Text Extractor

Do you have a PDF document from which you need to extract text programmatically? With Aspose.PDF for .NET, you can easily achieve this task using the TextExtractor class. In this article, we’ll walk through the basic steps to create a text extraction application in .NET, covering the creation of a TextExtractor object, adding a data source, and running the text extraction process.

Prerequisites

You will need the following:

  • Visual Studio 2019 or later
  • Aspose.PDF for .NET 24.1 or later
  • A sample PDF file

Additionally, familiarize yourself with the TextExtractorOptions class and its functionalities. Detailed information can be found in the Aspose.PDF API Reference.

Now, let’s delve into the code and explore how to extract text from a PDF document.

Code Walkthrough

The following code demonstrates the text extraction capabilities. Let’s break down the key steps:

1. Create a TextExtractor Object

The code begins by creating a new instance of the TextExtractor class. This class provides methods to extract text from PDF documents.

using TextExtractor extractor = new();

2. Add a Data Source

Next, a FileDataSource is created for the input PDF file. This is the file from which text will be extracted.

FileDataSource fileSource = new(Path.Combine(@"C:\Samples\", "sample.pdf"));

3. Create TextExtractorOptions

A TextExtractorOptions object is created to configure the text extraction process. The input file source is added to the options.

TextExtractorOptions textExtractorOptions = new();
textExtractorOptions.AddInput(fileSource);

4. Run Text Extraction Process

The Process method is then called on the TextExtractor object, passing the configured options. The result container holds the extracted text, and it is printed to the console.

var resultContainer = extractor.Process(textExtractorOptions);
var results = resultContainer.ResultCollection;
Console.WriteLine(results[0]);

You can see the full code below:

using Aspose.Pdf.Plugins;
// ...

// Create a new instance of TextExtractor.
using TextExtractor extractor = new();

// Create a FileDataSource for the input PDF file.
FileDataSource fileSource = new(Path.Combine(@"C:\Samples\", "sample.pdf"));

// Create TextExtractorOptions.
TextExtractorOptions textExtractorOptions = new();
textExtractorOptions.AddInput(fileSource);

// Process the text extraction.
var resultContainer = extractor.Process(textExtractorOptions);
var results = resultContainer.ResultCollection;

// Print the extracted text.
Console.WriteLine(results[0]);

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