
</response>
Wildcard Anchor Properties
Mandatory hierarchical relationships
| Label | Range | Constraints |
|---|---|---|
| anchor in | locations | one or more allowed |
| not anchor in | locations | one or more allowed |
| optional anchor in | locations | one or more allowed |
Optional hierarchical relationships
| Label | Range | Constraints |
|---|---|---|
| (none) |
Mandatory associative relationships
| Label | Range | Constraints |
|---|---|---|
| (none) |
Optional associative relationships
| Label | Range | Constraints |
|---|---|---|
| location | locations | one or more allowed |
Mandatory alternative labels
| Label | Range | Constraints |
|---|---|---|
| wildcard anchor label | Label | at least one required |
Optional alternative labels
| Label | Range | Constraints |
|---|---|---|
| forced preclusion label | Label | one or more allowed |
Mandatory metadata
| Label | Range | Constraints |
|---|---|---|
| (none) |
Optional metadata
| Label | Range | Constraints |
|---|---|---|
| field | String | only one allowed |
| debug | Boolean | only one allowed |