Getting started with the SmartPasteButton

The SmartPasteButton is designed to work in conjunction with data-bound components such as RadDataLayout, RadGridView. It enables users to populate form fields with structured data extracted from unstructured text, streamlining data entry and reducing manual input. This example shows integration of SmartPasteButton with RadDataLayout.

Example: Defining a SmartPasteButton for a DataLayout

When the user clicks the RadSmartPasteButton, it reads the text clipboard content. The control obtains the fields from the provider and raises SmartPasteRequest with a SmartPasteButtonRequestContextEventArgs instance.

1. Add the SmartPasteButton control to your form

To start using the RadSmartPasteButton control, just drag it from the Toolbox and drop it onto your form. Alternatively, you can add the control programmatically in your form's constructor or Load event handler.

RadSmartPasteButton smartPasteButton = new RadSmartPasteButton();

Dim smartPasteButton As New RadSmartPasteButton()

2. Add add a RadDataLayout to display the fields that the button will populate. Add a Copy to Clipboard button to place unstructured text on the clipboard for the Smart Paste operation.

3. Set the Provider property to the container whose fields you want to populate. Handle the SmartPasteRequest event to send the clipboard content and field information to your AI service.

this.radSmartPasteButton.Provider = this.radDataLayout;

Me.radSmartPasteButton.Provider = Me.radDataLayout

4. Handle the SmartPasteRequest event

SmartPasteRequest event occurs when a smart paste operation is requested. Subscribe to this event to initiate the smart paste logic.

The event arguments provide the clipboard text through Content and the available target fields through Fields. Send that information to an AI service that can return values keyed by the SmartPasteButtonField.Field identifiers. When the service returns, call SetResponse with the extracted values.

private async void RadSmartPasteButton_SmartPasteRequest(object sender, SmartPasteButtonRequestEventArgs e)
{
    try
    {
        var request = new { Content = e.Content, FormFields = e.Fields };
        var httpResponse = await new HttpClient().PostAsJsonAsync(
            "https://demos.telerik.com/service/v2/ai/smartpaste/smartpaste",
            request,
            e.CancellationToken);
        httpResponse.EnsureSuccessStatusCode();

        var response = await httpResponse.Content.ReadFromJsonAsync<SmartPasteResponse>(e.CancellationToken);
        e.SetResponse(response.FieldValues);
    }
    catch (OperationCanceledException)
    {
        e.Cancel();
    }
    catch (Exception ex)
    {
        e.SetError(ex);
    }
}

Private Async Sub RadSmartPasteButton_SmartPasteRequest(sender As Object, e As SmartPasteButtonRequestEventArgs)
    Try
        Dim request = New With {.Content = e.Content, .FormFields = e.Fields}
        Dim httpResponse = Await New HttpClient().PostAsJsonAsync(
            "https://demos.telerik.com/service/v2/ai/smartpaste/smartpaste",
            request,
            e.CancellationToken)
        httpResponse.EnsureSuccessStatusCode()

        Dim response = Await httpResponse.Content.ReadFromJsonAsync(Of SmartPasteResponse)(e.CancellationToken)
        e.SetResponse(response.FieldValues)
    Catch ex As OperationCanceledException
        e.Cancel()
    Catch ex As Exception
        e.SetError(ex)
    End Try
End Sub

Runnable example with the SmartPasteButton integration with DataLayout is available in our Telerik UI for WinForms Demo.

Processing the Request

The SmartPasteButtonRequestContextEventArgs instance provides the data that the SmartPasteRequest event and SmartPasteRequestCommand require to process a smart paste operation. Send the clipboard text from Content and the available target fields from Fields to your AI service. The service must return values keyed by the SmartPasteButtonField.Field identifiers.

The following table lists the members that support a smart paste request.

Call SetResponse when the AI service returns the extracted values. Call SetError when the request fails, or Cancel when the operation is canceled. A second click while the button is processing a request cancels the operation and signals CancellationToken.

Describing SmartPasteButtonField

Each SmartPasteButtonField identifies a target field and gives the AI service context for extracting a value. The provider returns these fields through GetFields and receives the final values through SetFieldValue.

The following table lists the field metadata available to the AI service.

Use FieldType to enable type conversion for common .NET types, including numbers, Boolean values, dates, times, GUIDs, and enumerations.

Next Steps

• Customizing the SmartPasteButton

See Also

• SmartPasteButton Overview
• Customizing the SmartPasteButton Appearance
• RadDataLayout
• RadGridView