> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.tailent.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.tailent.com/actions/tap-actions/direct-text/extract-direct-text.md).

# Extract Direct Text

This action is used to extract text from designated control identifiers by intercepting Windows text rendering calls.

## Properties

<figure><img src="/files/pGDhtvoreTtLiALhg8DS" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

### Input

* **Identifier**: set an already existent, or define a new identifier
* **Method Filter**: a list of values of all intercepted API calls that will be considered for input. Default is "\*" which means supported direct text drawing methods are intercepted.
* **Capture Length**: the amount of time that the action will perform data extraction (milliseconds) &#x20;
* **Force Redraw**: a forced redraw  of the target window/process will be requested. **True/False**

### Output

* **Output**: The name of the variable in which the contents will be stored

{% hint style="info" %}
The type of the variable must be List\<CapturedTextArea>
{% endhint %}

### Misc

* **Display Name**: action display name in your implementation project.
* **Wait Before**: number milliseconds robot to wait before executing the action.
* **Wait After:** number milliseconds robot to wait until moving to the next action.
* **Abort on Error**: True/False
* **Retry Times**: Specifies the number of times to retry an action if it doesn't end successfully. Default value 0 (no retry); Use -1 if you want to retry indefinitely.&#x20;

## Use cases

### Potential use cases

* Extract text by intercepting Windows text rendering calls


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